Debug Options

Control logging, output verbosity, and scan monitoring

Overview

Debug options help you monitor scan progress, troubleshoot issues, and control the amount of information displayed during execution.

Verbosity Control

-v, -verbose · boolean · default: "false"

Display verbose output with detailed information about scan operations.

Shows additional details including:

• Scan phase transitions
• Port discovery events
• Service detection attempts
• HTTP analysis progress
• Error messages and warnings

Example:

# Verbose output
scan4all -host example.com -v

# Verbose with output file
scan4all -host example.com -verbose -o results.txt

Use verbose mode for:

• Understanding scan behavior
• Troubleshooting issues
• Learning what the tool is doing
• Debugging connectivity problems

-debug · boolean · default: "false"

Display debugging information for development and troubleshooting.

Provides the most detailed output including:

• Internal state information
• Network packet details
• Library debug messages
• Configuration parameters
• Detailed error traces

Example:

# Debug mode
scan4all -host example.com -debug

# Debug with specific configuration
scan4all -host example.com -debug -rate 500 -timeout 2000

Debug mode produces extensive output. Only use when actively troubleshooting issues.

-silent · boolean · default: "false"

Display only results in output, suppressing all other messages.

Silent mode removes:

• Banner and version info
• Progress indicators
• Status messages
• Warnings
• Summary statistics

Only scan results (found ports/services) are displayed.

Example:

# Silent output - only results
scan4all -host example.com -silent

# Silent with output file
scan4all -host example.com -silent -o results.txt

# Silent for scripting
scan4all -host example.com -silent -json | jq '.port'

Perfect for:

• Shell scripting
• Parsing output
• CI/CD pipelines
• Automated workflows

Output Formatting

-nc, -no-color · boolean · default: "false"

Disable colored output in CLI.

Removes ANSI color codes from output. Automatically enabled on Windows systems.

Example:

# Plain text output
scan4all -host example.com -nc

# For log files
scan4all -host example.com -no-color | tee scan.log

Automatically enabled on Windows. Use this flag on Unix systems when redirecting output to files or when color codes cause display issues.

Progress Monitoring

-stats · boolean · default: "false"

Display real-time statistics during scan execution.

Shows periodic updates including:

• Number of hosts scanned
• Ports checked
• Open ports found
• Elapsed time
• Estimated time remaining
• Current scan rate

Example:

# Enable statistics
scan4all -l targets.txt -stats

# Stats with custom interval
scan4all -l targets.txt -stats -si 10

Essential for:

• Long-running scans
• Large target lists
• Performance monitoring
• Capacity planning

-si, -stats-interval · integer · default: "5"

Number of seconds between statistics updates.

Controls how frequently progress statistics are displayed when -stats is enabled.

Range: 1-300 seconds (practical range: 5-60)

Examples:

# Update every 10 seconds
scan4all -l targets.txt -stats -si 10

# Frequent updates (every 2 seconds)
scan4all -host example.com -stats -stats-interval 2

# Infrequent updates (every minute)
scan4all -l large_targets.txt -stats -si 60

Lower intervals provide more frequent updates but can clutter output. Higher intervals are better for very long scans.

Version Information

-version · boolean

Display the version of scan4all and exit.

Shows the current version number without performing any scanning.

Example:

scan4all -version

Output:

Current Version: v1.x.x

Verbosity Levels Comparison

Silent Mode (-silent)

scan4all -host example.com -silent

Output:

example.com:80
example.com:443
example.com:8080

Normal Mode (Default)

scan4all -host example.com

Output:

[INFO] Running SYN scan with CAP_NET_RAW privileges
[INFO] Port scan starting....
example.com:80
example.com:443
example.com:8080
[INFO] Port scan over, web scan starting
[INFO] Found 3 open ports

Verbose Mode (-v)

scan4all -host example.com -v

Output:

[INFO] Running SYN scan with CAP_NET_RAW privileges
[INFO] Resolving example.com
[INFO] Resolved to 93.184.216.34
[INFO] Port scan starting....
[INFO] Scanning 1000 ports
[INFO] Port 80 open on example.com
[INFO] Port 443 open on example.com
[INFO] Port 8080 open on example.com
[INFO] Port scan over, web scan starting
[INFO] Checking HTTP on example.com:80
[INFO] Checking HTTPS on example.com:443
[INFO] Found 3 open ports

Debug Mode (-debug)

scan4all -host example.com -debug

Output: (Extremely detailed - includes all verbose output plus internal details)

Common Debug Scenarios

Troubleshooting Connection Issues

# See detailed connection attempts
scan4all -host example.com -debug -timeout 3000

Monitoring Large Scans

# Watch progress with stats
scan4all -l targets.txt -stats -si 10 -v

Scripting and Automation

# Silent output for parsing
scan4all -host example.com -silent -json > results.json

Performance Analysis

# Stats with verbose output
scan4all -l targets.txt -v -stats -si 5

File Logging

# Verbose output to file without colors
scan4all -host example.com -v -nc | tee scan.log

Output Redirection Examples

Save All Output

scan4all -host example.com -v > full_output.txt 2>&1

Save Only Results

scan4all -host example.com -silent > results.txt

Separate Results and Logs

scan4all -host example.com -o results.txt -v > scan.log

Real-time Monitoring and Saving

scan4all -host example.com -v | tee scan_output.log

Combining Debug Options

Production Scan (Minimal Output)

scan4all -l targets.txt -silent -o results.json -json

Development Testing

scan4all -host test.com -debug -stats -si 2

Monitored Long Scan

scan4all -l large_list.txt -v -stats -si 30 -o results.txt

Quiet Background Scan

scan4all -l targets.txt -silent -o results.json -json &

Performance Monitoring

When using -stats, you’ll see updates like:

[STATS] Hosts: 45/100 | Ports: 45000/100000 | Open: 342 | Time: 5m23s | ETA: 6m12s | Rate: 987 p/s

Metrics explained:

• Hosts: Scanned / Total hosts
• Ports: Checked / Total ports
• Open: Number of open ports found
• Time: Elapsed time
• ETA: Estimated time remaining
• Rate: Current packets per second

Best Practices

1. Use appropriate verbosity:

   • Silent for automation
   • Normal for interactive use
   • Verbose for troubleshooting
   • Debug only when necessary

2. Enable stats for long scans: Monitor progress and estimate completion

3. Disable colors for logs: Use -nc when saving to files

4. Combine with output files: Use -o even with -silent or -v

5. Adjust stats interval: Match to scan duration

   • Short scans: 2-5 seconds
   • Medium scans: 5-15 seconds
   • Long scans: 30-60 seconds

6. Redirect appropriately: Separate stdout and stderr when needed

7. Use silent mode for pipelines: When chaining with other tools

Troubleshooting with Debug Options

No Results Returned

# Check with verbose mode
scan4all -host example.com -v

# If still unclear, use debug
scan4all -host example.com -debug

Slow Performance

# Monitor with stats to identify bottleneck
scan4all -host example.com -stats -si 5 -v

Unexpected Behavior

# Full debug output
scan4all -host example.com -debug > debug.log 2>&1

Parsing Errors in Scripts

# Ensure clean output
scan4all -host example.com -silent -json

Related Options

• Output Options - Control result formatting and file output
• Scan Options - Use -stream for real-time output
• Rate Limit Options - Optimize performance based on stats feedback