UDPDUMP(1)

📦
version 4.7.4 · 17 versions
, in arch rolling

💅 UDPDUMP(1) 💅

okay so bestie, you found udpdump — that's the tool name, and it lives in section 1 of the manual (the "commands you just type in your terminal" section, iykyk). buckle up, this one's actually so cute and useful 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

udpdump — it's a UDP receiver 🎧 that catches packets flying in from network devices (Aruba routers, looking at you 👀) and exports them in PCAP format. literally a glow-up for your datagrams.

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

udpdump [ --help ] [ --version ] [ --extcap-interfaces ]
[ --extcap-dlts ] [ --extcap-interface=<interface> ] [ --extcap-config ]
[ --capture ] [ --fifo=<path to file or pipe> ] [ --port=<port> ]
[ --payload=<type> ]

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

so udpdump is an extcap tool — that's the whole vibe 💫 — and what it does is give you a UDP receiver that listens for exported datagrams coming from literally any source (Aruba routers being the classic example 🎀) and then exports them all pretty in PCAP format.

this gives you two (2) basic functionalities, bestie, and they're both icons:

  • first one 👑 — you get a listener that prevents the localhost from sending back an ICMP port-unreachable packet. no unwanted clapback. periodt.
  • second one 🧚 — it strips out the lower layers (layer 2, IP, UDP) because honestly? they're useless here. they were only ever used as the export vector. we don't need them, we're thriving without them 💅

the format of the exported datagrams is EXPORTED_PDU, exactly as specified in:

https://gitlab.com/wireshark/wireshark/-/raw/master/epan/exported_pdu.h

(yeah that's a real link, go read it if you're feeling academic 📚)

⭐ OPTIONS ⭐

  • --help — prints the program arguments. your little cheat sheet 📝
  • --version — prints the program version. so you know what era of udpdump you're in 🕰️
  • --extcap-interfaces — lists the available interfaces. window shopping for interfaces, slay 🛍️
  • --extcap-interface=<interface> — uses the interface you specified. pick your fave 💫
  • --extcap-dlts — lists the DLTs of the specified interface. yes bestie, DLTs. get into it 🔥
  • --extcap-config — lists the configuration options of the specified interface. the settings menu, basically 🎛️
  • --capture — starts capturing from the specified interface and saves it in the place specified by --fifo. it's giving main character energy 🎬
  • --fifo=<path to file or pipe> — saves the captured packet to a file, or sends it through a pipe. your choice, you're the CEO 🫶
  • --port=<port> — sets the listener port. port 5555 is the default, so if you don't say anything, it's 5555. no cap 🔢
  • --payload=<type> — sets the payload of the exported PDU. default: data 💾

🦋 EXAMPLES 🦋

to see program arguments:

udpdump --help

to see program version:

udpdump --version

to see interfaces:

udpdump --extcap-interfaces

example output 👇

interface {value=udpdump}{display=UDP Listener remote capture}

to see interface DLTs:

udpdump --extcap-interface=udpdump --extcap-dlts

example output 👇

dlt {number=252}{name=udpdump}{display=Exported PDUs}

to see interface configuration options:

udpdump --extcap-interface=udpdump --extcap-config

example output 👇

arg {number=0}{call=--port}{display=Listen port}{type=unsigned}{range=1,65535}{default=5555}{tooltip=The port the receiver listens on}

to capture:

udpdump --extcap-interface=randpkt --fifo=/tmp/randpkt.pcapng --capture
note 📌 — to stop capturing, press CTRL+C / kill / terminate the application. seriously bestie, it will just keep going otherwise 💀

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

wireshark(1), tshark(1), dumpcap(1), extcap(4)

(the whole friend group tbh 💜)

🍓 NOTES 🍓

udpdump is part of the Wireshark distribution. the latest version of Wireshark can be found at https://www.wireshark.org — go get the freshest one ✨

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

👑 AUTHORS 👑

Original Author — Dario Lombardo <lomato[AT]gmail.com> 💌

and that's the whole page, bestie 🎀 written under the UDPDUMP(1) banner, dated 2026-10-08 — so go forth, listen on 5555, and eat, no crumbs left 🔥💅💖

📦 where this page comes from