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.
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.
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”
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.
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.