---
title: "Nmap"
category: "Networking and remote access"
tagline: "Discover devices on a network and see which ports and services they expose."
source: "pacman"
package: "nmap"
command: "nmap"
website: "https://nmap.org/"
code: "https://github.com/nmap/nmap"
---

## What it is

Nmap is a network scanner. It finds which hosts are up on a network, which ports they have open, and often which services and versions are behind them. Administrators use it to take inventory and to check that a firewall exposes only what it should.

```
nmap -sn 192.168.1.0/24     # list the devices on your LAN
```

## Why it's here

- **Know your network.** Find every device on your LAN and what it's running.
- **Check your firewall.** Scan your own machines from another one to confirm what's reachable.

## On CoreDesktop

Nmap is installed from pacman. Type `nmap` in a terminal; some scan types need `sudo`. Only scan networks you own or have permission to test. `update` keeps Nmap current with the pacman packages.