Description of zenmap.conf

Description of `zenmap.conf`

zenmap.conf is the user-specific configuration file for Zenmap. It is a plain text file located in the per-user configuration directory (see the section called “Per-user Configuration Files”). The syntax is that recognized by the Python ConfigParser class, which is similar to that of Windows INI files. Sections are delimited by titles in square brackets. Within sections are lines containing <name>=<value> or <name>: <value> pairs. An excerpt from a zenmap.conf is shown.

[output_highlight]
enable_highlight = True

[paths]
nmap_command_path = nmap
ndiff_command_path = ndiff

[search]
search_db = 1
file_extension = xml
store_results = 1
directory = 
save_time = 60;days

Some of these settings can be controlled from within Zenmap without editing the configuration file directly.

Sections of `zenmap.conf`

Boolean values are normalized from True, true, or 1 to true or anything else to false.

[paths]

The [paths] section defines important paths used by Zenmap.

nmap_command_path: The path to the Nmap executable. Whatever the first word is in a command line executed by Zenmap will be replaced by the value of this variable. Its default value of nmap is appropriate for most systems. See the section called “The nmap Executable” for examples.
ndiff_command_path: The path to the Ndiff scan comparison utility. Zenmap uses Ndiff to do scan comparisons; see the section called “Comparing Results”.

[search]

The [search] section defines how the search tool (see the section called “Searching Saved Results”) behaves. The names in this section correspond to the options in the “Search options” tab of the search dialog. It has the following names defined.

directory: The directory to search for saved scan results files.
file_extension: A semicolon-separated list of file name extensions to search.
search_db: A Boolean controlling whether to search the recent scans database.
store_results: A Boolean controlling whether to store scan results in the recent scans database. See the section called “The Recent Scans Database”.
save_time: How long to keep scan results in the recent scans database. Results older than this are deleted when Zenmap is closed. The format is a number and a time interval separated by semicolons, for example 60;days or 1;years.

[diff]

The [diff] section defines how the comparison tool (see the section called “Comparing Results”) behaves. It has the following names defined.

diff_mode: Controls whether comparisons are shown by default in graphical or text mode. Must be either compare for graphical mode or text.
colored_diff: A Boolean that controls if comparisons use color.

[diff_colors]

The [diff_colors] section defines the colors used by the comparison tool. It has the following names defined: unchanged, added, not_present, and modified, the meanings of which are defined in the section called “Comparing Results”. The value of each of these is a list of three integers in the range 0–65535 representing red, green, and blue in the format [<red>, <green>, <blue>]. For example, [65535, 0, 0] specifies red.

[output_highlight]

The [output_highlight] section contains a single Boolean variable enable_highlight, which enables output highlighting when True and disables it if False.

[date_highlight], [hostname_highlight], [ip_highlight], [port_list_highlight], [open_port_highlight], [closed_port_highlight], [filtered_port_highlight], [details_highlight]

These sections all define the nature of Nmap output highlighting, which is discussed in the section called “The “Nmap Output” tab”. These are best edited from within Zenmap. Within each of these sections, the following names are defined.

regex: The regular expression that matches the relevant part of the output.
bold: A Boolean controlling whether to make this highlight bold.
italic: A Boolean controlling whether to make this highlight italic.
underline: A Boolean controlling whether to underline this highlight.
text: The color of the text in this highlight. The syntax is a list of three integers in the range 0–65535 representing red, green, and blue in the format [<red>, <green>, <blue>]. For example, [65535, 0, 0] for a red highlight.
highlight: The color of the background in this highlight. The syntax is the same as for text.