Installing Netcat as a Package

Most distributions have Netcat pre-compiled as a package. Some may even have more than one version, or different implementations with different functionality. Note, as we did above, that these packages are not likely to have the execute option enabled (and generally for good reason). For example, to install Netcat from a pre-compiled package on a Debian system, type apt-get install netcat (see Figure).

The figure shows the simple Netcat package installation process. Notice that in this case, Netcat has no dependencies, even on this minimalist install of Debian. Also notice the package name netcat_1.10-32_i386.deb. The key here is 1.10, which is the version information. This confirms that this package is in fact compiled from the original UNIX Netcat as opposed to GNU Netcat. Furthermore, nc –h reveals that this package has been pre-compiled with the all-powerful –e option.

Read more: NETCAT: How to install netcat from Package and Source