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Troubleshooting and Safety
| Error or situation | What to do |
|---|---|
Missing --confirm-same-context
|
Confirm location, intended targets, and remaining settings before using the flag |
| Missing or unreadable snapshot | Check the local path and file permissions |
| Malformed XML or unsupported encoding | Obtain a complete, supported XML export |
| Scan not confirmed complete | Use a successfully finished export |
| Host scan incomplete (timeout) | Investigate the interruption and obtain a completed export |
| Scan methods or Nmap versions differ | Choose snapshots with matching supported metadata |
| TCP port coverage differs | Use snapshots with identical declared coverage |
| Reversed or overlapping scan windows | Supply the earlier scan first and use non-overlapping windows |
| Report destination already exists | Choose a new filename without deleting human notes |
| Cannot save report | Use an existing, writable directory on a filesystem with hard-link support |
Equal scan windows with identical supported observations are allowed for self-comparison. User confirmation never bypasses an incompatible input.
Watchpost exits with code 2 on validation or report-output errors. A rejected comparison does not produce a partial report.
Do not remove timeout markers or change scan metadata to force a comparison. Retain the original export and document why the attempt failed.
If the scan is valid but an explicit record is absent, Watchpost keeps that absence as not observed.
It does not infer closure from grouped counts.
- Explicit IPv4 and TCP observations.
- One TCP connect or SYN scan per snapshot for comparison.
- Inputs up to 10 MiB.
- Linux/Ubuntu WSL report output using a non-replacing hard link.
The parser rejects unsafe XML entities and external entity references. This is not full Nmap schema validation.
Live scanning, scheduling, dashboards, packet capture, UDP, IPv6, vulnerability scoring, and automatic fixes are outside v0.1.
- Use only networks you own or have permission to assess.
- Keep real XML inputs in the Git-ignored
scans/directory. - Keep generated reports and notes in the Git-ignored
reports/directory. - Review every file before sharing it. Reports contain addresses, ports, paths, and timestamps.
- Never publish credentials, private inventories, or real scan results to this public wiki.
Git ignore rules are not encryption or access controls. Keep reports in a trusted directory. Watchpost protects existing destinations, including symlinks, rather than silently overwriting them.
Open an issue with the command, error, and a minimal synthetic reproduction. Do not attach raw customer data or private scans.
For a security-sensitive report, use GitHub's private vulnerability-reporting option if available. If it is unavailable, request a private contact without disclosing exploit details or sensitive data in a public issue.
References: comparison requirements and report-output guarantees.