Open the project folder
Choose the folder with expected-ports.csv, scans/ and reports/ as the working folder, then read the plan in Plan only.
Workflows
Network scanning tools, from first scan to closed port
03
A weekly check of a home lab
You own a router, a file server and a few old test machines. Most network scanning tools print a list and stop. Here the list is compared with a baseline you keep, and every difference gets a decision: keep, close or check. Only your own addresses count.
Run the scan
Switch to Ask first and approve the command. Shell runs your scanner on 192.168.1.x, the 'scan network for devices' task, in your range.
Compare with the baseline
The agent reads both files and lists new rows, missing rows and rows marked close.
Close it, then rescan
Close the service by hand or with an approved diff, scan again, and accept the report only if the port is gone.
The baseline file the agent compares against
Rescan 192.168.1.x and tell me which ports differ from expected-ports.csv.
- read_file
expected-ports.csv9 lines - Shell
your scanner on 192.168.1.xexit 0 - grep
open scans/week.txt9 matches - write_file
reports/week.md+18 lines
Waiting for your OK before the next stepRejectAccept
expected-ports.csv
# expected-ports.csv: baseline for the home network
# host,port,protocol,service,owner,action
192.168.1.1,53,udp,dns forwarder,me,keep
192.168.1.1,80,tcp,router admin page,me,check
192.168.1.1,443,tcp,router admin page,me,keep
192.168.1.20,445,tcp,file sharing,me,keep
192.168.1.20,3389,tcp,remote desktop,me,close
192.168.1.35,22,tcp,ssh,me,check
192.168.1.35,80,tcp,old test web server,me,closeComments start with #. Each row names a host, port, protocol, service and owner, plus the action you decided on, and the agent compares every new scan with these rows.
Port scan best practices in your lab
Start gently with one device
Start small. Begin with a single device you own, not the whole range. Ask for Plan only first, so the agent lists the command it would run through Shell. If a device slows down, reboots or stops responding while the scan runs, stop the scan, narrow the address list and run it again in Ask first mode. Pick a quiet hour, because old printers, cameras and controllers can react badly to probing. When the scan finishes, open the saved file and check that every address in it belongs to you.
Review odd findings before you change anything
Odd open ports deserve a check of three things: the process ID from netstat -ano, the program name from tasklist, and whether the baseline lists the port. The first two work only for ports on the PC where the app runs, and there the agent writes the answers beside the row; for another device, you check the process on that device yourself. Cron can automate the weekly comparison, and to visualize port scan results as a chart, the agent can write them to a CSV file for your own spreadsheet program. Rescan after every change. Anything unexplained stays marked check.
