theHarvester

Gather emails, subdomains and hosts from public sources.

KaliParrotpassive

pkg: theharvester

theHarvester collects OSINT — emails, names, subdomains, IPs and URLs — from search engines, PGP key servers and other public datasets.

Syntax

theHarvester -d {domain} -b {source}

Example

theHarvester -d example.com -b all

Harvests emails and subdomains for the domain across all supported data sources.

Options & flags

What each switch does. Toggle them in the builder below to assemble a command.

`-d` <target.tld>	Target domain/company.
`-b` <all>	Data source(s): all, bing, crtsh, duckduckgo, …
`-l` <500>	Limit the number of results.
`-f` <report.html>	Write an HTML/XML report.
`-s`	Use Shodan for extra host data.

Command builder

Tick options (and fill any values) to build a ready-to-copy command.

theharvester

-dTarget domain/company.-bData source(s): all, bing, crtsh, duckduckgo, …-lLimit the number of results.-fWrite an HTML/XML report.-sUse Shodan for extra host data.

Usage examples

theHarvester -d target.tld -b all

Harvest emails/subdomains from all sources.

theHarvester -d target.tld -b bing -l 200 -f out.html

Bing only, capped, with a report.

Advantages

Passive — no packets to the target
Aggregates many OSINT sources
Fast situational picture of an org

Disadvantages

Some sources need API keys
Results vary with source availability
Can return stale data

Tags

#osint#emails#subdomains

Official docs: theHarvester ↗

Related commands

OWASP Amass

In-depth attack-surface mapping & subdomain enumeration.

Recon-ng

Modular OSINT reconnaissance framework.

Frequently asked questions

What is theHarvester used for?

theHarvester collects OSINT — emails, names, subdomains, IPs and URLs — from search engines, PGP key servers and other public datasets.

What is an example theHarvester command?

A common example is: theHarvester -d example.com -b all — Harvests emails and subdomains for the domain across all supported data sources.

Is theHarvester part of Kali Linux?

Yes. theHarvester ships with Kali Linux (and Parrot OS). If missing, install it with: sudo apt install theharvester.

What category of security tool is theHarvester?

theHarvester is a Information Gathering tool with a passive-risk profile when run against a live target.

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