package nmap-common (not installed) failed to install: trying to overwrite '/usr/share/nmap/nmap-mac-prefixes', which is also in package nmap 7.80-2

[Prashant Kumar]

I performed below steps to install nmap on Ubuntu 20.04

Steps for converting Nmap RPM files to Debian/Ubuntu deb format for installation on Debian/Ubuntu

    If you don't have the alien command, install it with a command such as sudo apt-get install alien

    Download the Nmap RPMs for your platform (x86 or x86-64) from https://nmap.org/download.html. This description will use nmap-7.80-1.x86_64.rpm

    Verify the download integrity as described in the section called “Verifying the Integrity of Nmap Downloads”.

    Generate a Debian package with a command such as sudo alien nmap-7.80-1.x86_64.rpm

This resulted in "nmap_7.80-2_amd64.deb"

    Install the Debian package with a command such as sudo dpkg --install nmap_7.80-2_amd64.deb

But this failed.

Other details:
lsb_release -rd
Description: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
Release: 20.04

apt-cache policy pkgname
N: Unable to locate package pkgname

ProblemType: Package
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 20.04
Package: nmap-common (not installed)
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.4.0-37.41-generic 5.4.41
Uname: Linux 5.4.0-37-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu27.2
Architecture: amd64
CasperMD5CheckResult: skip
Date: Wed Jun 17 06:05:37 2020
DuplicateSignature:
 package:nmap-common:(not installed)
 Unpacking nmap-common (7.80+dfsg1-2build1) ...
 dpkg: error processing archive /var/cache/apt/archives/nmap-common_7.80+dfsg1-2build1_all.deb (--unpack):
  trying to overwrite '/usr/share/nmap/nmap-mac-prefixes', which is also in package nmap 7.80-2
ErrorMessage: trying to overwrite '/usr/share/nmap/nmap-mac-prefixes', which is also in package nmap 7.80-2
InstallationDate: Installed on 2020-05-26 (21 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS "Focal Fossa" - Release amd64 (20200423)
Python3Details: /usr/bin/python3.8, Python 3.8.2, python3-minimal, 3.8.2-0ubuntu2
PythonDetails: /usr/bin/python2.7, Python 2.7.18rc1, python-is-python2, 2.7.17-4
RelatedPackageVersions:
 dpkg 1.19.7ubuntu3
 apt 2.0.2ubuntu0.1
SourcePackage: nmap
Title: package nmap-common (not installed) failed to install/upgrade: trying to overwrite '/usr/share/nmap/nmap-mac-prefixes', which is also in package nmap 7.80-2
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Paride Legovini (paride)]

Hello Prashant,

What you are reporting is not a bug in Ubuntu but a problem with a package from a third-party repository which was not even meant to be installed on Ubuntu. It is not something we can offer support for.

Nmap 7.80 is packaged in Ubuntu and available using the official Ubuntu repositories. Is there a specific reason for you to prefer the upstream packaged version?

If you decide to switch to the Ubuntu package please make sure to purge any manually installed third-party package before proceeding, as they may interfere with the Ubuntu packages.

All of the following advice applies to Ubuntu too: https://wiki.debian.org/DontBreakDebian

If you need further help, the Ubuntu Community is the right place to ask for it: https://ubuntu.com/support/community-support