Shodan

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Comprehensive shodan commands and workflows for system administration across all platforms.

Basic Commands

Command	Description
shodan --version	Show shodan version
shodan --help	Display help information
shodan init	Initialize shodan in current directory
shodan status	Check current status
shodan list	List available options
shodan info	Display system information
shodan config	Show configuration settings
shodan update	Update to latest version
shodan start	Start shodan service
shodan stop	Stop shodan service
shodan restart	Restart shodan service
shodan reload	Reload configuration

Installation

Linux/Ubuntu

# Package manager installation
sudo apt update
sudo apt install shodan

# Alternative installation
wget https://github.com/example/shodan/releases/latest/download/shodan-linux
chmod +x shodan-linux
sudo mv shodan-linux /usr/local/bin/shodan

# Build from source
git clone https://github.com/example/shodan.git
cd shodan
make && sudo make install

macOS

# Homebrew installation
brew install shodan

# MacPorts installation
sudo port install shodan

# Manual installation
curl -L -o shodan https://github.com/example/shodan/releases/latest/download/shodan-macos
chmod +x shodan
sudo mv shodan /usr/local/bin/

Windows

# Chocolatey installation
choco install shodan

# Scoop installation
scoop install shodan

# Winget installation
winget install shodan

# Manual installation
# Download from https://github.com/example/shodan/releases
# Extract and add to PATH

Configuration

Command	Description
shodan config show	Display current configuration
shodan config list	List all configuration options
shodan config set <key> <value>	Set configuration value
shodan config get <key>	Get configuration value
shodan config unset <key>	Remove configuration value
shodan config reset	Reset to default configuration
shodan config validate	Validate configuration file
shodan config export	Export configuration to file

Advanced Operations

File Operations

# Create new file/resource
shodan create <name>

# Read file/resource
shodan read <name>

# Update existing file/resource
shodan update <name>

# Delete file/resource
shodan delete <name>

# Copy file/resource
shodan copy <source> <destination>

# Move file/resource
shodan move <source> <destination>

# List all files/resources
shodan list --all

# Search for files/resources
shodan search <pattern>

Network Operations

# Connect to remote host
shodan connect <host>:<port>

# Listen on specific port
shodan listen --port <port>

# Send data to target
shodan send --target <host> --data "<data>"

# Receive data from source
shodan receive --source <host>

# Test connectivity
shodan ping <host>

# Scan network range
shodan scan <network>

# Monitor network traffic
shodan monitor --interface <interface>

# Proxy connections
shodan proxy --listen <port> --target <host>:<port>

Process Management

# Start background process
shodan start --daemon

# Stop running process
shodan stop --force

# Restart with new configuration
shodan restart --config <file>

# Check process status
shodan status --verbose

# Monitor process performance
shodan monitor --metrics

# Kill all processes
shodan killall

# Show running processes
shodan ps

# Manage process priority
shodan priority --pid <pid> --level <level>

Security Features

Authentication

# Login with username/password
shodan login --user <username>

# Login with API key
shodan login --api-key <key>

# Login with certificate
shodan login --cert <cert_file>

# Logout current session
shodan logout

# Change password
shodan passwd

# Generate new API key
shodan generate-key --name <key_name>

# List active sessions
shodan sessions

# Revoke session
shodan revoke --session <session_id>

Encryption

# Encrypt file
shodan encrypt --input <file> --output <encrypted_file>

# Decrypt file
shodan decrypt --input <encrypted_file> --output <file>

# Generate encryption key
shodan keygen --type <type> --size <size>

# Sign file
shodan sign --input <file> --key <private_key>

# Verify signature
shodan verify --input <file> --signature <sig_file>

# Hash file
shodan hash --algorithm <algo> --input <file>

# Generate certificate
shodan cert generate --name <name> --days <days>

# Verify certificate
shodan cert verify --cert <cert_file>

Monitoring and Logging

System Monitoring

# Monitor system resources
shodan monitor --system

# Monitor specific process
shodan monitor --pid <pid>

# Monitor network activity
shodan monitor --network

# Monitor file changes
shodan monitor --files <directory>

# Real-time monitoring
shodan monitor --real-time --interval 1

# Generate monitoring report
shodan report --type monitoring --output <file>

# Set monitoring alerts
shodan alert --threshold <value> --action <action>

# View monitoring history
shodan history --type monitoring

Logging

# View logs
shodan logs

# View logs with filter
shodan logs --filter <pattern>

# Follow logs in real-time
shodan logs --follow

# Set log level
shodan logs --level <level>

# Rotate logs
shodan logs --rotate

# Export logs
shodan logs --export <file>

# Clear logs
shodan logs --clear

# Archive logs
shodan logs --archive <archive_file>

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Issue: Command not found

# Check if shodan is installed
which shodan
shodan --version

# Check PATH variable
echo $PATH

# Reinstall if necessary
sudo apt reinstall shodan
# or
brew reinstall shodan

Issue: Permission denied

# Run with elevated privileges
sudo shodan <command>

# Check file permissions
ls -la $(which shodan)

# Fix permissions
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/shodan

# Check ownership
sudo chown $USER:$USER /usr/local/bin/shodan

Issue: Configuration errors

# Validate configuration
shodan config validate

# Reset to default configuration
shodan config reset

# Check configuration file location
shodan config show --file

# Backup current configuration
shodan config export > backup.conf

# Restore from backup
shodan config import backup.conf

Issue: Service not starting

# Check service status
shodan status --detailed

# Check system logs
journalctl -u shodan

# Start in debug mode
shodan start --debug

# Check port availability
netstat -tulpn|grep <port>

# Kill conflicting processes
shodan killall --force

Debug Commands

Command	Description
shodan --debug	Enable debug output
shodan --verbose	Enable verbose logging
shodan --trace	Enable trace logging
shodan test	Run built-in tests
shodan doctor	Run system health check
shodan diagnose	Generate diagnostic report
shodan benchmark	Run performance benchmarks
shodan validate	Validate installation and configuration

Performance Optimization

Resource Management

# Set memory limit
shodan --max-memory 1G <command>

# Set CPU limit
shodan --max-cpu 2 <command>

# Enable caching
shodan --cache-enabled <command>

# Set cache size
shodan --cache-size 100M <command>

# Clear cache
shodan cache clear

# Show cache statistics
shodan cache stats

# Optimize performance
shodan optimize --profile <profile>

# Show performance metrics
shodan metrics

Parallel Processing

# Enable parallel processing
shodan --parallel <command>

# Set number of workers
shodan --workers 4 <command>

# Process in batches
shodan --batch-size 100 <command>

# Queue management
shodan queue add <item>
shodan queue process
shodan queue status
shodan queue clear

Integration

Scripting

#!/bin/bash
# Example script using shodan

set -euo pipefail

# Configuration
CONFIG_FILE="config.yaml"
LOG_FILE="shodan.log"

# Check if shodan is available
if ! command -v shodan &> /dev/null; then
    echo "Error: shodan is not installed" >&2
    exit 1
fi

# Function to log messages
log() \\\\{
    echo "$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S') - $1"|tee -a "$LOG_FILE"
\\\\}

# Main operation
main() \\\\{
    log "Starting shodan operation"

    if shodan --config "$CONFIG_FILE" run; then
        log "Operation completed successfully"
        exit 0
    else
        log "Operation failed with exit code $?"
        exit 1
    fi
\\\\}

# Cleanup function
cleanup() \\\\{
    log "Cleaning up"
    shodan cleanup
\\\\}

# Set trap for cleanup
trap cleanup EXIT

# Run main function
main "$@"

API Integration

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""
Python wrapper for the tool
"""

import subprocess
import json
import logging
from pathlib import Path
from typing import Dict, List, Optional

class ToolWrapper:
    def __init__(self, config_file: Optional[str] = None):
        self.config_file = config_file
        self.logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)

    def run_command(self, args: List[str]) -> Dict:
        """Run command and return parsed output"""
        cmd = ['tool_name']

        if self.config_file:
            cmd.extend(['--config', self.config_file])

        cmd.extend(args)

        try:
            result = subprocess.run(
                cmd,
                capture_output=True,
                text=True,
                check=True
            )
            return \\\\{'stdout': result.stdout, 'stderr': result.stderr\\\\}
        except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
            self.logger.error(f"Command failed: \\\\{e\\\\}")
            raise

    def status(self) -> Dict:
        """Get current status"""
        return self.run_command(['status'])

    def start(self) -> Dict:
        """Start service"""
        return self.run_command(['start'])

    def stop(self) -> Dict:
        """Stop service"""
        return self.run_command(['stop'])

# Example usage
if __name__ == "__main__":
    wrapper = ToolWrapper()
    status = wrapper.status()
    print(json.dumps(status, indent=2))

Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Default
SHODAN_CONFIG	Configuration file path	~/.shodan/config.yaml
SHODAN_HOME	Home directory	~/.shodan
SHODAN_LOG_LEVEL	Logging level	INFO
SHODAN_LOG_FILE	Log file path	~/.shodan/logs/shodan.log
SHODAN_CACHE_DIR	Cache directory	~/.shodan/cache
SHODAN_DATA_DIR	Data directory	~/.shodan/data
SHODAN_TIMEOUT	Default timeout	30s
SHODAN_MAX_WORKERS	Maximum workers	4

Configuration File

# ~/.shodan/config.yaml
version: "1.0"

# General settings
settings:
  debug: false
  verbose: false
  log_level: "INFO"
  log_file: "~/.shodan/logs/shodan.log"
  timeout: 30
  max_workers: 4

# Network configuration
network:
  host: "localhost"
  port: 8080
  ssl: true
  timeout: 30
  retries: 3

# Security settings
security:
  auth_required: true
  api_key: ""
  encryption: "AES256"
  verify_ssl: true

# Performance settings
performance:
  cache_enabled: true
  cache_size: "100M"
  cache_dir: "~/.shodan/cache"
  max_memory: "1G"

# Monitoring settings
monitoring:
  enabled: true
  interval: 60
  metrics_enabled: true
  alerts_enabled: true

Examples

Basic Workflow

# 1. Initialize shodan
shodan init

# 2. Configure basic settings
shodan config set host example.com
shodan config set port 8080

# 3. Start service
shodan start

# 4. Check status
shodan status

# 5. Perform operations
shodan run --target example.com

# 6. View results
shodan results

# 7. Stop service
shodan stop

Advanced Workflow

# Comprehensive operation with monitoring
shodan run \
  --config production.yaml \
  --parallel \
  --workers 8 \
  --verbose \
  --timeout 300 \
  --output json \
  --log-file operation.log

# Monitor in real-time
shodan monitor --real-time --interval 5

# Generate report
shodan report --type comprehensive --output report.html

Automation Example

#!/bin/bash
# Automated shodan workflow

# Configuration
TARGETS_FILE="targets.txt"
RESULTS_DIR="results/$(date +%Y-%m-%d)"
CONFIG_FILE="automation.yaml"

# Create results directory
mkdir -p "$RESULTS_DIR"

# Process each target
while IFS= read -r target; do
    echo "Processing $target..."

    shodan \
        --config "$CONFIG_FILE" \
        --output json \
        --output-file "$RESULTS_DIR/$\\\\{target\\\\}.json" \
        run "$target"

done < "$TARGETS_FILE"

# Generate summary report
shodan report summary \
    --input "$RESULTS_DIR/*.json" \
    --output "$RESULTS_DIR/summary.html"

Best Practices

Security

• Always verify checksums when downloading binaries
• Use strong authentication methods (API keys, certificates)
• Regularly update to the latest version
• Follow principle of least privilege
• Enable audit logging for compliance
• Use encrypted connections when possible
• Validate all inputs and configurations
• Implement proper access controls

Performance

• Use appropriate resource limits for your environment
• Monitor system performance regularly
• Optimize configuration for your use case
• Use parallel processing when beneficial
• Implement proper caching strategies
• Regular maintenance and cleanup
• Profile performance bottlenecks
• Use efficient algorithms and data structures

Operational

• Maintain comprehensive documentation
• Implement proper backup strategies
• Use version control for configurations
• Monitor and alert on critical metrics
• Implement proper error handling
• Use automation for repetitive tasks
• Regular security audits and updates
• Plan for disaster recovery

Development

• Follow coding standards and conventions
• Write comprehensive tests
• Use continuous integration/deployment
• Implement proper logging and monitoring
• Document APIs and interfaces
• Use version control effectively
• Review code regularly
• Maintain backward compatibility

Resources

Official Documentation

• Official Website
• Documentation
• API Reference
• Installation Guide
• Configuration Reference

Community Resources

• GitHub Repository
• Issue Tracker
• Community Forum
• Discord Server
• Reddit Community
• Stack Overflow

Learning Resources

• Getting Started Guide
• Tutorial Series
• Best Practices Guide
• Video Tutorials
• Training Courses
• Certification Program

Related Tools

• Git - Complementary functionality
• Docker - Alternative solution
• Kubernetes - Integration partner

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Last updated: 2025-07-06|Edit on GitHub