WhatWeb

WhatWeb is a web fingerprinting tool used to identify technologies running on websites. It can detect CMS, web servers, frameworks, analytics tools, JavaScript libraries, hosting providers, and security technologies.

Installation (Linux)

sudo apt update
sudo apt install whatweb -y

Check version:

whatweb --version

Output:

Basic Usage
This command performs a basic fingerprinting scan on a website or blog and identifies common technologies.
Scan a Website

whatweb https://example.com

Output:

What it tells you

200 OK → Website is reachable.
Country/IP → Hosting location and IP address.
HTML5 → Website uses HTML5.
HTTPServer[ECS] → Web server technology detected.
Title → Page title of the website.

whatweb -v https://example.com

Output:

What it tells you
You get a cleaner, detailed report showing the status code, IP, title, and detected server/CMS information.

Aggressive Scan
Aggressive mode sends more requests to the target and can detect additional technologies, plugins, and frameworks.

whatweb -a 3 https://example.com

Aggression levels:
-a 1 # Stealthy
-a 2 # Moderate
-a 3 # Aggressive
-a 4 # Heavy

Output:

Scan Multiple Websites
You can scan many websites at once by storing them in a text file.This is useful for bulk reconnaissance when checking multiple websites at once.
https://example.com
https://google.com
https://wordpress.org
Run:

whatweb -i websites.txt

Output:

Scan and Save Output
You can save scan results for reporting or later analysis.
Text File
Text format → Simple readable report.

whatweb https://example.com > report.txt
whatweb --log-brief report.txt https://example.com

XML Output

whatweb --log-xml report.xml https://example.com

JSON Output
JSON format → Best for automation, scripting, or storing structured data.

whatweb --log-json report.json https://example.com

Scan Specific Plugin
WhatWeb has many detection plugins. You can list them and use a specific one.
List available plugins:

whatweb --list-plugins

whatweb --plugins WordPress https://target.com

Follow Redirects
Some Websites redirect from http → https or from non-www → www. This option follows redirects automatically.

whatweb --follow-redirect=always https://target.com

Output:

You can see the redirect path and the technologies used on the final destination website.

Practical Final Enumeration Command
For a complete blog technology report, use this command:

whatweb -a 3 -v --log-json blog-report.json https://target-blog.com

Important Note
Use WhatWeb only on websites you own or have permission to assess. Unauthorized scanning may violate laws or terms of service.

Quick Command Summary

Purpose                                                                                      Command
Basic scan                                                                     whatweb https://site.com
Verbose scan                                                                 whatweb -v https://site.com
Aggressive scan                                                            whatweb -a 3 https://site.com
Scan multiple sites                                                        whatweb -i website.txt                           
Save JSON report                                                         whatweb --log-json report.json https://site.com   
Detect WordPress only                                                  whatweb --plugins wordpress https://site.com
Follow redirects                                                            whatweb --follow-redirect=always https://site.com