PortCheck

A comprehensive devtools toolkit for checking, validating, formatting, linting, and analyzing port configurations and network services. Works entirely offline with local storage, zero configuration, and a clean command-line interface.

Why PortCheck?

• Works entirely offline — your data never leaves your machine
• 12 core network/devtools commands plus utility commands
• Simple command-line interface, no GUI needed
• Export to JSON, CSV, or plain text anytime
• Automatic history and activity logging with timestamps

Commands

Each core command (check, validate, generate, format, lint, explain, convert, template, diff, preview, fix, report) works in two modes:

• Without arguments: shows recent entries from that command's log
• With arguments: records the input with a timestamp and saves to the command-specific log file

Data Storage

All data is stored locally at ~/.local/share/portcheck/. Each command maintains its own .log file (e.g., check.log, validate.log, lint.log). A unified history.log tracks all activity across commands with timestamps. Use the export command to back up your data in JSON, CSV, or plain text format at any time.

Requirements

• Bash 4.0+ (uses set -euo pipefail)
• Standard Unix utilities: date, wc, du, tail, grep, sed, cat, basename
• No external dependencies or API keys required
• Works on Linux, macOS, and WSL

When to Use

1. Pre-deployment port validation — Run portcheck check and portcheck validate to verify port availability and firewall rules before deploying services
2. Firewall rule auditing — Use portcheck lint and portcheck report to audit firewall configurations for security gaps or redundant rules
3. Network troubleshooting — Use portcheck explain and portcheck diff to understand port conflicts, protocol issues, or configuration drift
4. Configuration management — Run portcheck template and portcheck generate to create standardized network configuration files across environments
5. Change management workflow — Use portcheck preview, portcheck diff, and portcheck fix to safely review and apply network configuration changes

Examples

# Check if a port is available
portcheck check "prod-web-01:8080 — verify service is listening"

# Validate firewall rules
portcheck validate "iptables rules — ensure port 443 is open for HTTPS"

# Lint a network configuration
portcheck lint "nginx.conf — check for insecure port bindings"

# Generate a port scan report
portcheck generate "Full TCP scan report for 192.168.1.0/24"

# Explain a port number
portcheck explain "Port 3306 — what service uses this by default?"

# Diff two firewall configurations
portcheck diff "staging vs production iptables rules"

# View statistics across all commands
portcheck stats

# Export all data as JSON
portcheck export json

# Search for a specific term in all logs
portcheck search "443"

# Check system health
portcheck status

Output

All commands return structured text to stdout. Redirect to a file with portcheck <command> > output.txt. Exported files are saved to the data directory with the chosen format extension.

Configuration

The data directory defaults to ~/.local/share/portcheck/. The tool auto-creates this directory on first run.

Powered by BytesAgain | bytesagain.com | hello@bytesagain.com