What is TinyShark?
TinyShark is a free, open source network protocol analyzer application for Windows, MacOS and Linux operating systems. It serves as an alternative to more complex tools like Wireshark, providing similar core functionality but with a streamlined and easy-to-use interface.
Like Wireshark, TinyShark allows users to capture, filter and inspect network traffic for purposes such as analysis, debugging, software development, and more. It supports analysis of common protocols including HTTP, DNS, SSL/TLS and many others. Capture sources include physical network interfaces, files containing packet captures, and supported virtual network interfaces.
Some key features of TinyShark include:
- Intuitive user interface with capture and inspection panes
- Support for common network protocols and analysis functions
- Customizable filters for drilling down on specific packet data
- Packet decoding, inspection and following of TCP streams
- Built-in support for display filters for quick analysis
- Cross-platform support for Windows, MacOS and Linux
- Free and open source software with community support
In summary, TinyShark provides a scaled-down, easy-to-use alternative to Wireshark for basic to intermediate network traffic analysis. Its simple interface belies powerful underlying packet inspection capabilities, meeting many users' needs for ad hoc analysis without Wireshark's complexity.