Invoking nmap API

Question

Is there a way to create nmap scans from another program through a direct API, as opposed to a wrapper around the command line interface? In other words, is the command line program the only way to start a scan? I'm not really concerned about what language it's in.

Answer 1

The command-line interface is the only way to scan with Nmap. If you are interested in creating and consuming Nmap scan data, you should be sure to read the Nmap license, since it is a little more explicit about what constitutes "derivative works" than GPL.

Historically, there was an "interactive mode" for Nmap, which allowed building and running scans without creating new command lines, but it was not frequently used, and the development team removed it.

Nmap is constantly being developed and improved. If you have suggestions or code patches to implement new features, they are always welcomed. The development mailing list is dev@nmap.org.