What is Wireshark?
Wireshark is a free and open-source network protocol analyzer that allows users to capture and interactively browse the traffic running on a computer network. It is widely used for network troubleshooting, analysis, software and communication protocol development, and education. Wireshark is available for various platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Main Features
Some of the key features of Wireshark include:
- Deep inspection of hundreds of protocols, with more being added all the time
- Live capture and offline analysis
- Multi-platform: Runs on Windows, Linux, macOS, Solaris, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and many others
- Captured network data can be browsed via a GUI, or via the TTY-mode TShark utility
- Rich VoIP analysis
How to Use Wireshark
Installation
Before you can start using Wireshark, you need to download and install it on your computer. Here’s a step-by-step guide:
- Go to the official Wireshark website and download the installation package for your platform.
- Run the installation package and follow the prompts to install Wireshark.
- Once the installation is complete, launch Wireshark from the Start menu (Windows) or Applications folder (macOS).
Basic Operations
Here are some basic operations you can perform with Wireshark:
- Capture network traffic: To start capturing network traffic, select the network interface you want to capture from, and click on the