How to Install NMAP on Linux (Ubuntu, CentOS)

Nmap (“Network Mapper”) is a free and open source (license) utility for network discovery and security auditing. Many systems and network administrators also find it useful for tasks such as network inventory, managing service upgrade schedules, and monitoring host or service uptime.

In this article, we are going to install Nmap. Let’s get started:

Table of Contents

  1. Update Packages
  2. Install Nmap
  3. Verify Installation

Update Packages

Make sure the software packages on your linux system are up-to-date with the command:

# Debian distros (such as Ubuntu)
sudo apt update -y

# RedHat distro (such as CentOS)
sudo yum update -y

Install Nmap

By default, it is available on Kali Linux and Parrot OS. Run this command to install Nmap on your machine:

# Debian distros (such as Ubuntu)
sudo apt install nmap -y

# RedHat distro (such as CentOS)
sudo yum install nmap -y

Verify Installation

To verify the installation was successful run this command:

nmap --version

You’ll see output like:

That’s it. Thanks for reading.