Ethereal
Ethereal is a free and open-source packet analyzer and network protocol analyzer software for Unix-like operating systems. It allows users to examine data from a live network or from a capture file on disk. Ethereal has powerful features to inspect hundreds of protocols, and prov
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Ethereal: Free Packet Analyzer & Network Protocol Analyzer
Free and open-source packet analyzer and network protocol analyzer software for Unix-like operating systems, inspecting hundreds of protocols, reconstructing TCP sessions, and browsing data as it presents itself on the wire.
What is Ethereal?
Ethereal (now known as Wireshark) is a free and open-source packet analyzer and network protocol analyzer software. It is used for network troubleshooting, analysis, and communications protocol development. Ethereal runs on Unix-like operating systems including Linux, macOS, *BSD and Solaris.
Some key features of Ethereal include:
- Capturing live packet data from a network interface or reading packets from a previously saved capture file
- Live capture and offline analysis
- Rich display filtering capabilities
- Following TCP streams and extracting data from various protocols
- Importing and exporting HTTP, SSL and TCP data
- Exporting packet byte streams
- Saving capture files and exporting file content
- A wide range of supported protocols and the ability to decode hundreds of protocols
As a packet analyzer, Ethereal provides rich insight into what is happening on a network at the packet level. Its wide protocol support allows inspection of many common protocols such as TCP, IP, HTTP, DNS and FTP. Powerful filtering and data export options make it a useful tool for network administrators, security analysts, application developers and others to debug network issues and examine network traffic.
Ethereal Features
Features
- Packet capture and real-time network traffic analysis
- Powerful display filters for analyzing captured data
- Protocol dissection of hundreds of protocols
- TCP reassembly and stream following
- VoIP analysis and RTP streams playback
- Supports common capture file formats like pcap and pcapng
- Extensible via plugins and dissectors
Pricing
- Open Source
Pros
Free and open source
Available for multiple platforms like Windows, Linux, macOS
Rich feature set for deep inspection and analysis
Support for wide range of network protocols
Active community support and development
Cons
Steep learning curve
Capturing and analysis limited by available bandwidth
Lacks some features found in commercial analyzers
User interface not very intuitive
Official Links
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