=head1 NAME Ethereal - Interactively browse network traffic =head1 SYNOPSYS B S<[ B<-B> byte view height ]> S<[ B<-b> bold font ]> S<[ B<-c> count ]> S<[ B<-h> ]> S<[ B<-i> interface ]> S<[ B<-m> font ]> S<[ B<-n> ]> S<[ B<-P> packet list height ]> S<[ B<-r> infile ]> S<[ B<-s> snaplen ]> S<[ B<-T> tree view height ]> S<[ B<-t> time stamp format ]> S<[ B<-v> ]> S<[ B<-w> savefile]> =head1 DESCRIPTION B is a network protocol analyzer based on the B GUI toolkit. It lets you interactively browse packet data from a live network or from a B / B formatted capture file. =head1 OPTIONS =over 4 =item -B Sets the initial height of the byte view (bottom) pane =item -b The bold font name used for packet fied display. =item -c The default number of packets to read when capturing live data. =item -h Prints the version and options and exits. =item -i The name of the interface to use for live packet capture. It should match one of the names listed in "B" or "B". =item -m The font name used by B. =item -n Disable network object name resolution (such as hostname, TCP and UDP port names). =item -P Sets the initial height of the packet list (top) pane =item -r Read packet data from I. Currently, B only understands B / B formatted files. =item -s The default snapshot length to use when capturing live data. No more than I bytes of each network packet will be read into memory, or saved to disk. =item -T Sets the initial height of the tree view (top) pane =item -t Sets the format of the packet timestamp displayed in the packet list window. =item -v Prints the version and exits. =item -w Sets the default capture file name. =back =head1 INTERFACE =head2 MENU ITEMS =over 4 =item File:Open, File:Close, File:Reload Open, close, or reload a capture file. =item File:Print Packet Print a description of each protocol header found in the packet, followed by the packet data itself. Printing options can be set with the I menu item. =item File:Quit Exits the application. =item Edit:Preferences Sets the packet printing and filter options (see L<"Preferences"> below). =item Tools:Capture Initiates a live packet capture (see L<"Capture Preferences"> below). =item Tools:Follow TCP Stream If you have a TCP packet selected, it will display the contents of the TCP data stream in a separate window. =back =head2 WINDOWS =over 4 =item Main Window The main window is split into three panes. You can resize each pane using a "thumb" at the right end of each divider line. Below the panes is a strip that shows the file load progress, current filter, and informational text. The top pane contains the list of network packets that you can scroll through and select. The packet number, packet timestamp, source and destination addresses, protocol, and description are printed for each packet. An effort is made to display information as high up the protocol stack as possible, e.g. IP addresses are displayed for IP packets, but the MAC layer address is displayed for unknown packet types. The middle pane contains a I for the currently-selected packet. The tree displays each field and its value in each protocol header in the stack. The lowest pane contains a hex dump of the actual packet data. Selecting a field in the I highlights the corresponding bytes in this section. A display filter can be entered into the strip at the bottom. It must have the same format as B filter strings, since both programs use the same underlying library. A filter for HTTP, HTTPS, and DNS traffic might look like this: tcp port 80 or tcp port 443 or port 53 Selecting the I button lets you choose from a list of named filters that you can optionally save. =item Preferences The I dialog lets you select the output format of packets printed using the I menu item and configure commonly-used filters. =over 6 =item Printing Preferences The radio buttons at the top of the I page allow you choose between printing the packets as text or PostScript, and sending the output directly to a command or saving it to a file. The I text entry box is the command to send files to (usually B), and the I entry box lets you enter the name of the file you wish to save to. Additinally, you can select the I button to browse the file system for a particular save file. =item Filters The I page lets you create and modify filters, and set the default filter to use when capturing data or opening a capture file. The I entry specifies a descriptive name for a filter, e.g. B. The I entry is the text that actually describes the filtering action to take, as described above.The dialog buttons perform the following actions: =over 8 =item New If there is text in the two entry boxes, it creates a new associated list item. =item Change Modifies the currently selected list item to match what's in the entry boxes. =item Copy Makes a copy of the currently selected list item. =item Delete Deletes the currently selected list item. =item OK Sets the currently selected list item as the active filter. If nothing is selected, turns filtering off. =item Save Saves the current filter list in F<$HOME/.ethereal/filters>. =item Cancel Closes the dialog without making any changes. =back =back =item Capture Preferences The I dialog lets you specify various parameters for capturing live packet data. The I entry box lets you specify the interface from which to capture packet data. The I entry specifies the number of packets to capture. Entering 0 will capture packets indefinitely. The I entry lets you specify the capture filter using a tcpdump-style filter string as described above. The I entry specifies the file to save to, as in the I dialog above. You can choose to open the file after capture, and you can also specify the maximum number of bytes to capture per packet with the I entry. =back =head1 SEE ALSO L, L =head1 NOTES The latest version of B can be found at B. =head1 AUTHORS Original Author -------- ------ Gerald Combs Contributors ------------ Gilbert Ramirez Jr. Hannes R. Boehm Mike Hall Bobo Rajec Laurent Deniel Don Lafontaine Alain Magloire was kind enough to give his permission to use his version of snprintf.c. Dan Lasley gave permission for his dumpit() hex-dump routine to be used.