4 ethereal - Interactively dump and analyze network traffic
9 S<[ B<-a> E<lt>capture autostop conditionE<gt> ] ...>
10 S<[ B<-b> E<lt>capture ring buffer optionE<gt> ] ...>
11 S<[ B<-B> E<lt>capture buffer size (Win32 only)E<gt> ] >
12 S<[ B<-c> E<lt>capture packet countE<gt> ]>
14 S<[ B<-f> E<lt>capture filterE<gt> ]>
15 S<[ B<-g> E<lt>packet numberE<gt> ]>
17 S<[ B<-i> E<lt>capture interfaceE<gt>|- ]>
21 S<[ B<-m> E<lt>fontE<gt> ]>
23 S<[ B<-N> E<lt>name resolving flagsE<gt> ] >
24 S<[ B<-o> E<lt>preference/recent settingE<gt> ] ...>
27 S<[ B<-r> E<lt>infileE<gt> ]>
28 S<[ B<-R> E<lt>read (display) filterE<gt> ]>
30 S<[ B<-s> E<lt>capture snaplenE<gt> ]>
33 S<[ B<-w> E<lt>outfileE<gt> ]>
34 S<[ B<-y> E<lt>capture link typeE<gt> ]>
35 S<[ B<-X> E<lt>eXtension optionE<gt> ]>
36 S<[ B<-z> E<lt>statisticsE<gt> ]>
37 S<[ E<lt>infileE<gt> ]>
41 B<Ethereal> is a GUI network protocol analyzer. It lets you
42 interactively browse packet data from a live network or from a
43 previously saved capture file. B<Ethereal>'s native capture file format
44 is B<libpcap> format, which is also the format used by B<tcpdump> and
47 B<Ethereal> can read / import the following file formats:
52 libpcap, tcpdump and various other tools using tcpdump's capture format
55 B<snoop> and B<atmsnoop>
58 Shomiti/Finisar B<Surveyor> captures
61 Novell B<LANalyzer> captures
64 Microsoft B<Network Monitor> captures
67 AIX's B<iptrace> captures
70 Cinco Networks B<NetXRay> captures
73 Network Associates Windows-based B<Sniffer> captures
76 Network General/Network Associates DOS-based B<Sniffer> (compressed or uncompressed) captures
79 AG Group/WildPackets B<EtherPeek>/B<TokenPeek>/B<AiroPeek>/B<EtherHelp>/B<PacketGrabber> captures
82 B<RADCOM>'s WAN/LAN analyzer captures
85 Network Instruments B<Observer> version 9 captures
88 B<Lucent/Ascend> router debug output
91 files from HP-UX's B<nettl>
94 B<Toshiba's> ISDN routers dump output
97 the output from B<i4btrace> from the ISDN4BSD project
100 traces from the B<EyeSDN> USB S0.
103 the output in B<IPLog> format from the Cisco Secure Intrusion Detection System
106 B<pppd logs> (pppdump format)
109 the output from VMS's B<TCPIPtrace>/B<TCPtrace>/B<UCX$TRACE> utilities
112 the text output from the B<DBS Etherwatch> VMS utility
115 Visual Networks' B<Visual UpTime> traffic capture
118 the output from B<CoSine> L2 debug
121 the output from Accellent's B<5Views> LAN agents
124 Endace Measurement Systems' ERF format captures
127 Linux Bluez Bluetooth stack B<hcidump -w> traces
130 Catapult DCT2000 .out files
134 There is no need to tell B<Ethereal> what type of
135 file you are reading; it will determine the file type by itself.
136 B<Ethereal> is also capable of reading any of these file formats if they
137 are compressed using gzip. B<Ethereal> recognizes this directly from
138 the file; the '.gz' extension is not required for this purpose.
140 Like other protocol analyzers, B<Ethereal>'s main window shows 3 views
141 of a packet. It shows a summary line, briefly describing what the
142 packet is. A packet details display is shown, allowing you to drill
143 down to exact protocol or field that you interested in. Finally, a hex
144 dump shows you exactly what the packet looks like when it goes over the
147 In addition, B<Ethereal> has some features that make it unique. It can
148 assemble all the packets in a TCP conversation and show you the ASCII
149 (or EBCDIC, or hex) data in that conversation. Display filters in
150 B<Ethereal> are very powerful; more fields are filterable in B<Ethereal>
151 than in other protocol analyzers, and the syntax you can use to create
152 your filters is richer. As B<Ethereal> progresses, expect more and more
153 protocol fields to be allowed in display filters.
155 Packet capturing is performed with the pcap library. The capture filter
156 syntax follows the rules of the pcap library. This syntax is different
157 from the display filter syntax.
159 Compressed file support uses (and therefore requires) the zlib library.
160 If the zlib library is not present, B<Ethereal> will compile, but will
161 be unable to read compressed files.
163 The pathname of a capture file to be read can be specified with the
164 B<-r> option or can be specified as a command-line argument.
170 Most users will want to start B<Ethereal> without options and configure
171 it from the menus instead. Those users may just skip this section.
173 =item -a E<lt>capture autostop conditionE<gt>
175 Specify a criterion that specifies when B<Ethereal> is to stop writing
176 to a capture file. The criterion is of the form I<test>B<:>I<value>,
177 where I<test> is one of:
179 B<duration>:I<value> Stop writing to a capture file after I<value> seconds have elapsed.
181 B<filesize>:I<value> Stop writing to a capture file after it reaches a size of I<value>
182 kilobytes (where a kilobyte is 1024 bytes). If this option
183 is used together with the -b option, Ethereal will stop writing to the
184 current capture file and switch to the next one if filesize is reached.
186 B<files>:I<value> Stop writing to capture files after I<value> number of files were written.
188 =item -b E<lt>capture ring buffer optionE<gt>
190 Cause B<Ethereal> to run in "multiple files" mode. In "multiple files" mode,
191 B<Ethereal> will write to several capture files. When the first capture file
192 fills up, B<Ethereal> will switch writing to the next file and so on.
194 The created filenames are based on the filename given with the B<-w> flag, the number of
195 the file and on the creation date and time,
196 e.g. outfile_00001_20050604120117.pcap, outfile_00001_20050604120523.pcap, ...
198 With the I<files> option it's also possible to form a "ring buffer".
199 This will fill up new files until the number of files specified,
200 at which point B<Ethereal> will discard the data in the first file and start
201 writing to that file and so on. If the I<files> option is not set,
202 new files filled up until one of the capture stop conditions match (or
203 until the disk if full).
205 The criterion is of the form I<key>B<:>I<value>,
206 where I<key> is one of:
208 B<duration>:I<value> switch to the next file after I<value> seconds have
209 elapsed, even if the current file is not completely filled up.
211 B<filesize>:I<value> switch to the next file after it reaches a size of
212 I<value> kilobytes (where a kilobyte is 1024 bytes).
214 B<files>:I<value> begin again with the first file after I<value> number of
215 files were written (form a ring buffer).
217 =item -B E<lt>capture buffer size (Win32 only)E<gt>
219 Win32 only: set capture buffer size (in MB, default is 1MB). This is used by the
220 the capture driver to buffer packet data until that data can be written to
221 disk. If you encounter packet drops while capturing, try to increase this size.
223 =item -c E<lt>capture packet countE<gt>
225 Set the maximum number of packets to read when capturing live
230 Print a list of the interfaces on which B<Ethereal> can capture, and
231 exit. For each network interface, a number and an
232 interface name, possibly followed by a text description of the
233 interface, is printed. The interface name or the number can be supplied
234 to the B<-i> flag to specify an interface on which to capture.
236 This can be useful on systems that don't have a command to list them
237 (e.g., Windows systems, or UNIX systems lacking B<ifconfig -a>);
238 the number can be useful on Windows 2000 and later systems, where the
239 interface name is a somewhat complex string.
241 Note that "can capture" means that B<Ethereal> was able to open
242 that device to do a live capture; if, on your system, a program doing a
243 network capture must be run from an account with special privileges (for
244 example, as root), then, if B<Ethereal> is run with the B<-D> flag and
245 is not run from such an account, it will not list any interfaces.
247 =item -f E<lt>capture filterE<gt>
249 Set the capture filter expression.
251 =item -g E<lt>packet numberE<gt>
253 After reading in a capture file using the B<-r> flag, go to the given I<packet number>.
257 Print the version and options and exit.
259 =item -i E<lt>capture interfaceE<gt>|-
261 Set the name of the network interface or pipe to use for live packet
264 Network interface names should match one of the names listed in
265 "B<ethereal -D>" (described above); a number, as reported by
266 "B<ethereal -D>", can also be used. If you're using UNIX, "B<netstat
267 -i>" or "B<ifconfig -a>" might also work to list interface names,
268 although not all versions of UNIX support the B<-a> flag to B<ifconfig>.
270 If no interface is specified, B<Ethereal> searches the list of
271 interfaces, choosing the first non-loopback interface if there are any
272 non-loopback interfaces, and choosing the first loopback interface if
273 there are no non-loopback interfaces. If there are no interfaces at all,
274 B<Ethereal> reports an error and doesn't start the capture.
276 Pipe names should be either the name of a FIFO (named pipe) or ``-'' to
277 read data from the standard input. Data read from pipes must be in
278 standard libpcap format.
280 Note: the Win32 version of B<Ethereal> doesn't support capturing from
285 Start the capture session immediately. If the B<-i> flag was
286 specified, the capture uses the specified interface. Otherwise,
287 B<Ethereal> searches the list of interfaces, choosing the first
288 non-loopback interface if there are any non-loopback interfaces, and
289 choosing the first loopback interface if there are no non-loopback
290 interfaces; if there are no interfaces, B<Ethereal> reports an error and
291 doesn't start the capture.
295 Turn on automatic scrolling if the packet display is being updated
296 automatically as packets arrive during a capture (as specified by the
301 List the data link types supported by the interface and exit.
303 =item -m E<lt>fontE<gt>
305 Set the name of the font used by B<Ethereal> for most text. B<Ethereal>
306 will construct the name of the bold font used for the data in the byte
307 view pane that corresponds to the field selected in the packet details
308 pane from the name of the main text font.
312 Disable network object name resolution (such as hostname, TCP and UDP port
313 names), the B<-N> flag might override this one.
315 =item -N E<lt>name resolving flagsE<gt>
317 Turn on name resolving only for particular types of addresses and port
318 numbers, with name resolving for other types of addresses and port
319 numbers turned off. This flag overrides B<-n> if both B<-N> and B<-n> are
320 present. If both B<-N> and B<-n> flags are not present, all name resolutions are
323 The argument is a string that may contain the letters:
325 B<m> to enable MAC address resolution
327 B<n> to enable network address resolution
329 B<t> to enable transport-layer port number resolution
331 B<C> to enable concurrent (asynchronous) DNS lookups
333 =item -o E<lt>preference/recent settingE<gt>
335 Set a preference or recent value, overriding the default value and any value
336 read from a preference/recent file. The argument to the flag is a string of
337 the form I<prefname>B<:>I<value>, where I<prefname> is the name of the
338 preference/recent value (which is the same name that would appear in the
339 preference/recent file), and I<value> is the value to which it should be set.
340 Since B<Ethereal> 0.10.12, the recent settings replaces the formerly used
341 -B, -P and -T flags to manipulate the GUI dimensions.
345 I<Don't> put the interface into promiscuous mode. Note that the
346 interface might be in promiscuous mode for some other reason; hence,
347 B<-p> cannot be used to ensure that the only traffic that is captured is
348 traffic sent to or from the machine on which B<Ethereal> is running,
349 broadcast traffic, and multicast traffic to addresses received by that
354 Cause B<Ethereal> to exit after the end of capture session (useful in
355 batch mode with B<-c> option for instance); this option requires the
356 B<-i> and B<-w> parameters.
358 =item -r E<lt>infileE<gt>
360 Read packet data from I<infile>, can be any supported capture file format
361 (including gzipped files). It's not possible to use named pipes or stdin
364 =item -R E<lt>read (display) filterE<gt>
366 When reading a capture file specified with the B<-r> flag, causes the
367 specified filter (which uses the syntax of display filters, rather than
368 that of capture filters) to be applied to all packets read from the
369 capture file; packets not matching the filter are discarded.
373 Automatically update the packet display as packets are coming in.
375 =item -s E<lt>capture snaplenE<gt>
377 Set the default snapshot length to use when capturing live data.
378 No more than I<snaplen> bytes of each network packet will be read into
379 memory, or saved to disk.
383 Set the format of the packet timestamp displayed in the packet list
384 window, the default is relative. The format can be one of:
386 B<ad> absolute with date: The absolute date and time is the actual time and
387 date the packet was captured
389 B<a> absolute: The absolute time is the actual time the packet was captured,
390 with no date displayed
392 B<r> relative: The relative time is the time elapsed between the first packet
393 and the current packet
395 B<d> delta: The delta time is the time since the previous packet was
400 Print the version and exit.
402 =item -w E<lt>outfileE<gt>
404 Set the default capture file name.
406 =item -y E<lt>capture link typeE<gt>
408 If a capture is started from the command line with B<-k>, set the data
409 link type to use while capturing packets. The values reported by B<-L>
410 are the values that can be used.
412 =item -X E<lt>eXtension optionsE<gt>
414 Specify an option to be passed to an B<Ethereal> module. The eXtension option
415 is in the form I<extension_key>B<:>I<value>, where I<extension_key> can be:
417 B<lua_script>:I<lua_script_filename> tells B<Ethereal> to load the given script in addition to the
421 =item -z E<lt>statisticsE<gt>
423 Get B<Ethereal> to collect various types of statistics and display the result
424 in a window that updates in semi-real time.
425 Currently implemented statistics are:
427 B<-z> dcerpc,srt,I<uuid>,I<major>.I<minor>[,I<filter>]
429 Collect call/reply SRT (Service Response Time) data for DCERPC interface I<uuid>,
430 version I<major>.I<minor>.
431 Data collected is number of calls for each procedure, MinSRT, MaxSRT
433 Example: use B<-z dcerpc,srt,12345778-1234-abcd-ef00-0123456789ac,1.0> to collect data for CIFS SAMR Interface.
434 This option can be used multiple times on the command line.
436 If the optional filterstring is provided, the stats will only be calculated
437 on those calls that match that filter.
438 Example: use B<-z dcerpc,srt,12345778-1234-abcd-ef00-0123456789ac,1.0,ip.addr==1.2.3.4> to collect SAMR
439 SRT statistics for a specific host.
443 Collect packet/bytes statistics for the capture in intervals of 1 seconds.
444 This option will open a window with up to 5 color-coded graphs where
445 number-of-packets-per-second or number-of-bytes-per-second statistics
446 can be calculated and displayed.
448 This option can be used multiple times on the command line.
450 This graph window can also be opened from the Analyze:Statistics:Traffic:IO-Stat
454 B<-z> rpc,srt,I<program>,I<version>[,<filter>]
456 Collect call/reply SRT (Service Response Time) data for I<program>/I<version>. Data collected
457 is number of calls for each procedure, MinSRT, MaxSRT and AvgSRT.
458 Example: use B<-z rpc,srt,100003,3> to collect data for NFS v3. This
459 option can be used multiple times on the command line.
461 If the optional filter string is provided, the stats will only be calculated
462 on those calls that match that filter.
463 Example: use B<-z rpc,srt,100003,3,nfs.fh.hash==0x12345678> to collect NFS v3
464 SRT statistics for a specific file.
468 Collect call/reply RTT data for all known ONC-RPC programs/versions.
469 Data collected is number of calls for each protocol/version, MinRTT,
472 B<-z> scsi,srt,I<cmdset>[,<filter>]
474 Collect call/reply SRT (Service Response Time) data for SCSI commandset <cmdset>.
476 Commandsets are 0:SBC 1:SSC 5:MMC
480 is number of calls for each procedure, MinSRT, MaxSRT and AvgSRT.
481 Example: use B<-z scsi,srt,0> to collect data for SCSI BLOCK COMMANDS (SBC). This
482 option can be used multiple times on the command line.
484 If the optional filter string is provided, the stats will only be calculated
485 on those calls that match that filter.
486 Example: use B<-z scsi,srt,0,ip.addr==1.2.3.4> to collect SCSI SBC
487 SRT statistics for a specific iscsi/ifcp/fcip host.
489 B<-z> smb,srt[,I<filter>]
491 Collect call/reply SRT (Service Response Time) data for SMB. Data collected
492 is number of calls for each SMB command, MinSRT, MaxSRT and AvgSRT.
493 Example: use B<-z smb,srt>.
495 The data will be presented as separate tables for all normal SMB commands,
496 all Transaction2 commands and all NT Transaction commands.
497 Only those commands that are seen in the capture will have its stats
499 Only the first command in a xAndX command chain will be used in the
500 calculation. So for common SessionSetupAndX + TreeConnectAndX chains,
501 only the SessionSetupAndX call will be used in the statistics.
502 This is a flaw that might be fixed in the future.
504 This option can be used multiple times on the command line.
506 If the optional filterstring is provided, the stats will only be calculated
507 on those calls that match that filter.
508 Example: use B<-z "smb,srt,ip.addr==1.2.3.4"> to only collect stats for
509 SMB packets echanged by the host at IP address 1.2.3.4 .
511 B<-z> fc,srt[,I<filter>]
513 Collect call/reply SRT (Service Response Time) data for FC. Data collected
514 is number of calls for each Fibre Channel command, MinSRT, MaxSRT and AvgSRT.
515 Example: use B<-z fc,srt>.
516 The Service Response Time is calculated as the time delta between the
517 First packet of the exchange and the Last packet of the exchange.
519 The data will be presented as separate tables for all normal FC commands,
520 Only those commands that are seen in the capture will have its stats
523 This option can be used multiple times on the command line.
525 If the optional filterstring is provided, the stats will only be calculated
526 on those calls that match that filter.
527 Example: use B<-z "fc,srt,fc.id==01.02.03"> to only collect stats for
528 FC packets echanged by the host at FC address 01.02.03 .
530 B<-z> ldap,srt[,I<filter>]
532 Collect call/reply SRT (Service Response Time) data for LDAP. Data collected
533 is number of calls for each implemented LDAP command, MinSRT, MaxSRT and AvgSRT.
534 Example: use B<-z ldap,srt>.
535 The Service Response Time is calculated as the time delta between the
536 Request and the Response.
538 The data will be presented as separate tables for all implemented LDAP commands,
539 Only those commands that are seen in the capture will have its stats
542 This option can be used multiple times on the command line.
544 If the optional filterstring is provided, the stats will only be calculated
545 on those calls that match that filter.
546 Example: use B<-z "ldap,srt,ip.addr==10.1.1.1"> to only collect stats for
547 LDAP packets echanged by the host at IP address 10.1.1.1 .
549 The only LDAP command that are currently implemented and the stats will be available for are:
560 B<-z> mgcp,srt[I<,filter>]
562 Collect requests/response SRT (Service Response Time) data for MGCP.
563 This is similar to B<-z smb,srt>). Data collected is number of calls
564 for each known MGCP Type, Minimum SRT, Maximum SRT and Average SRT.
565 Example: use B<-z mgcp,srt>.
567 This option can be used multiple times on the command line.
569 If the optional filterstring is provided, the stats will only be calculated
570 on those calls that match that filter.
571 Example: use B<-z "mgcp,srt,ip.addr==1.2.3.4"> to only collect stats for
572 MGCP packets exchanged by the host at IP address 1.2.3.4 .
574 B<-z> conv,I<type>[,I<filter>]
576 Create a table that lists all conversations that could be seen in the
577 capture. I<type> specifies for which type of conversation we want to
578 generate the statistics; currently the supported ones are
581 "fc" Fibre Channel addresses
582 "fddi" FDDI addresses
585 "tcp" TCP/IP socket pairs Both IPv4 and IPv6 are supported
587 "udp" UDP/IP socket pairs Both IPv4 and IPv6 are supported
589 If the optional filter string is specified, only those packets that match the
590 filter will be used in the calculations.
592 The table is presented with one line for each conversation and displays
593 number of packets/bytes in each direction as well as total number of
594 packets/bytes. By default, the table is sorted according to total number
597 These tables can also be generated at runtime by selecting the appropriate
598 conversation type from the menu "Tools/Statistics/Conversation List/".
600 B<-z> h225,counter[I<,filter>]
602 Count ITU-T H.225 messages and their reasons. In the first column you get a
603 list of H.225 messages and H.225 message reasons, which occur in the current
604 capture file. The number of occurences of each message or reason is displayed
605 in the second column.
607 Example: use B<-z h225,counter>.
609 This option can be used multiple times on the command line.
611 If the optional filterstring is provided, the stats will only be calculated
612 on those calls that match that filter.
613 Example: use B<-z "h225,counter,ip.addr==1.2.3.4"> to only collect stats for
614 H.225 packets exchanged by the host at IP address 1.2.3.4 .
617 B<-z> h225,srt[I<,filter>]
619 Collect requests/response SRT (Service Response Time) data for ITU-T H.225 RAS.
620 Data collected is number of calls of each ITU-T H.225 RAS Message Type,
621 Minimum SRT, Maximum SRT, Average SRT, Minimum in Packet, and Maximum in Packet.
622 You will also get the number of Open Requests (Unresponded Requests),
623 Discarded Responses (Responses without matching request) and Duplicate Messages.
624 Example: use B<-z h225,srt>.
626 This option can be used multiple times on the command line.
628 If the optional filterstring is provided, the stats will only be calculated
629 on those calls that match that filter.
630 Example: use B<-z "h225,srt,ip.addr==1.2.3.4"> to only collect stats for
631 ITU-T H.225 RAS packets exchanged by the host at IP address 1.2.3.4 .
633 B<-z> sip,stat[I<,filter>]
635 This option will activate a counter for SIP messages. You will get the number
636 of occurences of each SIP Method and of each SIP Status-Code. Additionally you
637 also get the number of resent SIP Messages (only for SIP over UDP).
639 Example: use B<-z sip,stat>.
641 This option can be used multiple times on the command line.
643 If the optional filter string is provided, the stats will only be calculated
644 on those calls that match that filter.
645 Example: use B<-z "sip,stat,ip.addr==1.2.3.4"> to only collect stats for
646 SIP packets exchanged by the host at IP address 1.2.3.4 .
658 =item File:Open Recent
662 Open or close a capture file. The I<File:Open> dialog box
663 allows a filter to be specified; when the capture file is read, the
664 filter is applied to all packets read from the file, and packets not
665 matching the filter are discarded. The I<File:Open Recent> is a submenu
666 and will show a list of previously opened files.
670 Merge another capture file to the currently loaded one. The I<File:Merge>
671 dialog box allows the merge "Prepended", "Chronologically" or "Appended",
672 relative to the already loaded one.
678 Save the current capture, or the packets currently displayed from that
679 capture, to a file. Check boxes let you select whether to save all
680 packets, or just those that have passed the current display filter and/or
681 those that are currently marked, and an option menu lets you select (from
682 a list of file formats in which at particular capture, or the packets
683 currently displayed from that capture, can be saved), a file format in
686 =item File:File Set:List Files
688 Show a dialog box that list all files of the file set matching the currently
689 loaded file. A file set is a compound of files resulting from a capture using
690 the "multiple files" / "ringbuffer" mode, recognizable by the filename pattern,
691 e.g.: Filename_00001_20050604101530.pcap.
693 =item File:File Set:Next File
695 =item File:File Set:Previous File
697 If the currently loaded file is part of a file set (see above), open the
698 next / previous file in that set.
702 Export captured data into an external format. Note: the data cannot be
703 imported back into Ethereal, so be sure to keep the capture file.
707 Print packet data from the current capture. You can select the range of
708 packets to be printed (which packets are printed), and the output format of
709 each packet (how each packet is printed). The output format will be similar
710 to the displayed values, so a summary line, the packet details view, and/or
711 the hex dump of the packet can be printed.
713 Printing options can be set with the I<Edit:Preferences> menu item, or in the
714 dialog box popped up by this menu item.
718 Exit the application.
720 =item Edit:Find Packet
722 Search forward or backward, starting with the currently selected packet
723 (or the most recently selected packet, if no packet is selected). Search
724 criteria can be a display filter expression, a string of hexadecimal
725 digits, or a text string.
727 When searching for a text string, you can search the packet data, or you
728 can search the text in the Info column in the packet list pane or in the
731 Hexadecimal digits can be separated by colons, periods, or dashes.
732 Text string searches can be ASCII or Unicode (or both), and may be
737 =item Edit:Find Previous
739 Search forward / backward for a packet matching the filter from the previous
740 search, starting with the currently selected packet (or the most recently
741 selected packet, if no packet is selected).
743 =item Edit:Time Reference:Set Time Reference (toggle)
745 Set (or unset if currently set) the selected packet as a Time Reference packet.
746 When a packet is set as a Time Reference packet, the timestamps in the packet
747 list pane will be replaced with the string "*REF*".
748 The relative time timestamp in later packets will then be calculated relative
749 to the timestamp of this Time Reference packet and not the first packet in
752 Packets that have been selected as Time Reference packets will always be
753 displayed in the packet list pane. Display filters will not affect or
756 If there is a column displayed for "Culmulative Bytes" this counter will
757 be reset at every Time Reference packet.
759 =item Edit:Time Reference:Find Next
761 =item Edit:Time Reference:Find Previous
763 Search forward / backward for a time referenced packet.
765 =item Edit:Mark Packet (toggle)
767 Mark (or unmark if currently marked) the selected packet. The field
768 "frame.marked" is set for packets that are marked, so that, for example,
769 a display filters can be used to display only marked packets, and so that
770 the L<Edit:Find Packet|/item_edit_3afind_packet> dialog can be used to find the next or previous
773 =item Edit:Mark All Packets
775 =item Edit:Unmark All Packets
777 Mark / Unmark all packets that are currently displayed.
779 =item Edit:Preferences
781 Set the GUI, capture, printing and protocol options
782 (see L<Preferences|/item_preferences> dialog below).
784 =item View:Main Toolbar
786 =item View:Filter Toolbar
790 Show or hide the main window controls.
792 =item View:Packet List
794 =item View:Packet Details
796 =item View:Packet Bytes
798 Show or hide the main window panes.
800 =item View:Time Display Format
802 Set the format of the packet timestamp displayed in the packet list window.
804 =item View:Name Resolution:Resolve Name
806 Try to resolve a name for the currently seleted item.
808 =item View:Name Resolution:Enable for ... Layer
810 Enable or disable translation of addresses to names in the display.
812 =item View:Colorize Packet List
814 Enable or disable the coloring rules. Disabling will improve performance.
816 =item View:Auto Scroll in Live Capture
818 Enable or disable the automatic scrolling of the
819 packet list while a live capture is in progress.
825 Zoom into / out of the main window data (by changing the font size).
827 =item View:Normal Size
829 Reset the zoom factor of zoom in / zoom out back to normal font size.
831 =item View:Resize All Columns
833 Resize all columns to best fit the current packet display.
835 =item View:Expand Subtrees
837 Expands the currently selected item and it's subtrees in the packet details.
839 =item View:Expand All
841 =item View:Collapse All
843 Expand / Collapse all branches of the packet details.
845 =item View:Coloring Rules
847 Change the foreground and background colors of the packet information in
848 the list of packets, based upon display filters. The list of display
849 filters is applied to each packet sequentially. After the first display
850 filter matches a packet, any additional display filters in the list are
851 ignored. Therefore, if you are filtering on the existence of protocols,
852 you should list the higher-level protocols first, and the lower-level
857 =item How Colorization Works
859 Packets are colored according to a list of color filters. Each filter
860 consists of a name, a filter expression and a coloration. A packet is
861 colored according to the first filter that it matches. Color filter
862 expressions use exactly the same syntax as display filter expressions.
864 When Ethereal starts, the color filters are loaded from:
868 1. The user's personal color filters file or, if that does not exist,
870 2. The global color filters file.
874 If neither of these exist then the packets will not be colored.
878 =item View:Show Packet In New Window
880 Create a new window containing a packet details view and a hex dump
881 window of the currently selected packet; this window will continue to
882 display that packet's details and data even if another packet is
887 Reload a capture file. Same as I<File:Close> and I<File:Open> the same
892 Go back in previously visited packets history.
896 Go forward in previously visited packets history.
898 =item Go:Go To Packet
900 Go to a particular numbered packet.
902 =item Go:Go To Corresponding Packet
904 If a field in the packet details pane containing a packet number is
905 selected, go to the packet number specified by that field. (This works
906 only if the dissector that put that entry into the packet details put it
907 into the details as a filterable field rather than just as text.) This
908 can be used, for example, to go to the packet for the request
909 corresponding to a reply, or the reply corresponding to a request, if
910 that packet number has been put into the packet details.
912 =item Go:First Packet
916 Go to the first / last packet in the capture.
918 =item Capture:Interfaces
920 Shows a dialog box with all currently known interfaces and displaying the
921 current network traffic amount. Capture sessions can be started from here.
922 Beware: keeping this box open results in high system load!
924 =item Capture:Options
926 Initiate a live packet capture (see L<Capture Options|/item_capture_options>
927 dialog below). If no filename is specified, a temporary file will be created
928 to hold the capture. The location of the file can be chosen by setting your
929 TMPDIR environment variable before starting B<Ethereal>. Otherwise, the
930 default TMPDIR location is system-dependent, but is likely either F</var/tmp>
935 Start a live packet capture with the previously seleted options. This won't
936 open the options dialog box, and can be convenient for repeatingly capturing
937 with the same options.
941 Stop a running live capture.
943 =item Capture:Restart
945 While a live capture is running, stop it and restart with the same options
946 again. This can be convenient to remove unrelevant packets, if no valuable
947 packets were captured so far.
949 =item Capture:Capture Filters
951 Edit the saved list of capture filters, allowing filters to be added,
954 =item Analyze:Display Filters
956 Edit the saved list of display filters, allowing filters to be added,
959 =item Analyze:Apply as Filter
961 Create a display filter, or add to the display filter strip at the
962 bottom, a display filter based on the data currently highlighted in the
963 packe details, and apply the filter.
965 If that data is a field that can be tested in a display filter
966 expression, the display filter will test that field; otherwise, the
967 display filter will be based on absolute offset within the packet, and
968 so could be unreliable if the packet contains protocols with
969 variable-length headers, such as a source-routed token-ring packet.
971 The B<Selected> option creates a display filter that tests for a match
972 of the data; the B<Not Selected> option creates a display filter that
973 tests for a non-match of the data. The B<And Selected>, B<Or Selected>,
974 B<And Not Selected>, and B<Or Not Selected> options add to the end of
975 the display filter in the strip at the bottom an AND or OR operator
976 followed by the new display filter expression.
978 =item Analyze:Prepare a Filter
980 Create a display filter, or add to the display filter strip at the
981 bottom, a display filter based on the data currently highlighted in the
982 packet details, but don't apply the filter.
984 =item Analyze:Enabled Protocols
986 Allow protocol dissection to be enabled or disabled for a specific
987 protocol. Individual protocols can be enabled or disabled by clicking
988 on them in the list or by highlighting them and pressing the space bar.
989 The entire list can be enabled, disabled, or inverted using the buttons
992 When a protocol is disabled, dissection in a particular packet stops
993 when that protocol is reached, and Ethereal moves on to the next packet.
994 Any higher-layer protocols that would otherwise have been processed will
995 not be displayed. For example, disabling TCP will prevent the dissection
996 and display of TCP, HTTP, SMTP, Telnet, and any other protocol exclusively
999 The list of protocols can be saved, so that Ethereal will start up with
1000 the protocols in that list disabled.
1002 =item Analyze:Decode As
1004 If you have a packet selected, present a dialog allowing you to change
1005 which dissectors are used to decode this packet. The dialog has one
1006 panel each for the link layer, network layer and transport layer
1007 protocol/port numbers, and will allow each of these to be changed
1008 independently. For example, if the selected packet is a TCP packet to
1009 port 12345, using this dialog you can instruct Ethereal to decode all
1010 packets to or from that TCP port as HTTP packets.
1012 =item Analyze:User Specified Decodes
1014 Create a new window showing whether any protocol ID to dissector
1015 mappings have been changed by the user. This window also allows the
1016 user to reset all decodes to their default values.
1018 =item Analyze:Follow TCP Stream
1020 If you have a TCP packet selected, display the contents of the data
1021 stream for the TCP connection to which that packet belongs, as text, in
1022 a separate window, and leave the list of packets in a filtered state,
1023 with only those packets that are part of that TCP connection being
1024 displayed. You can revert to your old view by pressing ENTER in the
1025 display filter text box, thereby invoking your old display filter (or
1026 resetting it back to no display filter).
1028 The window in which the data stream is displayed lets you select:
1034 whether to display the entire conversation, or one or the other side of
1039 whether the data being displayed is to be treated as ASCII or EBCDIC
1040 text or as raw hex data;
1044 and lets you print what's currently being displayed, using the same
1045 print options that are used for the I<File:Print Packet> menu item, or
1046 save it as text to a file.
1048 =item Statistics:Summary
1050 Show summary information about the capture, including elapsed time,
1051 packet counts, byte counts, and the like. If a display filter is in
1052 effect, summary information will be shown about the capture and about
1053 the packets currently being displayed.
1055 =item Statistics:Protocol Hierarchy
1057 Show the number of packets, and the number of bytes in those packets,
1058 for each protocol in the trace. It organizes the protocols in the same
1059 hierarchy in which they were found in the trace. Besides counting the
1060 packets in which the protocol exists, a count is also made for packets
1061 in which the protocol is the last protocol in the stack. These
1062 last-protocol counts show you how many packets (and the byte count
1063 associated with those packets) B<ended> in a particular protocol. In
1064 the table, they are listed under "End Packets" and "End Bytes".
1066 =item Statistics:IO Graphs
1068 Open a window where up to 5 graphs in different colors can be displayed
1069 to indicate number of packets or number of bytes per second for all packets
1070 matching the specified filter.
1071 By default only one graph will be displayed showing number of packets per second.
1073 The top part of the window contains the graphs and scales for the X and
1074 Y axis. If the graph is too long to fit inside the window there is a
1075 horizontal scrollbar below the drawing area that can scroll the graphs
1076 to the left or the right. The horizontal axis displays the time into
1077 the capture and the vertical axis will display the measured quantity at
1080 Below the drawing area and the scrollbar are the controls. On the
1081 bottom left there will be five similar sets of controls to control each
1082 induvidual graph such as "Display:<button>" which button will toggle
1083 that individual graph on/off. If <button> is ticked, the graph will be
1084 displayed. "Color:<color>" which is just a button to show which color
1085 will be used to draw that graph (color is only available in Gtk2
1086 version) and finally "Filter:<filter-text>" which can be used to specify
1087 a display filter for that particular graph.
1089 If filter-text is empty then all packets will be used to calculate the
1090 quantity for that graph. If filter-text is specified only those packets
1091 that match that display filter will be considered in the calculation of
1094 To the right of the 5 graph controls there are four menus to control
1095 global aspects of the draw area and graphs. The "Unit:" menu is used to
1096 control what to measure; "packets/tick", "bytes/tick" or "advanced..."
1098 packets/tick will measure the number of packets matching the (if
1099 specified) display filter for the graph in each measurement interval.
1101 bytes/tick will measure the total number of bytes in all packets matching
1102 the (if specified) display filter for the graph in each measurement
1105 advanced... see below
1107 "Tick interval:" specifies what measurement intervals to use. The
1108 default is 1 second and means that the data will be counted over 1
1111 "Pixels per tick:" specifies how many pixels wide each measurement
1112 interval will be in the drawing area. The default is 5 pixels per tick.
1114 "Y-scale:" controls the max value for the y-axis. Default value is
1115 "auto" which means that B<Ethereal> will try to adjust the maxvalue
1118 "advanced..." If Unit:advanced... is selected the window will display
1119 two more controls for each of the five graphs. One control will be a
1120 menu where the type of calculation can be selected from
1121 SUM,COUNT,MAX,MIN,AVG and LOAD, and one control, textbox, where the name of a
1122 single display filter field can be specified.
1124 The following restrictions apply to type and field combinations:
1126 SUM: available for all types of integers and will calculate the SUM of
1127 all occurences of this field in the measurement interval. Note that
1128 some field can occur multiple times in the same packet and then all
1129 instances will be summed up. Example: 'tcp.len' which will count the
1130 amount of payload data transferred across TCP in each interval.
1132 COUNT: available for all field types. This will COUNT the number of times
1133 certain field occurs in each interval. Note that some fields
1134 may occur multiple times in each packet and if that is the case
1135 then each instance will be counted independently and COUNT
1136 will be greater than the number of packets.
1138 MAX: available for all integer and relative time fields. This will calculate
1139 the max seen integer/time value seen for the field during the interval.
1140 Example: 'smb.time' which will plot the maximum SMB response time.
1142 MIN: available for all integer and relative time fields. This will calculate
1143 the min seen integer/time value seen for the field during the interval.
1144 Example: 'smb.time' which will plot the minimum SMB response time.
1146 AVG: available for all integer and relative time fields.This will
1147 calculate the average seen integer/time value seen for the field during
1148 the interval. Example: 'smb.time' which will plot the average SMB
1151 LOAD: available only for relative time fields (response times).
1153 Example of advanced:
1154 Display how NFS response time MAX/MIN/AVG changes over time:
1158 filter:nfs&&rpc.time
1163 filter:nfs&&rpc.time
1168 filter:nfs&&rpc.time
1171 Example of advanced:
1172 Display how the average packet size from host a.b.c.d changes over time.
1176 filter:ip.addr==a.b.c.d&&frame.pkt_len
1177 Calc:AVG frame.pkt_len
1180 The LOAD io-stat type is very different from anything you have ever seen
1181 before! While the response times themself as plotted by MIN,MAX,AVG are
1182 indications on the Server load (which affects the Server response time),
1183 the LOAD measurement measures the Client LOAD.
1184 What this measures is how much workload the client generates,
1185 i.e. how fast will the client issue new commands when the previous ones
1187 i.e. the level of concurrency the client can maintain.
1188 The higher the number, the more and faster is the client issuing new
1189 commands. When the LOAD goes down, it may be due to client load making
1190 the client slower in issuing new commands (there may be other reasons as
1191 well, maybe the client just doesn't have any commands it wants to issue
1194 Load is measured in concurrency/number of overlapping i/o and the value
1195 1000 means there is a constant load of one i/o.
1197 In each tick interval the amount of overlap is measured.
1198 See the graph below containing three commands:
1199 Below the graph are the LOAD values for each interval that would be calculated.
1203 | | o=====* | | | | | |
1205 | o========* | o============* | | |
1207 --------------------------------------------------> Time
1208 500 1500 500 750 1000 500 0 0
1210 =item Statistics:Conversation List
1212 This option will open a new window that displays a list of all
1213 conversations between two endpoints. The list has one row for each
1214 unique conversation and displays total number of packets/bytes seen as
1215 well as number of packets/bytes in each direction.
1217 By default the list is sorted according to the number of packets but by
1218 clicking on the column header; it is possible to re-sort the list in
1219 ascending or descending order by any column.
1221 By first selecting a conversation by clicking on it and then using the
1222 right mouse button (on those platforms that have a right
1223 mouse button) ethereal will display a popup menu offering several different
1224 filter operations to apply to the capture.
1226 These statistics windows can also be invoked from the Wireshark command
1227 line using the B<-z conv> argument.
1229 =item Statistics:Service Response Time:DCE-RPC
1231 Open a window to display Service Response Time statistics for an
1232 arbitrary DCE-RPC program
1233 interface and display B<Procedure>, B<Number of Calls>, B<Minimum SRT>,
1234 B<Maximum SRT> and B<Average SRT> for all procedures for that
1235 program/version. These windows opened will update in semi-real time to
1236 reflect changes when doing live captures or when reading new capture
1237 files into B<Ethereal>.
1239 This dialog will also allow an optional filter string to be used.
1240 If an optional filter string is used only such DCE-RPC request/response pairs
1241 that match that filter will be used to calculate the statistics. If no filter
1242 string is specified all request/response pairs will be used.
1244 =item Statistics:Service Response Time:Fibre Channel
1246 Open a window to display Service Response Time statistics for Fibre Channel
1247 and display B<FC Type>, B<Number of Calls>, B<Minimum SRT>,
1248 B<Maximum SRT> and B<Average SRT> for all FC types.
1249 These windows opened will update in semi-real time to
1250 reflect changes when doing live captures or when reading new capture
1251 files into B<Ethereal>.
1252 The Service Response Time is calculated as the time delta between the
1253 First packet of the exchange and the Last packet of the exchange.
1255 This dialog will also allow an optional filter string to be used.
1256 If an optional filter string is used only such FC first/last exchange pairs
1257 that match that filter will be used to calculate the statistics. If no filter
1258 string is specified all request/response pairs will be used.
1260 =item Statistics:Service Response Time:ONC-RPC
1262 Open a window to display statistics for an arbitrary ONC-RPC program interface
1263 and display B<Procedure>, B<Number of Calls>, B<Minimum SRT>, B<Maximum SRT> and B<Average SRT> for all procedures for that program/version.
1264 These windows opened will update in semi-real time to reflect changes when
1265 doing live captures or when reading new capture files into B<Ethereal>.
1267 This dialog will also allow an optional filter string to be used.
1268 If an optional filter string is used only such ONC-RPC request/response pairs
1269 that match that filter will be used to calculate the statistics. If no filter
1270 string is specified all request/response pairs will be used.
1272 By first selecting a conversation by clicking on it and then using the
1273 right mouse button (on those platforms that have a right
1274 mouse button) ethereal will display a popup menu offering several different
1275 filter operations to apply to the capture.
1277 =item Statistics:Service Response Time:SMB
1279 Collect call/reply SRT (Service Response Time) data for SMB. Data collected
1280 is number of calls for each SMB command, MinSRT, MaxSRT and AvgSRT.
1282 The data will be presented as separate tables for all normal SMB commands,
1283 all Transaction2 commands and all NT Transaction commands.
1284 Only those commands that are seen in the capture will have its stats
1286 Only the first command in a xAndX command chain will be used in the
1287 calculation. So for common SessionSetupAndX + TreeConnectAndX chains,
1288 only the SessionSetupAndX call will be used in the statistics.
1289 This is a flaw that might be fixed in the future.
1291 You can apply an optional filter string in a dialog box, before starting
1292 the calculation. The stats will only be calculated
1293 on those calls matching that filter.
1295 By first selecting a conversation by clicking on it and then using the
1296 right mouse button (on those platforms that have a right
1297 mouse button) ethereal will display a popup menu offering several different
1298 filter operations to apply to the capture.
1300 =item Statistics:Service Response Time:MGCP
1302 Collect requests/response SRT (Service Response Time) data for MGCP.
1303 Data collected is B<number of calls> for each known MGCP Type,
1304 B<Minimum SRT>, B<Maximum SRT>, B<Average SRT>, B<Minimum in Packet>, and B<Maximum in Packet>.
1305 These windows opened will update in semi-real time to reflect changes when
1306 doing live captures or when reading new capture files into B<Ethereal>.
1308 You can apply an optional filter string in a dialog box, before starting
1309 the calculation. The statistics will only be calculated
1310 on those calls matching that filter.
1312 =item Statistics:Service Response Time:ITU-T H.225 RAS
1314 Collect requests/response SRT (Service Response Time) data for ITU-T H.225 RAS.
1315 Data collected is B<number of calls> for each known ITU-T H.225 RAS Message Type,
1316 B<Minimum SRT>, B<Maximum SRT>, B<Average SRT>, B<Minimum in Packet>, and B<Maximum in Packet>.
1317 You will also get the number of B<Open Requests> (Unresponded Requests),
1318 B<Discarded Responses> (Responses without matching request) and Duplicate Messages.
1319 These windows opened will update in semi-real time to reflect changes when
1320 doing live captures or when reading new capture files into B<Ethereal>.
1322 You can apply an optional filter string in a dialog box, before starting
1323 the calculation. The statistics will only be calculated
1324 on those calls matching that filter.
1326 =item Statistics:ITU-T H.225
1328 Count ITU-T H.225 messages and their reasons. In the first column you get a
1329 list of H.225 messages and H.225 message reasons, which occur in the current
1330 capture file. The number of occurences of each message or reason will be displayed
1331 in the second column.
1332 This window opened will update in semi-real time to reflect changes when
1333 doing live captures or when reading new capture files into B<Ethereal>.
1335 You can apply an optional filter string in a dialog box, before starting
1336 the counter. The statistics will only be calculated
1337 on those calls matching that filter.
1339 =item Statistics:SIP
1341 Activate a counter for SIP messages. You will get the number of occurences of each
1342 SIP Method and of each SIP Status-Code. Additionally you also get the number of
1343 resent SIP Messages (only for SIP over UDP).
1345 This window opened will update in semi-real time to reflect changes when
1346 doing live captures or when reading new capture files into B<Ethereal>.
1348 You can apply an optional filter string in a dialog box, before starting
1349 the counter. The statistics will only be calculated
1350 on those calls matching that filter.
1352 =item Statistics:ONC-RPC Programs
1354 This dialog will open a window showing aggregated RTT statistics for all
1355 ONC-RPC Programs/versions that exist in the capture file.
1361 =item Help:Supported Protocols
1363 List of supported protocols and display filter protocol fields.
1365 =item Help:Manual Pages
1367 Display locally installed HTML versions of these manual pages in a web browser.
1369 =item Help:Ethereal Online
1371 Various links to online resources to be open in a web browser, like http://www.ethereal.com.
1373 =item Help:About Ethereal
1375 See various information about Ethereal (see L<About|/item_about> dialog below), like the
1376 version, the folders used, the available plugins, ...
1386 The main window contains the usual things like the menu, some toolbars, the
1387 main area and a statusbar. The main area is split into three panes, you can
1388 resize each pane using a "thumb" at the right end of each divider line.
1390 The main window is much more flexible than before. The layout of the main
1391 window can be customized by the I<Layout> page in the dialog box popped
1392 up by I<Edit:Preferences>, the following will describe the layout with the
1399 Some menu items are available for quick access here. There is no way to
1400 customize the items in the toolbar, however the toolbar can be hidden by
1401 I<View:Main Toolbar>.
1403 =item Filter Toolbar
1405 A display filter can be entered into the filter toolbar.
1406 A filter for HTTP, HTTPS, and DNS traffic might look like this:
1408 tcp.port == 80 || tcp.port == 443 || tcp.port == 53
1410 Selecting the I<Filter:> button lets you choose from a list of named
1411 filters that you can optionally save. Pressing the Return or Enter
1412 keys, or selecting the I<Apply> button, will cause the filter to be
1413 applied to the current list of packets. Selecting the I<Reset> button
1414 clears the display filter so that all packets are displayed (again).
1416 There is no way to customize the items in the toolbar, however the toolbar
1417 can be hidden by I<View:Filter Toolbar>.
1419 =item Packet List Pane
1421 The top pane contains the list of network packets that you can scroll
1422 through and select. By default, the packet number, packet timestamp,
1423 source and destination addresses, protocol, and description are
1424 displayed for each packet; the I<Columns> page in the dialog box popped
1425 up by I<Edit:Preferences> lets you change this (although, unfortunately,
1426 you currently have to save the preferences, and exit and restart
1427 Ethereal, for those changes to take effect).
1429 If you click on the heading for a column, the display will be sorted by
1430 that column; clicking on the heading again will reverse the sort order
1433 An effort is made to display information as high up the protocol stack
1434 as possible, e.g. IP addresses are displayed for IP packets, but the
1435 MAC layer address is displayed for unknown packet types.
1437 The right mouse button can be used to pop up a menu of operations.
1439 The middle mouse button can be used to mark a packet.
1441 =item Packet Details Pane
1443 The middle pane contains a display of the details of the
1444 currently-selected packet. The display shows each field and its value
1445 in each protocol header in the stack. The right mouse button can be
1446 used to pop up a menu of operations.
1448 =item Packet Bytes Pane
1450 The lowest pane contains a hex and ASCII dump of the actual packet data.
1451 Selecting a field in the packet details highlights the corresponding
1452 bytes in this section.
1454 The right mouse button can be used to pop up a menu of operations.
1458 The statusbar is divided into two parts, on the left some context dependant
1459 things are shown, like information about the loaded file, on the right the
1460 number of packets are displayed: P = Packets captured/loaded, D = Displayed
1461 in packet list (after filtering), M = Marked by user.
1463 The statusbar can be hidden by I<View:Statusbar>.
1469 The I<Preferences> dialog lets you control various personal preferences
1470 for the behavior of B<Ethereal>.
1474 =item User Interface Preferences
1476 The I<User Interface> page is used to modify small aspects of the GUI to
1477 your own personal taste:
1483 The vertical scrollbars in the three panes can be set to be either on
1484 the left or the right.
1486 =item Selection Bars
1488 The selection bar in the packet list and packet details can have either
1489 a "browse" or "select" behavior. If the selection bar has a "browse"
1490 behavior, the arrow keys will move an outline of the selection bar,
1491 allowing you to browse the rest of the list or details without changing
1492 the selection until you press the space bar. If the selection bar has a
1493 "select" behavior, the arrow keys will move the selection bar and change
1494 the selection to the new item in the packet list or packet details.
1496 =item Tree Line Style
1498 Trees can be drawn with no lines, solid lines, or dotted lines between
1499 items, or can be drawn with "tab" headings.
1501 =item Tree Expander Style
1503 The expander item that can be clicked to show or hide items under a tree
1504 item can be omitted (note that this will prevent you from changing
1505 whether those items are shown or hidden!), or can be drawn as squares,
1506 triangles, or circles.
1510 The highlight method in the hex dump display for the selected protocol
1511 item can be set to use either inverse video, or bold characters.
1513 =item Save Window Position
1515 If this item is selected, the position of the main Wireshark window will
1516 be saved when Ethereal exits, and used when Wireshark is started again.
1518 =item Save Window Size
1520 If this item is selected, the size of the main Wireshark window will
1521 be saved when Ethereal exits, and used when Wireshark is started again.
1523 =item File Open Dialog Behavior
1525 This item allows the user to select how Ethereal handles the listing
1526 of the "File Open" Dialog when opening trace files. "Remember Last
1527 Directory" causes Ethereal to automatically position the dialog in the
1528 directory of the most recently opened file, even between launches of Ethereal.
1529 "Always Open in Directory" allows the user to define a persistent directory
1530 that the dialog will always default to.
1534 Allows the user to specify a persistent File Open directory. Trailing
1535 slashes or backslashes will automatically be added.
1539 =item Layout Preferences
1541 The I<Layout> page lets you specify the general layout of the main window.
1542 You can choose from six different layouts and fill the three panes with the
1545 =item Column Preferences
1547 The I<Columns> page lets you specify the number, title, and format
1548 of each column in the packet list.
1550 The I<Column title> entry is used to specify the title of the column
1551 displayed at the top of the packet list. The type of data that the column
1552 displays can be specified using the I<Column format> option menu.
1553 The row of buttons on the left perform the following actions:
1559 Adds a new column to the list.
1563 Deletes the currently selected list item.
1567 Moves the selected list item up or down one position.
1571 =item Font Preferences
1573 The I<Font> page lets you select the font to be used for most text.
1575 =item Color Preferences
1577 The I<Colors> page can be used to change the color of the text
1578 displayed in the TCP stream window and for marked packets. To change a color,
1579 simply select an attribute from the "Set:" menu and use the color selector to
1580 get the desired color. The new text colors are displayed as a sample text.
1582 =item Capture Preferences
1584 The I<Capture> page lets you specify various parameters for capturing
1585 live packet data; these are used the first time a capture is started.
1587 The I<Interface:> combo box lets you specify the interface from which to
1588 capture packet data, or the name of a FIFO from which to get the packet
1591 The I<Data link type:> option menu lets you, for some interfaces, select
1592 the data link header you want to see on the packets you capture. For
1593 example, in some OSes and with some versions of libpcap, you can choose,
1594 on an 802.11 interface, whether the packets should appear as Ethernet
1595 packets (with a fake Ethernet header) or as 802.11 packets.
1597 The I<Limit each packet to ... bytes> check box lets you set the
1598 snapshot length to use when capturing live data; turn on the check box,
1599 and then set the number of bytes to use as the snapshot length.
1601 The I<Filter:> text entry lets you set a capture filter expression to be
1602 used when capturing.
1604 If any of the environment variables SSH_CONNECTION, SSH_CLIENT,
1605 REMOTEHOST, DISPLAY, or CLIENTNAME are set, Ethereal will create a
1606 default capture filter that excludes traffic from the hosts and ports
1607 defined in those variables.
1609 The I<Capture packets in promiscuous mode> check box lets you specify
1610 whether to put the interface in promiscuous mode when capturing.
1612 The I<Update list of packets in real time> check box lets you specify
1613 that the display should be updated as packets are seen.
1615 The I<Automatic scrolling in live capture> check box lets you specify
1616 whether, in an "Update list of packets in real time" capture, the packet
1617 list pane should automatically scroll to show the most recently captured
1620 =item Printing Preferences
1622 The radio buttons at the top of the I<Printing> page allow you choose
1623 between printing packets with the I<File:Print Packet> menu item as text
1624 or PostScript, and sending the output directly to a command or saving it
1625 to a file. The I<Command:> text entry box, on UNIX-compatible systems,
1626 is the command to send files to (usually B<lpr>), and the I<File:> entry
1627 box lets you enter the name of the file you wish to save to.
1628 Additionally, you can select the I<File:> button to browse the file
1629 system for a particular save file.
1631 =item Protocol Preferences
1633 There are also pages for various protocols that Ethereal dissects,
1634 controlling the way Ethereal handles those protocols.
1638 =item Edit Capture Filter List
1640 =item Edit Display Filter List
1642 =item Capture Filter
1644 =item Display Filter
1650 The I<Edit Capture Filter List> dialog lets you create, modify, and
1651 delete capture filters, and the I<Edit Display Filter List> dialog lets
1652 you create, modify, and delete display filters.
1654 The I<Capture Filter> dialog lets you do all of the editing operations
1655 listed, and also lets you choose or construct a filter to be used when
1658 The I<Display Filter> dialog lets you do all of the editing operations
1659 listed, and also lets you choose or construct a filter to be used to
1660 filter the current capture being viewed.
1662 The I<Read Filter> dialog lets you do all of the editing operations
1663 listed, and also lets you choose or construct a filter to be used to
1664 as a read filter for a capture file you open.
1666 The I<Search Filter> dialog lets you do all of the editing operations
1667 listed, and also lets you choose or construct a filter expression to be
1668 used in a find operation.
1670 In all of those dialogs, the I<Filter name> entry specifies a
1671 descriptive name for a filter, e.g. B<Web and DNS traffic>. The
1672 I<Filter string> entry is the text that actually describes the filtering
1673 action to take, as described above.The dialog buttons perform the
1680 If there is text in the two entry boxes, creates a new associated list
1685 Modifies the currently selected list item to match what's in the entry
1690 Deletes the currently selected list item.
1692 =item Add Expression...
1694 For display filter expressions, pops up a dialog box to allow you to
1695 construct a filter expression to test a particular field; it offers
1696 lists of field names, and, when appropriate, lists from which to select
1697 tests to perform on the field and values with which to compare it. In
1698 that dialog box, the OK button will cause the filter expression you
1699 constructed to be entered into the I<Filter string> entry at the current
1704 In the I<Capture Filter> dialog, closes the dialog box and makes the
1705 filter in the I<Filter string> entry the filter in the I<Capture
1706 Preferences> dialog. In the I<Display Filter> dialog, closes the dialog
1707 box and makes the filter in the I<Filter string> entry the current
1708 display filter, and applies it to the current capture. In the I<Read
1709 Filter> dialog, closes the dialog box and makes the filter in the
1710 I<Filter string> entry the filter in the I<Open Capture File> dialog.
1711 In the I<Search Filter> dialog, closes the dialog box and makes the
1712 filter in the I<Filter string> entry the filter in the I<Find Packet>
1717 Makes the filter in the I<Filter string> entry the current display
1718 filter, and applies it to the current capture.
1722 If the list of filters being edited is the list of
1723 capture filters, saves the current filter list to the personal capture
1724 filters file, and if the list of filters being edited is the list of
1725 display filters, saves the current filter list to the personal display
1730 Closes the dialog without doing anything with the filter in the I<Filter
1735 =item The Color Filters Dialog
1737 This dialog displays a list of color filters and allows it to be
1742 =item THE FILTER LIST
1744 Single rows may be selected by clicking. Multiple rows may be selected
1745 by using the ctrl and shift keys in combination with the mouse button.
1749 Adds a new filter at the bottom of the list and opens the Edit Color
1750 Filter dialog box. You will have to alter the filter expression at
1751 least before the filter will be accepted. The format of color filter
1752 expressions is identical to that of display filters. The new filter is
1753 selected, so it may immediately be moved up and down, deleted or edited.
1754 To avoid confusion all filters are unselected before the new filter is
1759 Opens the Edit Color Filter dialog box for the selected filter. (If this
1760 button is disabled you may have more than one filter selected, making it
1761 ambiguous which is to be edited.)
1765 Deletes the selected color filter(s).
1769 Allows you to choose a file in which to save the current list of color
1770 filters. You may also choose to save only the selected filters. A
1771 button is provided to save the filters in the global color filters file
1772 (you must have sufficient permissions to write this file, of course).
1776 Allows you to choose a file containing color filters which are then
1777 added to the bottom of the current list. All the added filters are
1778 selected, so they may be moved to the correct position in the list as a
1779 group. To avoid confusion, all filters are unselected before the new
1780 filters are imported. A button is provided to load the filters from the
1781 global color filters file.
1785 Deletes your personal color filters file, reloads the global
1786 color filters file, if any, and closes the dialog.
1790 Moves the selected filter(s) up the list, making it more likely that
1791 they will be used to color packets.
1795 Moves the selected filter(s) down the list, making it less likely that
1796 they will be used to color packets.
1800 Closes the dialog and uses the color filters as they stand.
1804 Colors the packets according to the current list of color filters, but
1805 does not close the dialog.
1809 Saves the current list of color filters in your personal color filters
1810 file. Unless you do this they will not be used the next time you start
1815 Closes the dialog without changing the coloration of the packets. Note
1816 that changes you have made to the current list of color filters are not
1821 =item Capture Options
1823 The I<Capture Options> dialog lets you specify various parameters for
1824 capturing live packet data.
1826 The I<Interface:> field lets you specify the interface from which to
1827 capture packet data or a command from which to get the packet data via a
1830 The I<Link layer header type:> field lets you specify the interfaces link
1831 layer header type. This field is usually disabled, as most interface have
1832 only one header type.
1834 The I<Capture packets in promiscuous mode> check box lets you specify
1835 whether the interface should be put into promiscuous mode when
1838 The I<Limit each packet to ... bytes> check box and field lets you
1839 specify a maximum number of bytes per packet to capture and save; if the
1840 check box is not checked, the limit will be 65535 bytes.
1842 The I<Capture Filter:> entry lets you specify the capture filter using a
1843 tcpdump-style filter string as described above.
1845 The I<File:> entry lets you specify the file into which captured packets
1846 should be saved, as in the I<Printer Options> dialog above. If not
1847 specified, the captured packets will be saved in a temporary file; you
1848 can save those packets to a file with the I<File:Save As> menu item.
1850 The I<Use multiple files> check box lets you specify that the capture
1851 should be done in "multiple files" mode. This option is disabled, if the
1852 I<Update list of packets in real time> option is checked.
1854 The I<Next file every ... megabyte(s)> check box and fields lets
1855 you specify that a switch to a next file should be done
1856 if the specified filesize is reached. You can also select the appriate
1857 unit, but beware that the filesize has a maximum of 2 GB.
1858 The check box is forced to be checked, as "multiple files" mode requires a
1859 file size to be specified.
1861 The I<Next file every ... minute(s)> check box and fields lets
1862 you specify that the switch to a next file should be done after the specified
1863 time has elapsed, even if the specified capture size is not reached.
1865 The I<Ring buffer with ... files> field lets you specify the number
1866 of files of a ring buffer. This feature will capture into to the first file
1867 again, after the specified amount of files were used.
1869 The I<Stop capture after ... files> field lets you specify the number
1870 of capture files used, until the capture is stopped.
1872 The I<Stop capture after ... packet(s)> check box and field let
1873 you specify that Ethereal should stop capturing after having captured
1874 some number of packets; if the check box is not checked, Ethereal will
1875 not stop capturing at some fixed number of captured packets.
1877 The I<Stop capture after ... megabyte(s)> check box and field lets
1878 you specify that Ethereal should stop capturing after the file to which
1879 captured packets are being saved grows as large as or larger than some
1880 specified number of megabytes. If the check box is not checked, Ethereal
1881 will not stop capturing at some capture file size (although the operating
1882 system on which Wireshark is running, or the available disk space, may still
1883 limit the maximum size of a capture file). This option is disabled, if
1884 "multiple files" mode is used,
1886 The I<Stop capture after ... second(s)> check box and field let you
1887 specify that Ethereal should stop capturing after it has been capturing
1888 for some number of seconds; if the check box is not checked, Ethereal
1889 will not stop capturing after some fixed time has elapsed.
1891 The I<Update list of packets in real time> check box lets you specify
1892 whether the display should be updated as packets are captured and, if
1893 you specify that, the I<Automatic scrolling in live capture> check box
1894 lets you specify the packet list pane should automatically scroll to
1895 show the most recently captured packets as new packets arrive.
1897 The I<Enable MAC name resolution>, I<Enable network name resolution> and
1898 I<Enable transport name resolution> check boxes let you specify whether
1899 MAC addresses, network addresses, and transport-layer port numbers
1900 should be translated to names.
1904 The I<About> dialog lets you view various information about Ethereal.
1906 =item About:Ethereal
1908 The I<Ethereal> page lets you view general information about Ethereal,
1909 like the installed version, licensing information and such.
1913 The I<Authors> page shows the author and all contributors.
1917 The I<Folders> page lets you view the directory names where Ethereal is
1918 searching it's various configuration and other files.
1922 The I<Plugins> page lets you view the dissector plugin modules
1923 available on your system.
1925 The I<Plugins List> shows the name and version of each dissector plugin
1926 module found on your system.
1928 On Unix-compatible systems, the plugins are looked for in the following
1929 directories: the F<lib/ethereal/plugins/$VERSION> directory under the
1930 main installation directory (for example,
1931 F</usr/local/lib/ethereal/plugins/$VERSION>), and then
1932 F<$HOME/.ethereal/plugins>.
1934 On Windows systems, the plugins are looked for in the following
1935 directories: F<plugins\$VERSION> directory under the main installation
1936 directory (for example, F<C:\Program Files\Ethereal\plugins\$VERSION>),
1937 and then F<%APPDATA%\Ethereal\plugins\$VERSION> (or, if %APPDATA% isn't
1938 defined, F<%USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Ethereal\plugins\$VERSION>).
1940 $VERSION is the version number of the plugin interface, which
1941 is typically the version number of Ethereal. Note that a dissector
1942 plugin module may support more than one protocol; there is not
1943 necessarily a one-to-one correspondence between dissector plugin modules
1944 and protocols. Protocols supported by a dissector plugin module are
1945 enabled and disabled using the I<Edit:Protocols> dialog box, just as
1946 protocols built into Ethereal are.
1950 =head1 CAPTURE FILTER SYNTAX
1952 See the manual page of I<tcpdump(8)>.
1954 =head1 DISPLAY FILTER SYNTAX
1956 For a complete table of protocol and protocol fields that are filterable
1957 in B<Ethereal> see the I<ethereal-filter(4)> manual page.
1961 These files contains various B<Ethereal> configuration settings.
1967 The F<preferences> files contain global (system-wide) and personal
1968 preference settings. If the system-wide preference file exists, it is
1969 read first, overriding the default settings. If the personal preferences
1970 file exists, it is read next, overriding any previous values. Note: If
1971 the command line flag B<-o> is used (possibly more than once), it will
1972 in turn override values from the preferences files.
1974 The preferences settings are in the form I<prefname>B<:>I<value>,
1976 where I<prefname> is the name of the preference
1977 and I<value> is the value to
1978 which it should be set; white space is allowed between B<:> and
1979 I<value>. A preference setting can be continued on subsequent lines by
1980 indenting the continuation lines with white space. A B<#> character
1981 starts a comment that runs to the end of the line:
1983 # Vertical scrollbars should be on right side?
1984 # TRUE or FALSE (case-insensitive).
1985 gui.scrollbar_on_right: TRUE
1987 The global preferences file is looked for in the F<ethereal> directory
1988 under the F<share> subdirectory of the main installation directory (for
1989 example, F</usr/local/share/ethereal/preferences>) on UNIX-compatible
1990 systems, and in the main installation directory (for example,
1991 F<C:\Program Files\Ethereal\preferences>) on Windows systems.
1993 The personal preferences file is looked for in F<$HOME/.ethereal/preferences> on
1994 UNIX-compatible systems and F<%APPDATA%\Ethereal\preferences> (or, if
1995 %APPDATA% isn't defined, F<%USERPROFILE%\Application
1996 Data\Ethereal\preferences>) on Windows systems.
1998 Note: Whenever the preferences are saved by using the I<Save> button
1999 in the I<Edit:Preferences> dialog box, your personal preferences file
2000 will be overwritten with the new settings, destroying any comments and
2001 unknown/obsolete settings that were in the file.
2005 The F<recent> file contains personal settings (mostly GUI related) such
2006 as the current B<Ethereal> window size. The file is saved at program exit and
2007 read in at program start automatically. Note: The command line flag B<-o>
2008 may be used to override settings from this file.
2010 The settings in this file have the same format as in the F<preferences>
2011 files, and the same directory as for the personal preferences file is
2014 Note: Whenever Wireshark is closed, your recent file
2015 will be overwritten with the new settings, destroying any comments and
2016 unknown/obsolete settings that were in the file.
2018 =item Disabled (Enabled) Protocols
2020 The F<disabled_protos> files contain system-wide and personal lists of
2021 protocols that have been disabled, so that their dissectors are never
2022 called. The files contain protocol names, one per line, where the
2023 protocol name is the same name that would be used in a display filter
2029 If a protocol is listed in the global F<disabled_protos> file, it is not
2030 displayed in the I<Analyze:Enabled Protocols> dialog box, and so cannot
2031 be enabled by the user.
2033 The global F<disabled_protos> file uses the same directory as the global
2036 The personal F<disabled_protos> file uses the same directory as the
2037 personal preferences file.
2039 Note: Whenever the disabled protocols list is saved by using the I<Save>
2040 button in the I<Analyze:Enabled Protocols> dialog box, your personal
2041 disabled protocols file will be overwritten with the new settings,
2042 destroying any comments that were in the file.
2044 =item Name Resolution (hosts)
2046 If the personal F<hosts> file exists, it is
2047 used to resolve IPv4 and IPv6 addresses before any other
2048 attempts are made to resolve them. The file has the standard F<hosts>
2049 file syntax; each line contains one IP address and name, separated by
2050 whitespace. The same directory as for the personal preferences file is used.
2052 =item Name Resolution (ethers)
2054 The F<ethers> files are consulted to correlate 6-byte hardware addresses to
2055 names. First the personal F<ethers> file is tried and if an address is not
2056 found there the global F<ethers> file is tried next.
2058 Each line contains one hardware address and name, separated by
2059 whitespace. The digits of the hardware address are separated by colons
2060 (:), dashes (-) or periods (.). The same separator character must be
2061 used consistently in an address. The following three lines are valid
2062 lines of an F<ethers> file:
2064 ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff Broadcast
2065 c0-00-ff-ff-ff-ff TR_broadcast
2066 00.00.00.00.00.00 Zero_broadcast
2068 The global F<ethers> file is looked for in the F</etc> directory on
2069 UNIX-compatible systems, and in the main installation directory (for
2070 example, F<C:\Program Files\Ethereal>) on Windows systems.
2072 The personal F<ethers> file is looked for in the same directory as the personal
2075 =item Name Resolution (manuf)
2077 The F<manuf> file is used to match the 3-byte vendor portion of a 6-byte
2078 hardware address with the manufacturer's name; it can also contain well-known
2079 MAC addresses and address ranges specified with a netmask. The format of the
2080 file is the same as the F<ethers> files, except that entries such as:
2084 can be provided, with the 3-byte OUI and the name for a vendor, and
2087 00-00-0C-07-AC/40 All-HSRP-routers
2089 can be specified, with a MAC address and a mask indicating how many bits
2090 of the address must match. The above entry, for example, has 40
2091 significant bits, or 5 bytes, and would match addresses from
2092 00-00-0C-07-AC-00 through 00-00-0C-07-AC-FF. The mask need not be a
2095 The F<manuf> file is looked for in the same directory as the global
2098 =item Name Resolution (ipxnets)
2100 The F<ipxnets> files are used to correlate 4-byte IPX network numbers to
2101 names. First the global F<ipxnets> file is tried and if that address is not
2102 found there the personal one is tried next.
2104 The format is the same as the F<ethers>
2105 file, except that each address is four bytes instead of six.
2106 Additionally, the address can be represented as a single hexadecimal
2107 number, as is more common in the IPX world, rather than four hex octets.
2108 For example, these four lines are valid lines of an F<ipxnets> file:
2112 00:00:BE:EF IT_Server1
2115 The global F<ipxnets> file is looked for in the F</etc> directory on
2116 UNIX-compatible systems, and in the main installation directory (for
2117 example, F<C:\Program Files\Ethereal>) on Windows systems.
2119 The personal F<ipxnets> file is looked for in the same directory as the
2120 personal preferences file.
2122 =item Capture Filters
2124 The F<cfilters> files contain system-wide and personal capture filters.
2125 Each line contains one filter, starting with the string displayed in the
2126 dialog box in quotation marks, followed by the filter string itself:
2131 The global F<cfilters> file uses the same directory as the
2132 global preferences file.
2134 The personal F<cfilters> file uses the same directory as the personal
2135 preferences file. It is written through the Capture:Capture Filters
2138 If the global F<cfilters> file exists, it is used only if the personal
2139 F<cfilters> file does not exist; global and personal capture filters are
2142 =item Display Filters
2144 The F<dfilters> files contain system-wide and personal display filters.
2145 Each line contains one filter, starting with the string displayed in the
2146 dialog box in quotation marks, followed by the filter string itself:
2151 The global F<dfilters> file uses the same directory as the
2152 global preferences file.
2154 The personal F<dfilters> file uses the same directory as the
2155 personal preferences file. It is written through the Analyze:Display
2158 If the global F<dfilters> file exists, it is used only if the personal
2159 F<dfilters> file does not exist; global and personal display filters are
2162 =item Color Filters (Coloring Rules)
2164 The F<colorfilters> files contain system-wide and personal color filters.
2165 Each line contains one filter, starting with the string displayed in the
2166 dialog box, followed by the corresponding display filter. Then the
2167 background and foreground colors are appended:
2170 @tcp@tcp@[59345,58980,65534][0,0,0]
2171 @udp@udp@[28834,57427,65533][0,0,0]
2173 The global F<colorfilters> file uses the same directory as the
2174 global preferences file.
2176 The personal F<colorfilters> file uses the same directory as the
2177 personal preferences file. It is written through the View:Coloring Rules
2180 If the global F<colorfilters> file exists, it is used only if the personal
2181 F<colorfilters> file does not exist; global and personal color filters are
2186 The F<gtkrc> files contain system-wide and personal GTK theme settings.
2188 The global F<gtkrc> file uses the same directory as the
2189 global preferences file.
2191 The personal F<gtkrc> file uses the same directory as the personal
2196 See above in the description of the About:Plugins page.
2202 I<ethereal-filter(4)> I<tethereal(1)>, I<editcap(1)>, I<tcpdump(8)>, I<pcap(3)>
2206 The latest version of B<Ethereal> can be found at
2207 B<http://www.ethereal.com>.