<refentry id="ncat-man">
  <refmeta>
    <refentrytitle>Ncat</refentrytitle>
    <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
    <refmiscinfo class="source">Ncat</refmiscinfo>
    <refmiscinfo class="manual">Ncat Reference Guide</refmiscinfo>
  </refmeta>

  <refnamediv id="ncat-man-name">
    <refname>ncat</refname>
    <refpurpose>Concatenate and redirect sockets</refpurpose>
  </refnamediv>

  <refsynopsisdiv id="ncat-man-synopsis">
    <cmdsynopsis>
      <command>ncat</command>
      <arg choice="opt" rep="repeat">
        <replaceable>OPTIONS</replaceable>
      </arg>
      <arg choice="opt">
        <replaceable>hostname</replaceable>
      </arg>
      <arg choice="opt">
        <replaceable>port</replaceable>
      </arg>
    </cmdsynopsis>
  </refsynopsisdiv>

  <refsect1 id="ncat-man-description">
    <title>Description</title>

    <para>Ncat is a feature-packed networking utility which reads and writes
    data across networks from the command line.  Ncat was written for the Nmap
    Project and is the culmination of the currently splintered family of Netcat
    incarnations.  It is designed to
    be a reliable back-end tool to instantly provide network connectivity to other
    applications and users. Ncat will not only work with IPv4 and IPv6 but provides
    the user with a virtually limitless number of potential uses.</para>

    <para>Among Ncat's vast number of features there is the ability to chain Ncats
    together; redirection of TCP, UDP, and SCTP ports to other sites; SSL support; and proxy
    connections via SOCKS4 or HTTP proxies (with optional proxy
    authentication as well).  Some general principles apply to most applications
    and thus give you the capability of instantly adding networking support to
    software that would normally never support it.</para>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1 id="ncat-man-options-summary">
    <title>Options Summary</title>

    <para>
<screen><xi:include href="ncat.usage.txt" parse="text" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" /></screen>
    </para>

  </refsect1>

  <refsect1 id="ncat-man-modes">
    <indexterm><primary>connect mode (Ncat)</primary></indexterm>
    <indexterm><primary>client mode (Ncat)</primary><see>connect mode</see></indexterm>
    <indexterm><primary>listen mode (Ncat)</primary></indexterm>
    <indexterm><primary>server mode (Ncat)</primary><see>listen mode</see></indexterm>
    <title>Connect Mode and Listen Mode</title>

    <para>
    Ncat operates in one of two primary modes: connect mode and listen
    mode. Other modes, such as the HTTP proxy server, act as special
    cases of these two. In connect mode, Ncat works as a client. In
    listen mode it is a server.
    </para>

    <para>
    In connect mode, the <option><replaceable>hostname</replaceable></option>
    and <option><replaceable>port</replaceable></option> arguments tell
    what to connect to.
    <option><replaceable>hostname</replaceable></option> is required,
    and may be a hostname or IP address. If
    <option><replaceable>port</replaceable></option> is supplied, it
    must be a decimal port number. If omitted, it defaults to
    31337.<indexterm><primary>default port of Ncat</primary></indexterm><indexterm><primary>31337</primary><see>default port of Ncat</see></indexterm>
    </para>

    <para>
    In listen mode, <option><replaceable>hostname</replaceable></option>
    and <option><replaceable>port</replaceable></option> control the
    address the server will bind to. Both arguments are optional in
    listen mode. If <option><replaceable>hostname</replaceable></option>
    is omitted, it defaults to listening on all available addresses. If
    <option><replaceable>port</replaceable></option> is omitted, it
    defaults to 31337.
    </para>

  </refsect1>

  <refsect1 id="ncat-man-proto-options">
    <title>Protocol Options</title>

    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>-4</option> (IPv4 only)
          <indexterm><primary><option>-4</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Force the use of IPv4 only (default).</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>-6</option> (IPv6 only)
          <indexterm><primary><option>-6</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Force the use of IPv6 only.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>-u</option>,
          <option>--udp</option> (Use UDP)
          <indexterm><primary><option>-u</option> (Ncat option)</primary><see><option>--udp</option></see></indexterm>
          <indexterm><primary><option>--udp</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Use UDP for the connection (the default is TCP).</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>--sctp</option> (Use SCTP)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--sctp</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Use SCTP for the connection (the default is TCP).
          SCTP support is implemented in TCP-compatible mode.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>

  </refsect1>

  <refsect1 id="ncat-man-connect-options">
    <title>Connect Mode Options</title>

    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>-g <replaceable>hop1</replaceable><optional>,<replaceable>hop2</replaceable>,...</optional></option> (Loose source routing)
          <indexterm><primary><option>-g</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Sets hops for IPv4 loose source routing.  You can use <option>-g</option>
          once with a comma-separated list of hops, use <option>-g</option> multiple
          times with single hops to build the list, or combine the two.  Hops can be
          given as IP addresses or hostnames.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>-G <replaceable>ptr</replaceable></option> (Set source routing pointer)
          <indexterm><primary><option>-G</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Sets the IPv4 source route <quote>pointer</quote> for use with <option>-g</option>.
          The argument must be a multiple of 4 and no more than 28.  Not all operating
          systems support setting this pointer to anything other than four.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>-p <replaceable>port</replaceable></option>,
          <option>--source-port <replaceable>port</replaceable></option> (Specify source port)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--source-port</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
          <indexterm><primary><option>-p</option> (Ncat option)</primary><see><option>--source-port</option></see></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Set the port number for Ncat to bind to.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>-s <replaceable>host</replaceable></option>,
          <option>--source <replaceable>host</replaceable></option> (Specify source address)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--source</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
          <indexterm><primary><option>-s</option> (Ncat option)</primary><see><option>--source</option></see></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Set the address for Ncat to bind to.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>

  </refsect1>

  <refsect1 id="ncat-man-listen-options">
    <title>Listen Mode Options</title>

    <para>See <xref linkend="ncat-man-access-options"/> for information on limiting the
    hosts that may connect to the listening Ncat process.</para>

    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>-l</option>,
          <option>--listen</option> (Listen for connections)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--listen</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
          <indexterm><primary><option>-l</option> (Ncat option)</primary><see><option>--listen</option></see></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Listen for connections rather than connecting to a remote
          machine</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>-m <replaceable>numconns</replaceable></option>,
          <option>--max-conns <replaceable>numconns</replaceable></option> (Specify maximum number of connections)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--max-conns</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
          <indexterm><primary><option>-m</option> (Ncat option)</primary><see><option>--max-conns</option></see></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>The maximum number of simultaneous connections accepted by an Ncat
          instance. 100 is the default.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>-k</option>,
          <option>--keep-open</option> (Accept multiple connections)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--keep-open</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
          <indexterm><primary><option>-k</option> (Ncat option)</primary><see><option>--keep-open</option></see></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Normally a listening server accepts only one connection and
          then quits when the connection is closed. This option makes it accept
          multiple simultaneous connections and wait for more connections after
          they have all been closed. It must be combined with
          <option>--listen</option>. In this mode there is no way for Ncat to
          know when its network input is finished, so it will keep running
          until interrupted. This also means that it will never close its
          output stream, so any program reading from Ncat and looking for
          end-of-file will also hang.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>--broker</option> (Connection brokering)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--broker</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Allow multiple parties to connect to a centralised Ncat server
          and communicate with each other. Ncat can broker communication between
          systems that are behind a NAT or otherwise unable to directly connect.
          This option is used in conjunction with <option>--listen</option>, which
          causes the <option>--listen</option> port to have broker mode enabled.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>--chat</option> (Ad-hoc <quote>chat server</quote>)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--chat</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>The <option>--chat</option> option enables chat mode, intended
          for the exchange of text between several users. In chat mode,
          connection brokering is turned on. Ncat prefixes each message received
          with an ID before relaying it to the other connections. The ID is
          unique for each connected client. This helps distinguish who sent
          what. Additionally, non-printing characters such as control characters
          are escaped to keep them from doing damage to a terminal.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>

  </refsect1>

  <refsect1 id="ncat-man-ssl-options">
    <title>SSL Options</title>

    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>--ssl</option> (Use SSL)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--ssl</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>In connect mode, this option transparently negotiates an SSL
          session with an SSL server to securely encrypt the connection. This is
          particularly handy for talking to SSL enabled HTTP servers, etc.</para>
          <para>In server mode, this option listens for incoming SSL connections,
          rather than plain untunneled traffic.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>--ssl-verify</option> (Verify server certificates)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--ssl-verify</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>In client mode, <option>--ssl-verify</option> is like
          <option>--ssl</option> except that it also requires verification of
          the server certificate. Ncat comes with a default set of trusted
          certificates in the file
          <filename>ca-bundle.crt</filename><indexterm><primary><filename>ca-bundle.crt</filename></primary></indexterm>.
          Some operating systems provide a default list of
          trusted certificates; these will also be used if available. Use
          <option>--ssl-trustfile</option> to give a custom list. Use
          <option>-v</option> one or more times to get details about
          verification failures.</para>
          <para>This option has no effect in server mode.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>--ssl-cert <replaceable>certfile.pem</replaceable></option> (Specify SSL certificate)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--ssl-cert</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>This option gives the location of a PEM-encoded
          certificate files used to authenticate the server (in listen
          mode) or the client (in connect mode). Use it in combination
          with <option>--ssl-key</option>.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>--ssl-key <replaceable>keyfile.pem</replaceable></option> (Specify SSL private key)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--ssl-key</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>This option gives the location of the PEM-encoded
          private key file that goes with the certificate named with
          <option>--ssl-cert</option>.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>--ssl-trustfile <replaceable>cert.pem</replaceable></option> (List trusted certificates)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--ssl-trustfile</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>This option sets a list of certificates that are trusted for
          purposes of certificate verification. It has no effect unless combined
          with <option>--ssl-verify</option>. The argument to this option is the
          name of a PEM<indexterm><primary>PEM (Privacy Enhanced Mail)</primary></indexterm>
          file containing trusted certificates. Typically, the file will contain
          certificates of certification authorities, though it may also contain
          server certificates directly. When this option is used, Ncat does not
          use its default certificates.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>

  </refsect1>

  <refsect1 id="ncat-man-proxy-options">
    <title>Proxy Options</title>

    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>--proxy <replaceable>host</replaceable>[:<replaceable>port</replaceable>]</option> (Specify proxy address)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--proxy</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Requests proxying through <replaceable>host</replaceable>:<replaceable>port</replaceable>,
          using the protocol specified by <option>--proxy-type</option>.</para>

          <para>If no port is specified, the proxy protocol's well-known port is used (1080 for
          SOCKS and 3128 for HTTP).  However, when specifying an IPv6 HTTP proxy server using
          the IP address rather than the hostname, the port number MUST be specified as well.
          If the proxy requires authentication, use <option>--proxy-auth</option>.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>--proxy-type <replaceable>proto</replaceable></option> (Specify proxy protocol)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--proxy-type</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>In connect mode, this option requests the protocol <replaceable>proto</replaceable>
          to connect through the proxy host specified by <option>--proxy</option>.  In listen mode,
          this option has Ncat act as a proxy server using the specified protocol.</para>

          <para>The currently available protocols in connect mode are <literal>http</literal>
          (CONNECT) and <literal>socks4</literal> (SOCKSv4).  The only server currently supported
          is <literal>http</literal>.
          If this option is not used, the default protocol is <literal>http</literal>.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>--proxy-auth <replaceable>user</replaceable><optional>:<replaceable>pass</replaceable></optional></option> (Specify proxy credentials)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--proxy-auth</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>In connect mode, gives the credentials that will be used to
          connect to the proxy server. In listen mode, gives the credentials
          that will be required of connecting clients. For use with
          <option>--proxy-type http</option>, the form should be user:pass.  For
          <option>--proxy-type socks4</option>, it should be a username only.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>

  </refsect1>

  <refsect1 id="ncat-man-command-options">
    <title>Command Execution Options</title>

    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>-e <replaceable>command</replaceable></option>,
          <option>--exec <replaceable>command</replaceable></option> (Execute command)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--exec</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
          <indexterm><primary><option>-e</option> (Ncat option)</primary><see><option>--exec</option></see></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Execute the specified command after a connection has been
          established. The command must be specified as a full pathname. All
          input from the remote client will be sent to the application and
          responses sent back to the remote client over the socket, thus
          making your command-line application interactive over a
          socket. Combined with <option>--keep-open</option>,
          Ncat will handle multiple simultaneous connections to your
          specified port/application like inetd. Ncat will only
          accept a maximum, definable, number of simultaneous connections
          controlled by the <option>-m</option> option. By default this is set
          to 100.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>-c <replaceable>command</replaceable></option>,
          <option>--sh-exec <replaceable>command</replaceable></option> (Execute command via sh)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--sh-exec</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
          <indexterm><primary><option>-c</option> (Ncat option)</primary><see><option>--sh-exec</option></see></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Same as <option>-e</option>, except it tries to execute
          the command via <filename>/bin/sh</filename>. This means you don't
          have to specify the full path for the command, and shell facilities
          like environment variables are available.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>

  </refsect1>

  <refsect1 id="ncat-man-access-options">
    <title>Access Control Options</title>

    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>--allow <replaceable>host</replaceable><optional>,<replaceable>host</replaceable>,...</optional></option> (Allow connections)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--allow</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>The list of hosts specified will be the only hosts allowed
          to connect to the Ncat process. All other connection attempts will
          be disconnected. In case of a conflict between
          <option>--allow</option> and <option>--deny</option>,
          <option>--allow</option> takes precedence. Host
          specifications follow the same syntax used
          by Nmap.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>--allowfile <replaceable>file</replaceable></option> (Allow connections from file)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--allowfile</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>This has the same functionality as <option>--allow</option>,
          except that the allowed hosts are provided in a new-line delimited allow
          file, rather than directly on the command line.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>--deny <replaceable>host</replaceable><optional>,<replaceable>host</replaceable>,...</optional></option> (Deny connections)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--deny</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Issue Ncat with a list of hosts that will not be allowed to connect
          to the listening Ncat process. Specified hosts will have their session
          silently terminated if they try to connect.
          be disconnected. In case of a conflict between
          <option>--allow</option> and <option>--deny</option>,
          <option>--allow</option> takes precedence. Host
          specifications follow the same syntax used by Nmap.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>--denyfile <replaceable>file</replaceable></option> (Deny connections from file)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--denyfile</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>This is the same functionality as <option>--deny</option>,
          except that excluded hosts are provided in a new-line delimited deny
          file, rather than directly on the command line.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>

  </refsect1>

  <refsect1 id="ncat-man-timing-options">
    <title>Timing Options</title>

    <para>These options accept a <literal>time</literal> parameter.  This is specified
    in seconds by default, though you can append <literal>ms</literal>, <literal>s</literal>, <literal>m</literal>,
    or <literal>h</literal> to the value to specify milliseconds, seconds, minutes, or hours.</para>

    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>-d <replaceable>time</replaceable></option>,
          <option>--delay <replaceable>time</replaceable></option> (Specify line delay)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--delay</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
          <indexterm><primary><option>-d</option> (Ncat option)</primary><see><option>--delay</option></see></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Set the delay interval for lines sent. This effectively limits
          the number of lines that Ncat will send in the specified period. This
          may be useful for low-bandwidth sites, or have other uses such as
          coping with
          annoying <command>iptables --limit</command> options.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>-i <replaceable>time</replaceable></option>,
          <option>--idle-timeout <replaceable>time</replaceable></option> (Specify idle timeout)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--idle-timeout</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
          <indexterm><primary><option>-i</option> (Ncat option)</primary><see><option>--idle-timeout</option></see></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Set a fixed timeout for idle connections. If the idle timeout
          is reached, the connection is terminated.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>-w <replaceable>time</replaceable></option>,
          <option>--wait <replaceable>time</replaceable></option> (Specify connect timeout)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--wait</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
          <indexterm><primary><option>-w</option> (Ncat option)</primary><see><option>--wait</option></see></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Set a fixed timeout for connection attempts.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>

  </refsect1>

  <refsect1 id="ncat-man-output-options">
    <title>Output Options</title>

    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>-o <replaceable>file</replaceable></option>,
          <option>--output <replaceable>file</replaceable></option> (Save session data)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--output</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
          <indexterm><primary><option>-o</option> (Ncat option)</primary><see><option>--output</option></see></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Dump session data to a file</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>-x <replaceable>file</replaceable></option>,
          <option>--hex-dump <replaceable>file</replaceable></option> (Save session data in hex)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--hex-dump</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
          <indexterm><primary><option>-x</option> (Ncat option)</primary><see><option>--hex-dump</option></see></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Dump session data in hex to a file. This can be used to
          <quote>replay</quote> sessions.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>-v</option>,
          <option>--verbose</option> (Be verbose)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--verbose</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
          <indexterm><primary><option>-v</option> (Ncat option)</primary><see><option>--verbose</option></see></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Issue Ncat with <option>-v</option> and it will be verbose and
          display all kinds of useful connection based information. Use more
          than once (<option>-vv</option>, <option>-vvv</option>) for greater
          verbosity. <option>-vvv</option> is the maximum level.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>

  </refsect1>

  <refsect1 id="ncat-man-misc-options">
    <title>Misc Options</title>

    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>-C</option>,
          <option>--crlf</option> (Use CRLF as EOL)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--crlf</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
          <indexterm><primary><option>-C</option> (Ncat option)</primary><see><option>--crlf</option></see></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>This option tells Ncat to convert
          LF<indexterm><primary>LF line ending</primary></indexterm>
          line endings to
          CRLF<indexterm><primary>CRLF line ending</primary></indexterm>
          when taking input from
          standard input.<indexterm><primary>standard input</primary></indexterm>
          This is useful for talking to some stringent
          servers directly from a terminal in one of the many common plain-text
          protocols that use CRLF for end-of-line.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>-h</option>,
          <option>--help</option> (Help screen)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--help</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
          <indexterm><primary><option>-h</option> (Ncat option)</primary><see><option>--help</option></see></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Displays a short help screen with common options and parameters,
          and then exits.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>--recv-only</option> (Only receive data)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--recv-only</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>If this option is passed, Ncat will only receive data and will
          not try to send anything.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>--send-only</option> (Only send data)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--send-only</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>If this option is passed, then Ncat will only send data and will
          ignore anything received.  This option also causes Ncat to close the
          network connection and terminate after EOF is received on standard
          input.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>-t</option>,
          <option>--telnet</option> (Answer Telnet negotiations)
          <indexterm><primary><option>-t</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Handle DO/DONT WILL/WONT Telnet negotiations.  This makes it
          possible to script Telnet sessions with Ncat.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>--version</option> (Display version)
          <indexterm><primary><option>--version</option> (Ncat option)</primary></indexterm>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Displays the Ncat version number and exits.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

    </variablelist>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1 id="ncat-man-examples">
    <title>Examples</title>

    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>
        <para>Connect to example.org on TCP port 8080.</para>
        </term>
        <listitem>
        <command>ncat example.org 8080</command>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>
        <para>Listen for connections on TCP port 8080.</para>
        </term>
        <listitem>
        <command>ncat -l 8080</command>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>
        <para>Redirect TCP port 8080 on the local machine to host on port
        80.</para>
        </term>
        <listitem>
        <command>ncat --sh-exec "ncat example.org 80" -l 8080 --keep-open</command>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>
        <para>Bind to TCP port 8081 and attach <filename>/bin/bash</filename>
        for the world to access freely.</para>
        </term>
        <listitem>
        <command>ncat --exec "/bin/bash" -l 8081 --keep-open</command>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>
        <para>Bind a shell to TCP port 8081, limit access to hosts on a local
        network, and limit the maximum number of simultaneous connections to
        3.</para>
        </term>
        <listitem>
        <command>ncat --exec "/bin/bash" --max-conns 3 --allow 192.168.0.0/24 -l 8081 --keep-open</command>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>
        <para>Connect to smtphost:25 through a SOCKS4 server on port
        1080.</para>
        </term>
        <listitem>
        <command>ncat --proxy socks4host --proxy-type socks4 --proxy-auth user smtphost 25</command>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>
        <para>Create an HTTP proxy server on localhost port 8888.</para>
        </term>
        <listitem>
        <command>ncat -l --proxy-type http localhost 8888</command>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>
        <para>Send a file over TCP port 9899 from host2 (client) to host1
        (server).</para>
        </term>
        <listitem>
<para>HOST1$ <command>ncat -l 9899 &gt; outputfile</command></para>
<para>HOST2$ <command>ncat HOST1 9899 &lt; inputfile</command></para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>
        <para>Transfer in the other direction, turning Ncat into a <quote>one
        file</quote> server.</para>
        </term>
        <listitem>
<para>HOST1$ <command>ncat -l 9899 &lt; inputfile</command></para>
<para>HOST2$ <command>ncat HOST1 9899 &gt; outputfile</command></para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1 id="ncat-man-exit-code">
    <title>Exit Code</title>

    <para>The exit code reflects whether a connection was made and
    completed successfully. 0 means there was no error. 1 means there
    was a network error of some kind, for example <quote>Connection
    refused</quote> or <quote>Connection reset</quote>. 2 is reserved
    for all other errors, like an invalid option or a nonexistent
    file.</para>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1 id="ncat-man-bugs">
    <title>Bugs</title>

    <para>Like its authors, Ncat isn't perfect.  But you can help make
    it better by sending bug reports or even writing patches.  If Ncat
    doesn't behave the way you expect, first upgrade to the latest
    version available from <ulink
    url="http://nmap.org"/>.  If the problem persists,
    do some research to determine whether it has already been
    discovered and addressed.  Try Googling the error message or
    browsing the <citetitle>nmap-dev</citetitle> archives at <ulink
    url="http://seclists.org/" />.
    <indexterm><primary><citetitle>nmap-dev</citetitle> mailing list</primary></indexterm>
    Read this full manual page as
    well.  If nothing comes of this, mail a bug report to
    <email>nmap-dev@insecure.org</email>.  Please include everything
    you have learned about the problem, as well as what version of
    Ncat you are running and what operating system version it is
    running on.  Problem reports and Ncat usage questions sent to
    nmap-dev@insecure.org are far more likely to be answered than
    those sent to Fyodor directly.</para>

    <para>Code patches to fix bugs are even better than bug reports.
    Basic instructions for creating patch files with your changes are
    available at <ulink
    url="http://nmap.org/data/HACKING" />.  Patches may
    be sent to <citetitle>nmap-dev</citetitle> (recommended) or to Fyodor directly.</para>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1 id="ncat-man-author">
    <title>Authors</title>

    <itemizedlist>
      <listitem>
        <para>Chris Gibson <email>chris@linuxops.net</email></para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>Kris Katterjohn <email>katterjohn@gmail.com</email></para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>Mixter <email>mixter@gmail.com</email></para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>Fyodor <email>fyodor@insecure.org</email>
        (<ulink url="http://insecure.org" />)</para>
      </listitem>
    </itemizedlist>


    <para>The original Netcat was written by *Hobbit* <email>hobbit@avian.org</email>.
    While Ncat isn't built on any code from the <quote>traditional</quote> Netcat (or any
    other implementation), Ncat is most definitely based on Netcat in spirit
    and functionality.</para>
  </refsect1>
</refentry>

