Wireshark
Wireshark is an open-source packet analyzer software used for network troubleshooting, analysis, and communications protocol development. It allows users to see what's happening on their network at a microscopic level.
network
troubleshooting
analysis
packet-capture
protocol-analyzer
Wireshark: Open-Source Packet Analyzer Software
Wireshark is an open-source packet analyzer software used for network troubleshooting, analysis, and communications protocol development. It allows users to see what's happening on their network at a microscopic level.
What is Wireshark?
Wireshark is a free and open-source packet analyzer software. It is used for network troubleshooting, analysis, software and communications protocol development, and education. Wireshark allows users to see what is happening on their network at a very granular level by inspecting the data packets that are sent and received.
Some key features and capabilities of Wireshark include:
- In-depth inspection of hundreds of protocols including TCP, UDP, HTTP, DNS, and many more
- Live capture of packet data from a network interface or from a file
- Advanced TCP analysis and sequence number analysis
- Rich VoIP analysis with the ability to reconstruct RTP conversations
- Read/write many different capture file formats like PCAP, PCAP-NG, Catapult DCT2000, and others
- Filter packets based on complex Boolean expressions
- Generate statistics and summaries about protocols
- Export specific packet bytes to a file for further examination
- Customize columns, colorize packets based on display filters, and save display filter names for later use
- Works on most popular desktop platforms like Windows, Linux, and macOS
With its rich feature set and depth, Wireshark is used by network administrators, security analysts, developers, and others to debug protocols, analyze network performance, troubleshoot connectivity issues, and enhance network security.
Wireshark Features
Features
- Network protocol analyzer
- Real-time capturing and offline analysis
- Rich VoIP analysis
- Read/write many different capture file formats
- Live data can be read from Ethernet, IEEE 802.11, PPP/HDLC, ATM, Bluetooth, USB, Token Ring, Frame Relay, FDDI, and others
- Decryption support for many protocols
Pricing
- Open Source
Pros
Powerful feature set
Cross-platform
Open source
Large user community support
Cons
Steep learning curve
Can be resource intensive
Capturing raw packets requires admin privileges
Official Links
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