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The profile editor
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The profile editor

It is common with Nmap to want to run the same scan repeatedly. For example, a system administrator may run a scan of an entire network once a month to keep track of things. Zenmap’s mechanism for facilitating this is called profiles.

Figure 12.7. Choosing a profile

Choosing a profile

Within each scan tab there is a combo box labeled “Profile”. Opening it shows what profiles are available. Selecting a profile will cause the “Command” field to display the command line that will be executed. The profiles that come with Zenmap are sufficient for many scanning purposes, but sooner or later you will want to create your own.

Creating a new profile

The commands for working with profiles are under the “Profile” menu. To create a new profile, select “New Profile” from the “Profile” menu or use the ctrl+P keyboard shortcut. You will see a dialog like Figure 12.8, “The profile editor”

Figure 12.8. The profile editor

The profile editor

Profile meta-information

The profile editor starts by displaying a tab called “Profile” which asks for the new profile’s name, hint, description, and annotation. The “Name” field is how the scan will be identified in the drop-down combo box on a scan tab.

Apart from the name, the fields are not currently displayed in the Zenmap interface, except in the profile editor. Only the name is required. Here is a description of how they are meant to be used and may be used in the future.

Name

This is how the profile will be identified in the drop-down combo box in the scan tab.

Hint

The hint is a short (one sentence) description of the scan that could be displayed as a tooltip or status bar line.

Description

The description is a full description of what the scan does, which may be long.

Annotation

Any other information about the scan, such as the author of a scan or notes for its users, goes in the annotation.

The rest of the tabs allow you to specify Nmap options, just like in the command constructor wizard. The current command as it stands is displayed at the top of the dialog.

The target of the scan is not part of the profile. That must be filled in each time the profile is used.

Editing a profile

To edit a profile, select the profile in a scan tab, then select “Edit Selected Profile” from the “Profile” menu or use the ctrl+E keyboard shortcut. The profile editor will open, this time with all the meta-information and options filled in with the chosen scan. Making a change to the profile here will modify the profile permanently.

To delete a profile, click the “Cancel” button within the profile editor after opening the profile you want to delete as if to edit it. Zenmap will present a warning before deleting the profile. To leave the editor without modifying the profile, use the “OK” button before making any changes.

Deriving a new profile from an old one

To create a new profile using another profile as a template, select the template profile in a scan tab, then select “New Profile with Selected” from the “Profile” menu or use the ctrl+R keyboard shortcut. This will set all the options based on the selected profile while leaving the meta-information blank for you to fill in. Any changes made to the options will affect only the newly created profile, not the original profile from which it was derived.

To leave the editor without creating the derived profile, use the “Cancel” button.


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