STRATOSHARK(1)

📦
version 4.6.6 · 4 versions
, in alpine 3.24

💖 STRATOSHARK 💖

okay bestie, welcome to the stratoshark(1) manual page — yes, that one. strap in, hydrate, and let's go 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

stratoshark — System call and event log analyzer 🦋

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

stratoshark [ -i <capture source>|- ] [ -f <capture filter> ]
[ -Y <display filter> ] [ -w <outfile> ] [ options ] [ <infile> ]

stratoshark -h|--help

stratoshark -v|--version

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

So Stratoshark is a GUI system call and log analyzer. like, a whole vibe. 💅 It lets you interactively browse system calls and log messages from a live system or from a previously saved capture file. Stratoshark's native capture file format is scap, which is used by the sysdig CLI tool and by Falco. iykyk 🌈

Stratoshark's main window shows 3 views of each event:

  • a summary line, briefly describing what the event is
  • an event details display, letting you drill down to the exact field you're interested in
  • and a hex dump, showing you exactly what the event data looks like on disk or over the wire 🔥

In addition, Stratoshark has some features that make it unique. It can assemble all the syscalls in a file descriptor stream and show you the ASCII (or EBCDIC, or hex) data in that conversation. Display filters in Stratoshark are very powerful — more fields are filterable in Stratoshark than in other tools, and the syntax you can use to create your filters is richer. As Stratoshark progresses, expect more and more fields to be supported. 👑

Event capturing is performed by the libscap and libsinsp libraries. The capture filter syntax follows the rules of libscap. Heads up: this syntax is different from the display filter syntax. ⭐

Compressed file support uses (and therefore requires) the zlib library. If the zlib library is not present, Stratoshark will compile, but will be unable to read compressed files. 😭

The pathname of a capture file to be read can be specified with the -r option or can be specified as a command-line argument. 🎀

✨ OPTIONS ✨

Stratoshark supports a wide variety of command line options. Most users will want to start it without any options and configure it from the application menus instead. Those users may wish to skip this section. (but like… don't skip it, bestie, it's the good part 💀)

  • -a, --autostop <capture autostop condition> — specify a criterion that specifies when Stratoshark should stop writing to a capture file. The criterion is of the form test:value, where test is one of:
    • duration:value — stop writing to a capture file after value seconds have elapsed. Floating point values (e.g. 0.5) are allowed. ⏱️
    • files:value — stop writing to capture files after value number of files were written.
    • filesize:value — stop writing to a capture file after it reaches a size of value kB. If this option is used together with the -b option, Stratoshark will stop writing to the current capture file and switch to the next one if filesize is reached. Note that the filesize is limited to a maximum value of 2 TB, although you might have problems viewing the file in the GUI before then if the number of events exceeds 231 (2147483648). 😬
    • events:value — stop writing to a capture file after it contains value events. Acts the same as -c<capture event count>.
  • -b, --ring-buffer <capture ring buffer option> — cause Stratoshark to run in "multiple files" mode. In "multiple files" mode, Stratoshark will write to several capture files. When the first capture file fills up, Stratoshark will switch writing to the next file and so on. 🌀

The created filenames are based on the filename given with the -w flag, the number of the file and on the creation date and time, e.g. outfile_00001_20260714120117.pcap, outfile_00002_20260714120523.pcap, ...

With the files option it's also possible to form a "ring buffer". This will fill up new files until the number of files specified, at which point Stratoshark will discard the data in the first file and start writing to that file and so on. If the files option is not set, new files filled up until one of the capture stop conditions match (or until the disk is full). 💀

The criterion is of the form key:value, where key is one of:

  • duration:value — switch to the next file after value seconds have elapsed, even if the current file is not completely filled up. Floating point values (e.g. 0.5) are allowed.
  • files:value — begin again with the first file after value number of files were written (form a ring buffer). This value must be less than 100000. Caution should be used when using large numbers of files: some filesystems do not handle many files in a single directory well. The files criterion requires one of the other criteria to be specified to control when to go to the next file. It should be noted that each -b parameter takes exactly one criterion; to specify two criteria, each must be preceded by the -b option.
  • filesize:value — switch to the next file after it reaches a size of value kB. Note that the filesize is limited to a maximum value of 2 TB, although you might have problems viewing the file in the GUI before then if the number of events exceeds 231 (2147483648).
  • interval:value — switch to the next file when the time is an exact multiple of value seconds.
  • events:value — switch to the next file after it contains value events.

Example: -b filesize:1000 -b files:5 results in a ring buffer of five files of size one megabyte each. 🎀

  • -c <capture event count> — Set the maximum number of events to read when capturing live data. Acts the same as -a events:<capture event count>. 🔢
  • -C <configuration profile> — Start with the given configuration profile. 🧚
  • --capture-comment <comment> — When performing a capture file from the command line, with the -k flag, add a capture comment to the output file, if supported by the capture format. 💬

This option may be specified multiple times. Note that Stratoshark currently only displays the first comment of a capture file. (first one only, bestie, don't come for me)

  • -D, --list-sources — Print a list of the sources from which Stratoshark can capture, and exit. For each source, a number and a source name, possibly followed by a text description of the source, is printed. The source name or the number can be supplied to the -i flag to specify a source from which to capture. 👑
  • --display <X display to use> — Specifies the X display to use. A hostname and screen (otherhost:0.0) or just a screen (:0.0) can be specified. This option is not available under macOS or Windows. 🖥️
  • -f <capture filter> — Set the capture filter expression. 🎯

This option can occur multiple times. If used before the first occurrence of the -i option, it sets the default capture filter expression. If used after an -i option, it sets the capture filter expression for the source specified by the last -i option occurring before this option. If the capture filter expression is not set specifically, the default capture filter expression is used if provided.

Pre-defined capture filter names, as shown in the GUI menu item Capture→Capture Filters, can be used by prefixing the argument with "predef:". Example: -f "predef:MyPredefinedHostOnlyFilter"

  • --fullscreen — Start Stratoshark in full screen mode (kiosk mode). To exit from fullscreen mode, open the View menu and select the Full Screen option. Alternatively, press the F11 key (or Ctrl + Cmd + F for macOS). 🖥️✨
  • -g <event number> — After reading in a capture file using the -r flag, go to the given event number. 📍
  • -h, --help — Print the version number and options and exit. 🫶
  • -H — Hide the capture info dialog during live capture. 🙈
  • -i, --source <capture source>|- — Set the name of the capture source or pipe to use for live capture. 💧

Capture source names should match one of the names or numbers listed in "stratoshark -D" (described above).

If no source is specified, Stratoshark searches the list of sources, choosing the first source. If there are no sources at all, Stratoshark reports an error and doesn't start the capture. 😭

Pipe names should be either the name of a FIFO (named pipe) or - to read data from the standard input. On Windows systems, pipe names must be of the form "\\.\pipe\pipename". Data read from pipes must be in standard scap format. Scap data must have the same endianness as the capturing host. 🌈

This option can occur multiple times.

  • -j — Use after -J to change the behavior when no exact match is found for the filter. With this option select the first event before. ⬅️
  • -J <jump filter> — After reading in a capture file using the -r flag, jump to the event matching the filter (display filter syntax). If no exact match is found the first event after that is selected. ➡️
  • -k — Start the capture session immediately. If the -i flag was specified, the capture uses the specified source. Otherwise, Stratoshark searches the list of sources and uses the first source. If there are no sources, Stratoshark reports an error and doesn't start the capture. ⚡
  • -l — Turn on automatic scrolling if the event display is being updated automatically as events arrive during a capture (as specified by the -S flag). 📜
  • -L, --list-data-link-types — List the data link types supported by the interface and exit. 🔗
  • --list-time-stamp-types — List time stamp types supported for the interface. If no time stamp type can be set, no time stamp types are listed. 🕰️
  • -o <preference/recent setting> — Set a preference or recent value, overriding the default value and any value read from a preference/recent file. The argument to the flag is a string of the form prefname:value, where prefname is the name of the preference/recent value (which is the same name that would appear in the preference/recent file), and value is the value to which it should be set. ⚙️

If prefname is "uat", you can override settings in various user access tables using the form "uat:uat filename:uat record". uat filename must be the name of a UAT file, e.g. user_dlts. uat_record must be in the form of a valid record for that file, including quotes. For instance, to specify a user DLT from the command line, you would use

-o "uat:user_dlts:\"User 0 (DLT=147)\",\"cops\",\"0\",\"\",\"0\",\"\""
  • -P <path setting> — Special path settings usually detected automatically. This is used for special cases, e.g. starting Stratoshark from a known location on an USB stick. 🍓

The criterion is of the form key:path, where key is one of:

  • persconf:path — path of personal configuration files, like the preferences files.
  • persdata:path — the path to your personal data files, aka the folder that gets opened first. After the very first initialization though, the recent file just keeps whatever folder you used last. 💅
  • -r, --read-file <infile> — read event data from infile, and it can be literally any supported capture file format (compressed ones included, slay). Important though: you can't use named pipes or stdin here, unlike TShark! If you wanna capture from a pipe or from stdin, use -i - instead. 🫶
  • -R, --read-filter <read (display) filter> — when you're reading a capture file specified with the -r flag, this applies the filter you give it (and it uses display-filter syntax, not capture-filter syntax, okurrr) to all events read from the capture file. Events that don't match the filter get discarded. bye bestie 👋
  • -S — automatically updates the event display as events are coming in. it's giving live updates, we love to see it ✨
  • --temp-dir <directory> — tells it which directory to write temporary files (capture files included) into. Default behavior on UNIX-compatible systems — Linux, macOS, *BSD, Solaris, and AIX — is to use the environment variable $TMPDIR if it's set, and the system default, typically /tmp, if it's not. On Windows, the %TEMP% environment variable is used, which typically defaults to %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Temp. 💖
  • --time-stamp-type <type> — changes the source's timestamp method. Peep --list-time-stamp-types for the deets. 🕐
  • --update-interval <interval> — sets how long (in milliseconds) it waits between new event reports during a capture. Also sets the granularity of file duration conditions. Default value is 100ms. ⏱️
  • -v, --version — prints the full version information and exits. iconic behavior, honestly 👑
  • -w <outfile> — sets the default capture file name, or - for standard output. 🍓
  • -X <eXtension options> — specifies an option to pass to a Stratoshark module. The eXtension option is in the form extension_key:value, where extension_key can be:
    • lua_script:lua_script_filename — tells Stratoshark to load the given script in addition to the default Lua scripts.
    • lua_scriptnum:argument — tells Stratoshark to pass the given argument to the lua script identified by num, which is the number indexed order of the lua_script command. For example, if only one script was loaded with -X lua_script:my.lua, then -X lua_script1:foo will pass the string foo to the my.lua script. If two scripts were loaded, such as -X lua_script:my.lua and -X lua_script:other.lua in that order, then a -X lua_script2:bar would pass the string bar to the second lua script, namely other.lua. literally so organized of them 🧚
    • stdin_descr:description — tells Stratoshark to use the given description when capturing from standard input (-i -).
  • -Y, --display-filter <displaY filter> — start with the given display filter. no cap, it just starts filtered 😌
  • -z <statistics> — gets Stratoshark to collect various types of statistics and display the result in a window that updates in semi-real time. some of the currently implemented statistics are:
  • -z help — displays all possible values for -z. the "help me help you" of flags 💀

🔬 DISSECTION OPTIONS 🔬

  • -d <layer type>==<selector>,<decode-as protocol> — like Wireshark's Decode As... feature, this lets you specify how a layer type should be dissected. If the layer type in question (for example, tcp.port or udp.port for a TCP or UDP port number) has the specified selector value, packets should be dissected as the specified protocol.

Example 1. Decode As Port

-d tcp.port==8888,http will decode any traffic running over TCP
port 8888 as HTTP.

See the tshark(1) manual page for more examples. 📖

  • --disable-all-protocols — disables dissection of all protocols. everything. gone. nothing personal bestie 😭
  • --disable-protocol <proto_name>[,<proto_name>,...]> — disables dissection of proto_name. Use a proto_name of ALL to override your chosen profile's default enabled protocol list and temporarily disable all protocols. 🔥
  • --disable-heuristic <short_name> — disables dissection of heuristic protocol.
  • --enable-protocol <proto_name>[,<proto_name>,...]> — enables dissection of proto_name. Use a proto_name of ALL to override your chosen profile's default disabled protocol list and temporarily enable all protocols which are enabled by default.

If a protocol is implicated in both --disable-protocol and --enable-protocol, the protocol is enabled. This allows you to temporarily disable all protocols but a list of exceptions. Example: --disable-protocol ALL --enable-protocol eth,ip — the exceptions ate, periodt 💅

  • --enable-heuristic <short_name> — enables dissection of heuristic protocol.
  • -K <keytab> — loads kerberos crypto keys from the specified keytab file. This option can be used multiple times to load keys from several files.

Example: -K krb5.keytab 🔑

  • -n — disables network object name resolution (like hostname, TCP and UDP port names); the -N option might override this one. 🙈
  • -N <name resolving flags> — turns on name resolving only for particular types of addresses and port numbers, with name resolving for other types of addresses and port numbers turned off. This option (along with -n) can be specified multiple times; the last value given overrides earlier ones. This option and -n override the options from the preferences, including preferences set via the -o option. If both -N and -n options are not present, the values from the preferences are used, which default to -N dmN.

The argument is a string that may contain the letters:

  • d — to enable resolution from captured DNS packets
  • g — to enable IP address geolocation information lookup from configured MaxMind databases
  • m — to enable MAC address resolution
  • n — to enable network address resolution
  • N — to enable using external resolvers (e.g., DNS) for network address resolution; no effect without n also enabled.
  • s — to enable address resolution using SNI information found in captured handshake packets
  • t — to enable transport-layer port number resolution
  • v — to enable VLAN IDs to names resolution
  • --only-protocols <protocols> — only enables dissection of these protocols, comma separated. Disables everything else. strict queen behavior 💅
  • -t (a|ad|adoy|d|dd|e|r|u|ud|udoy)[.[N]]|.[N] — sets the format of the packet timestamp displayed in the default time column. The format can be one of:
    • a absolute: the absolute time, as local time in your time zone, is the actual time the packet was captured, with no date displayed
    • ad absolute with date: the absolute date, displayed as YYYY-MM-DD, and time, as local time in your time zone, is the actual time and date the packet was captured
    • adoy absolute with date using day of year: the absolute date, displayed as YYYY/DOY, and time, as local time in your time zone, is the actual time and date the packet was captured
    • d delta: the delta time is the time since the previous packet was captured
    • dd delta_displayed: the delta_displayed time is the time since the previous displayed packet was captured
    • e epoch: the time in seconds since epoch (Jan 1, 1970 00:00:00)
    • r relative: the relative time is the time elapsed between the first packet and the current packet
    • u UTC: the absolute time, as UTC with a "Z" suffix, is the actual time the packet was captured, with no date displayed
    • ud UTC with date: the absolute date, displayed as YYYY-MM-DD, and time, as UTC with a "Z" suffix, is the actual time and date the packet was captured
    • udoy UTC with date using day of year: the absolute date, displayed as YYYY/DOY, and time, as UTC with a "Z" suffix, is the actual time and date the packet was captured
    • .[N] — set the precision: N is the number of decimals (0 through 9). If using . without N, automatically determine precision from trace.

The default format is relative with precision based on capture format. ⏰

  • -u <s|hms> — specifies how packet timestamp formats in -t which are relative times (i.e. relative, delta, and delta_displayed) are displayed. Valid choices are:
    • s — for seconds
    • hms — for hours, minutes, and seconds

The default format is seconds. 🕰️

🩺 DIAGNOSTIC OPTIONS 🩺

  • --log-level <level> — sets the active log level. Supported levels, lowest to highest order, are "noisy", "debug", "info", "message", "warning", "critical", and "error". Messages at each level and higher will be printed — for example "warning" prints "warning", "critical", and "error" messages and "noisy" prints all messages. Levels are case insensitive. 🔍
  • --log-fatal <level> — aborts the program if any messages are logged at the specified level or higher. For example, "warning" aborts on any "warning", "critical", or "error" messages. it's giving no chill and honestly? valid 💀
  • --log-domains <list> — only prints messages for the specified log domains, e.g. "GUI,Epan,sshdump". List of domains must be comma-separated. Can be negated with "!" as the first character (inverts the match). 🎀
  • --log-debug <list> — forces the specified domains to log at the "debug" level. List of domains must be comma-separated. Can be negated with "!" as the first character (inverts the match). 🦋
  • --log-noisy <list> — forces the specified domains to log at the "noisy" level. List of domains must be comma-separated. Can be negated with "!" as the first character (inverts the match). 📣
  • --log-fatal-domains <list> — aborts the program if any messages are logged for the specified log domains. List of domains must be comma-separated. 🚨
  • --log-file <path> — writes log messages and stderr output to the specified file. ✍️

📁 FILES 📁

These files contain various Wireshark configuration settings. (yes, Wireshark — we're all one big happy family here 🫶)

Preferences 🌸

The preferences files contain global (system-wide) and personal preference settings. If the system-wide preference file exists, it is read first, overriding the default settings. If the personal preferences file exists, it is read next, overriding any previous values. Note: if the command line flag -o is used (possibly more than once), it will in turn override values from the preferences files. so it's a whole override chain, main character energy all the way down 👑

The preferences settings are in the form prefname:value, one per line, where prefname is the name of the preference and value is the value to which it should be set; white space is allowed between : and value. A preference setting can be continued on subsequent lines by indenting the continuation lines with white space. A # character starts a comment that runs to the end of the line:

# Vertical scrollbars should be on right side?
# TRUE or FALSE (case-insensitive).
gui.scrollbar_on_right: TRUE

okay so like, the global preferences file lives in the wireshark directory under the share subdirectory of the main installation directory. On macOS that's typically /Application/Wireshark.app/Contents/Resources/share. On other UNIX-compatible systems (Linux, *BSD, Solaris, and AIX, hiii 🫶) it's typically /usr/share/wireshark/preferences for system-installed packages and /usr/local/share/wireshark/preferences for locally-installed packages. On Windows it's typically C:\Program Files\Wireshark\preferences. slay, everyone gets a home 💖

On UNIX-compatible systems, the personal preferences file is looked for in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/wireshark/preferences, (or, if $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/wireshark does not exist while $HOME/.wireshark does exist, $HOME/.wireshark/preferences); this is typically $HOME/.config/wireshark/preferences. On Windows, the personal preferences file is looked for in %APPDATA%\Wireshark\preferences (or, if %APPDATA% isn't defined, %USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Wireshark\preferences).

⚠️ bestie listen to me. Whenever the preferences are saved by using the Save button in the Edit:Preferences dialog box, your personal preferences file will be overwritten with the new settings — destroying any comments and unknown/obsolete settings that were in the file. gone. reduced to atoms. 😭 back up your little comment notes, i'm begging.

🕒 Recent 🕒

The recent file is your personal settings era (mostly GUI related, lowkey), like the current Wireshark window size. It gets saved at program exit and read in at program start, automatically, no notes. 📝

Note: The command line flag -o may be used to override settings from this file. so like, yes you can fight it, and win 💅

The settings in this file have the same format as in the preferences files, and the same directory as for the personal preferences file is used.

⚠️ Note: Whenever Wireshark is closed, your recent file will be overwritten with the new settings, destroying any comments and unknown/obsolete settings that were in the file. every close is a fresh start, no cap. 💀

🚫 Disabled (Enabled) Protocols ✅

The disabled_protos files contain system-wide and personal lists of protocols that have been disabled, so that their dissectors are never called. not even a little. The files contain protocol names, one per line, where the protocol name is the same name that would be used in a display filter for the protocol:

http
tcp     # a comment

If a protocol is listed in the global disabled_protos file it cannot be enabled by the user. like, at all. so it's not displayed in the Analyze::Enabled Protocols dialog box — it just doesn't show up, it's giving ghosted 👻

The global disabled_protos file uses the same directory as the global preferences file.

The personal disabled_protos file uses the same directory as the personal preferences file.

The disabled_protos files list only protocols that are enabled by default but have been disabled; protocols that are disabled by default (such as some postdissectors) are not listed. There are analogous enabled_protos files for protocols that are disabled by default but have been enabled. they're twins, your honor 🫶

⚠️ Note: Whenever the disabled protocols list is saved by using the Save button in the Analyze:Enabled Protocols dialog box, your personal disabled protocols file will be overwritten with the new settings, destroying any comments that were in the file. the comments really do keep getting deleted and it's giving tragedy 🎀

🔮 Heuristic Dissectors 🔮

The heuristic_protos files contain system-wide and personal lists of heuristic dissectors and indicate whether they are enabled or disabled. The files contain heuristic dissector unique short names, one per line, followed by a comma and 0 for disabled and 1 for enabled:

quic,1
rtcp_stun,1
rtcp_udp,1
rtp_stun,0
rtp_udp,0
tls_tcp,1

The global heuristic_protos file uses the same directory as the global preferences file.

The personal heuristic_protos file uses the same directory as the personal preferences file.

🌐 Name Resolution (hosts) 🌐

Entries in hosts files in the global and personal preferences directory are used to resolve IPv4 and IPv6 addresses before any other attempts are made to resolve them. line leader energy. The file has the standard hosts file syntax; each line contains one IP address and name, separated by whitespace. The personal hosts file, if present, overrides the one in the global directory. 👑

Capture filter name resolution is handled by libpcap on UNIX-compatible systems, such as Linux, macOS, *BSD, Solaris, and AIX, and Npcap on Windows. As such the Wireshark personal hosts file will not be consulted for capture filter name resolution. different system, different rules, iykyk.

📍 Name Resolution (subnets) 📍

If an IPv4 address cannot be translated via name resolution (no exact match is found) then a partial match is attempted via the subnets file. Both the global subnets file and personal subnets files are used if they exist.

Each line of this file consists of an IPv4 address, a subnet mask length separated only by a / and a name separated by whitespace. While the address must be a full IPv4 address, any values beyond the mask length are subsequently ignored. ✨

An example is:

# Comments must be prepended by the # sign! 192.168.0.0/24
ws_test_network

A partially matched name will be printed as "subnet-name.remaining-address". For example, "192.168.0.1" under the subnet above would be printed as "ws_test_network.1"; if the mask length above had been 16 rather than 24, the printed address would be "ws_test_network.0.1". the way it just appends the leftovers?? obsessed 🦋

🏷️ Name Resolution (ethers) 🏷️

The ethers files are consulted to correlate 6-byte EUI-48 and 8-byte EUI-64 hardware addresses to names. First the personal ethers file is tried and if an address is not found there the global ethers file is tried next. personal first, always 💅

The file has a similar format to that defined by ethers(5) on some UNIX-like systems. Each line contains one hardware address and name, separated by whitespace (tabs or spaces). The hexadecimal digits of the hardware address are separated by colons (:), dashes (-) or periods (.). The same separator character must be used consistently in an address — pick one and commit, bestie. A # indicates a comment that extends to the rest of the line. Both 6-byte MAC and 8-byte EUI-64 addresses are supported. The following four lines are valid lines of an ethers file:

ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff          Broadcast
c0-00-ff-ff-ff-ff          TR_broadcast
00.00.00.00.00.00          Zero_broadcast
00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00    EUI64_zero_broadcast

Note that this accepts a greater variety of formats than the file defined by ethers(5) on most UN*X systems. we're flexible like that 🌈

The global ethers file is looked for in the /etc directory on UNIX-compatible systems, such as Linux, macOS, *BSD, Solaris, and AIX, and in the main installation directory (for example, C:\Program Files\Wireshark) on Windows systems.

The personal ethers file is looked for in the same directory as the personal preferences file.

Capture filter name resolution is handled by libpcap on UNIX-compatible systems and Npcap on Windows. As such the Wireshark personal ethers file will not be consulted for capture filter name resolution. same disclaimer, different file, we stay consistent 😌

🏭 Name Resolution (manuf) 🏭

The manuf file is used to match the 3-byte vendor portion of a 6-byte hardware address with the manufacturer's name; it can also contain well-known MAC addresses and address ranges specified with a netmask. The format of the file is similar the ethers files, except that entries such as:

00:00:0C      Cisco     Cisco Systems, Inc

can be provided, with the 3-byte OUI and both an abbreviated and long name for a vendor, and entries such as:

00-00-0C-07-AC/40     All-HSRP-routers

can be specified, with a MAC address and a mask indicating how many bits of the address must match. The above entry, for example, has 40 significant bits, or 5 bytes, and would match addresses from 00-00-0C-07-AC-00 through 00-00-0C-07-AC-FF. The mask need not be a multiple of 8. quirky but valid, we love her 🌸

A global manuf file is looked for in the same directory as the global preferences file, and a personal manuf file is looked for in the same directory as the personal preferences file.

In earlier versions of Wireshark, official information from the IEEE Registration Authority was distributed in this format as the global manuf file. This information is now compiled in to speed program startup, but the internal information can be written out in this format with tshark -G manuf.

In addition to the manuf file, another file with the same format, wka, is looked for in the global directory. This file is distributed with Wireshark, and contains data about well-known MAC addresses and address ranges assembled from various non IEEE but respected sources. the respected sources. the credentialed sources. 🎀

🚪 Name Resolution (services) 🚪

The services file is used to translate port numbers into names. Both the global services file and personal services files are used if they exist.

The file has the standard services file syntax; each line contains one (service) name and one transport identifier separated by white space. The transport identifier includes one port number and one transport protocol name (typically tcp, udp, or sctp) separated by a /.

An example is:

mydns       5045/udp     # My own Domain Name Server mydns
5045/tcp     # My own Domain Name Server

In earlier versions of Wireshark, official information from the IANA Registry was distributed in this format as the global services file. This information is now compiled in to speed program startup, but the internal information can be written out in this format with tshark -G services. look at her, still exportable, still iconic ✨

🕹️ Name Resolution (ipxnets) 🕹️

The ipxnets files are used to correlate 4-byte IPX network numbers to names. First the global ipxnets file is tried and if that address is not found there the personal one is tried next. note: this one goes global first, unlike ethers, do not mix them up bestie 😭

The format is the same as the ethers file, except that each address is four bytes instead of six. Additionally, the address can be represented as a single hexadecimal number, as is more common in the IPX world, rather than four hex octets. For example, these four lines are valid lines of an ipxnets file:

C0.A8.2C.00              HR
c0-a8-1c-00              CEO
00:00:BE:EF              IT_Server1
110f                     FileServer3

The global ipxnets file is looked for in the /etc directory on UNIX-compatible systems, such as Linux, macOS, \*BSD, Solaris, and AIX, and in the main installation directory (for example, C:\Program Files\Wireshark) on Windows systems.

The personal ipxnets file is looked for in the same directory as the personal preferences file.

🦋 Name Resolution (ss7pcs) 🦋

Okay so the ss7pcs file is the one that translates SS7 point codes into actual names, so you don't have to stare at numbers like a little gremlin. It's read from the personal configuration directory.

Every line in this file is one network indicator, then a dash, then a point code in decimal, then a node name — all separated by whitespace. Like this:

2-1234 MyPointCode1

That's it. That's the whole format. Slay. ✨

🌸 Name Resolution (vlans) 🌸

The vlans file translates VLAN tag IDs into names, because <rainbow>raw tag IDs are giving "who even are you"</rainbow> energy. It is read from the personal configuration directory.

Each line here is one VLAN tag ID, then whitespace, then a name. Behold:

123    Server-Lan
2049   HR-Client-LAN

💅 Capture Filters 💅

The cfilters files hold your system-wide and personal capture filters. Each line = one filter, starting with the string that shows up in the dialog box in quotation marks, followed by the filter string itself:

"HTTP" port 80
"DCERPC" port 135

The global cfilters file uses the same directory as the global preferences file.

The personal cfilters file uses the same directory as the personal preferences file. It is written through the Capture:Capture Filters dialog.

Heads up bestie: if the global cfilters file exists, it is used only if the personal cfilters file does not exist. Global and personal capture filters are not merged. No blending, no combining. It's one or the other. 😭

⭐ Display Filters ⭐

The dfilters files hold system-wide and personal display filters. Each line = one filter, starting with the string displayed in the dialog box in quotation marks, followed by the filter string itself:

"HTTP" http
"DCERPC" dcerpc

The global dfilters file uses the same directory as the global preferences file.

The personal dfilters file uses the same directory as the personal preferences file. It is written through the Analyze:Display Filters dialog.

Same energy as before: if the global dfilters file exists, it is used only if the personal dfilters file does not exist; global and personal display filters are not merged. 🫶

🎀 Display Filter Macros 🎀

The dmacros files are where your system-wide and personal display filter macros live. Each line = one filter, starting with the string displayed in the dialog box in quotation marks, followed by the macro expression itself:

"private_ipv6" ipv6 && $1 == fc00::/7
"private_ethernet" $1[0] & 0x0F == 2
"private_ipv4" $1 == 192.168.0.0/16 or $1 == 172.16.0.0/12 or $1 == 10.0.0.0/8

The global dmacros file uses the same directory as the global preferences file.

The personal dmacros file uses the same directory as the personal preferences file. It is written through the Analyze:Display Filter Macros dialog.

If the global dmacros file exists, it is used only if the personal dmacros file does not exist; global and personal display filters are not merged. (Yes, that's the wording, and yes, it's still the rule. 💀)

Little throwback fact for the history girlies: prior to Wireshark 4.4, a dfilter_macros file with a somewhat different syntax was used. That file is looked for at startup if a dmacros file is not found, and it's used to migrate to the new format. Glow-up migration, we love to see it. 💖

🌈 Color Filters (Coloring Rules) 🌈

The colorfilters files contain system-wide and personal color filters. Each line contains one filter, starting with the string displayed in the dialog box, followed by the corresponding display filter. Then the background and foreground colors are appended:

# a comment
@tcp@tcp@[59345,58980,65534][0,0,0]
@udp@udp@[28834,57427,65533][0,0,0]

The global colorfilters file uses the same directory as the global preferences file.

The personal colorfilters file uses the same directory as the personal preferences file. It is written through the View:Coloring Rules dialog.

You already know: if the global colorfilters file exists, it is used only if the personal colorfilters file does not exist; global and personal color filters are not merged. ✨

👑 Plugins 👑

Wireshark looks for plugins in both a personal plugin folder and a global plugin folder. Two folders, double the vibes.

On UNIX-compatible systems, such as Linux, macOS, \*BSD, Solaris, and AIX, the global plugin directory is lib/wireshark/plugins/ (on some systems substitute lib64 for lib) under the main installation directory (for example, /usr/local/lib/wireshark/plugins/). The personal plugin directory is $HOME/.local/lib/wireshark/plugins.

On macOS, if Wireshark is installed as an application bundle, the global plugin folder is instead %APPDIR%/Contents/PlugIns/wireshark.

On Windows, the global plugin folder is plugins/ under the main installation directory (for example, C:\Program Files\Wireshark\plugins\). The personal plugin folder is %APPDATA%\Wireshark\plugins (or, if %APPDATA% isn't defined, %USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Wireshark\plugins).

Lua plugins are stored in the plugin folders; compiled plugins are stored in subfolders of the plugin folders, with the subfolder name being the Wireshark minor version number (X.Y). There is another hierarchical level for each Wireshark plugin type (libwireshark, libwiretap and codecs). For example, the location for a libwireshark plugin foo.so (foo.dll on Windows) would be PLUGINDIR/X.Y/epan (libwireshark used to be called libepan; the other folder names are codecs and wiretap). Nested folders, main character energy. 🧚

Note On UNIX-compatible systems, Lua plugins (but not binary plugins) may also be placed in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/wireshark/plugins, (or, if $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/wireshark does not exist while $HOME/.wireshark does exist, $HOME/.wireshark/plugins.)

Note that a dissector plugin module may support more than one protocol; there is not necessarily a one-to-one correspondence between dissector plugin modules and protocols. Protocols supported by a dissector plugin module are enabled and disabled in the same way as protocols built into Wireshark. So no, it's not a strict situationship — one plugin, many protocols. 💅

💖 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES 💖

okay bestie, this is the part where Stratoshark reads your vibes from the environment ✨ these are all the env vars it actually pays attention to, no cap:

  • WIRESHARK_CONFIG_DIR — overrides where your personal config files live. On UNIX-compatible systems (Linux, macOS, \*BSD, Solaris, and AIX) it defaults to $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/wireshark — or, if that directory doesn't exist but $HOME/.wireshark does exist, then $HOME/.wireshark. Which is typically $HOME/.config/wireshark. On Windows it defaults to %APPDATA%\Wireshark (or, if %APPDATA% isn't defined, %USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Wireshark). Available since Wireshark 3.0, so it's been iconic for a while 🎀
  • WIRESHARK_DEBUG_WMEM_OVERRIDE — setting this forces the wmem framework to use the allocator backend you specify for all allocations, regardless of which backend the code would normally specify. It's mainly for developers when testing or debugging — see README.wmem in the source distribution for the deets 🧚
  • WIRESHARK_RUN_FROM_BUILD_DIRECTORY — makes plugins and other data files load from the build directory (where the program was compiled) instead of the standard locations. Lowkey important caveat: it has no effect when the program is running with root (or setuid) permissions on UNIX-compatible systems, such as Linux, macOS, \*BSD, Solaris, and AIX 💅
  • WIRESHARK_DATA_DIR — loads the various data files from a directory other than the standard locations. Same energy as above: no effect when the program is running with root (or setuid) permissions on UNIX-compatible systems.
  • WIRESHARK_EXTCAP_DIR — runs the various extcap programs and scripts from a directory other than the standard locations. And yep, same rule: no effect when running with root (or setuid) permissions on UNIX-compatible systems.
  • WIRESHARK_PLUGIN_DIR — loads the various plugins from a directory other than the standard locations. (you already know the drill) no effect when running with root (or setuid) permissions on UNIX-compatible systems 🙈
  • WIRESHARK_ABORT_ON_DISSECTOR_BUG — if set, Stratoshark calls abort(3) when a dissector bug is encountered. And abort(3) will cause the program to exit abnormally 😭 (dramatic but accurate). If you're running Stratoshark in a debugger, it should halt in the debugger and let you inspect the process; if you're not in a debugger, it will — on some OSes, assuming your environment is configured correctly — generate a core dump file. Useful for developers trying to troubleshoot a problem with a protocol dissector 🛠️
  • WIRESHARK_ABORT_ON_TOO_MANY_ITEMS — if set, Stratoshark calls abort(3) when a dissector tries to add too many items to a tree (generally an indication the dissector isn't breaking out of a loop soon enough 👀). Same deal as the previous one: abort(3) exits abnormally, debugger halts for inspection, otherwise possibly a core dump on some OSes assuming your environment is configured correctly. Also for developers troubleshooting a protocol dissector problem.
  • WIRESHARK_QUIT_AFTER_CAPTURE — makes Stratoshark exit after the end of the capture session. ⚠️ Careful, bestie: this does not automatically start a capture — you still have to use -k for that. You also must specify an autostop condition, e.g. -c or -a duration:.... And because of all that, you won't be able to see the results of the capture after it stops — it's primarily useful for testing. Fr fr, testing only 🧪
  • WIRESHARK_LOG_LEVEL — controls how chatty the diagnostic messages to the console are. From less verbose to most verbose, the levels are critical, warning, message, info, debug or noisy. Levels above the current level are also active. Levels critical and error are always active — you can't silence those, periodt 💀
  • WIRESHARK_LOG_FATAL — sets the fatal log level. Fatal log levels cause the program to abort 😳 This level can be set to Error, critical or warning. Error is always fatal and is the default.
  • WIRESHARK_LOG_DOMAINS — selects which log domains are active. The filter is given as a case-insensitive comma separated list. If set, only the included domains will be enabled. The default domain is always considered to be enabled. ooh and — domain filter lists can be preceded by ! to invert the sense of the match 🔄
  • WIRESHARK_LOG_DEBUG — list of domains with debug log level. This sets the level of the provided log domains and takes precedence over the active domains filter. If preceded by ! this disables the debug level instead 🙃
  • WIRESHARK_LOG_NOISY — same as above but for the noisy log level instead ✨

👑 AUTHORS 👑

Stratoshark would not be the powerful, featureful application it is without the generous contributions of hundreds of developers 🫶 genuinely so many iconic people.

A complete list of authors can be found in the AUTHORS file in Wireshark's source code repository — go give them their flowers 💐

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

⭐ NOTES ⭐

This is the manual page for Stratoshark 0.9.5. The latest version of Stratoshark can be found at https://stratoshark.org/ 🦋

HTML versions of the Wireshark project man pages are available at https://www.wireshark.org/docs/man-pages/ 📚

okay that's the whole page, bestie, you made it to the end 🎉 this lil time capsule is from 2026-05-24 and it's documenting STRATOSHARK(1) — Stratoshark 0.9.5 specifically 💖 go dissect something iconic 💅✨

📦 where this page comes from