WIRESHARK(1)

📦
version 4.6.9 · 17 versions
, in fedora 43, fedora 44

✨ NAME ✨

okay so bestie, welcome to WIRESHARK(1) — that's the manual page, section 1, we're really doing this 💅

wireshark — interactively dump and analyze network traffic. that's the whole vibe. packets go in, knowledge comes out 🦋

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

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

wireshark -h|--help

wireshark -v|--version

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

Wireshark is a GUI network protocol analyzer. she lets you interactively browse packet data from a live network or from a previously saved capture file. no cap, that's her whole thing 💖

Her native capture file formats are pcapng format and pcap format — and yes she can read and write both. pcap format is also the format used by tcpdump and various other tools. and here's the tea: tcpdump, when using newer versions of the libpcap library, can also read some pcapng files, and, on newer versions of macOS, can read all pcapng files and can write them as well. iconic behavior honestly 👑

Wireshark can also read / import the following file formats:

  • Oracle (previously Sun) snoop and atmsnoop captures
  • Finisar (previously Shomiti) Surveyor captures
  • Microsoft Network Monitor captures
  • Novell LANalyzer captures
  • AIX’s iptrace captures
  • Cinco Networks NetXRay captures
  • NETSCOUT (previously Network Associates/Network General) Windows-based Sniffer captures
  • Network General/Network Associates DOS-based Sniffer captures (compressed or uncompressed)
  • LiveAction (previously WildPackets/Savvius) *Peek/EtherHelp/PacketGrabber captures
  • RADCOM's WAN/LAN analyzer captures
  • Viavi (previously Network Instruments) Observer captures
  • Lucent/Ascend router debug output
  • captures from HP-UX nettl
  • Toshiba’s ISDN routers dump output
  • the output from i4btrace from the ISDN4BSD project
  • traces from the EyeSDN USB S0
  • the IPLog format output from the Cisco Secure Intrusion Detection System
  • pppd logs (pppdump format)
  • the output from VMS’s TCPIPtrace/TCPtrace/UCX$TRACE utilities
  • the text output from the DBS Etherwatch VMS utility
  • Visual Networks' Visual UpTime traffic capture
  • the output from CoSine L2 debug
  • the output from InfoVista (previously Accellent) 5View LAN agents
  • Endace Measurement Systems' ERF format captures
  • Linux Bluez Bluetooth stack hcidump -w traces
  • Catapult DCT2000 .out files
  • Gammu generated text output from Nokia DCT3 phones in Netmonitor mode
  • IBM Series (OS/400) Comm traces (ASCII & UNICODE)
  • Juniper Netscreen snoop files
  • Symbian OS btsnoop files
  • TamoSoft CommView files
  • Tektronix K12xx 32bit .rf5 format files
  • Tektronix K12 text file format captures
  • Apple PacketLogger files
  • Captures from Aethra Telecommunications' PC108 software for their test instruments
  • Citrix NetScaler Trace files
  • Android Logcat binary and text format logs
  • Colasoft Capsa and PacketBuilder captures
  • Micropross mplog files
  • Unigraf DPA-400 DisplayPort AUX channel monitor traces
  • 802.15.4 traces from Daintree’s Sensor Network Analyzer
  • MPEG-2 Transport Streams as defined in ISO/IEC 13818-1
  • Log files from the candump utility
  • Logs from the BUSMASTER tool
  • Ixia IxVeriWave raw captures
  • Rabbit Labs CAM Inspector files
  • systemd journal files
  • 3GPP TS 32.423 trace files

okay that's a lot of formats and she ate every single one 💀

There is no need to tell Wireshark what type of file you are reading — she will determine the file type by herself, main character energy fr fr. Wireshark is also capable of reading any of these file formats if they are compressed using gzip, LZ4, or Zstandard, if compiled with the appropriate support. Wireshark recognizes this directly from the file; the .gz or other extension is not required for this purpose. she just knows 🧚

Like other protocol analyzers, Wireshark's main window shows 3 views of a packet:

  • a summary line, briefly describing what the packet is
  • a packet details display, letting you drill down to the exact protocol or field that you're interested in
  • and finally a hex dump, showing you exactly what the packet looks like when it goes over the wire

In addition, Wireshark has some features that make her unique:

  • she can assemble all the packets in a TCP conversation and show you the ASCII (or EBCDIC, or hex) data in that conversation
  • Display filters in Wireshark are very powerful; more fields are filterable in Wireshark than in other protocol analyzers, and the syntax you can use to create your filters is richer. As Wireshark progresses, expect more and more protocol fields to be allowed in display filters. she keeps growing, she keeps slaying 📈✨

Packet capturing is performed with the pcap library. The capture filter syntax follows the rules of the pcap library. This syntax is different from the display filter syntax. yes they're two different girls, don't mix them up 🙈

Compressed file support uses (and therefore requires) the zlib library. If the zlib library is not present, Wireshark will compile, but will be unable to read compressed files. build fails? no. reading compressed files fails? yeah. tragic but that's the deal 😭

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 💅

Wireshark 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 — and honestly? those users may wish to skip this section. no shade, live your life 🫶

  • -a, --autostop <capture autostop condition> — specify a criterion that says when Wireshark is to 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, Wireshark 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 packets exceeds 231 (2147483648).
    • packets:value — stop writing to a capture file after it contains value packets. Acts the same as -c<capture packet count>.
  • -b, --ring-buffer <capture ring buffer option> — cause Wireshark to run in "multiple files" mode. In "multiple files" mode, Wireshark will write to several capture files. When the first capture file fills up, Wireshark 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 Wireshark 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 packets exceeds 231 (2147483648).
  • interval:value — switch to the next file when the time is an exact multiple of value seconds.
  • packets:value — switch to the next file after it contains value packets.

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

  • -B, --buffer-size <capture buffer size> — set capture buffer size (in MiB, default is 2 MiB). This is used by the capture driver to buffer packet data until that data can be written to disk. If you encounter packet drops while capturing, try to increase this size. Note that, while Wireshark attempts to set the buffer size to 2 MiB by default, and can be told to set it to a larger value, the system or interface on which you’re capturing might silently limit the capture buffer size to a lower value or raise it to a higher value. sneaky 😭

This is available on UNIX-compatible systems, such as Linux, macOS, *BSD, Solaris, and AIX, with libpcap 1.0.0 or later, and on Windows. It is not available on UNIX-compatible systems with earlier versions of libpcap.

This option can occur multiple times. If used before the first occurrence of the -i option, it sets the default capture buffer size. If used after an -i option, it sets the capture buffer size for the interface specified by the last -i option occurring before this option. If the capture buffer size is not set specifically, the default capture buffer size is used instead.

  • -c <capture packet count> — set the maximum number of packets to read when capturing live data. Acts the same as -a packets:<capture packet 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 Wireshark currently only displays the first comment of a capture file. the rest are just... there. lurking. 🙈

  • -D, --list-interfaces

prints out a list of every interface Wireshark can capture on, then dips. 👋 For each network interface you get a number, an interface name, and maybe a little text description of the interface too. Either that interface name or that number can be handed to the -i flag to say which interface you wanna capture on. The number is genuinely so useful on Windows, where interface names are long as heck and usually have a GUID crammed inside. 💀

  • --display <X display to use> — tells Wireshark which X display to use. You can give a hostname plus screen (otherhost:0.0) or just a screen (:0.0). Not a thing on macOS or Windows, so don't come for it there. 🙈
  • -f <capture filter> — sets the capture filter expression. 🎯
    • This one can show up multiple times. Used before the first -i? It sets the default capture filter expression. Used after an -i? It sets the capture filter for the interface named by the last -i that came before it. And if nobody sets a capture filter specifically, the default one gets used (if one was provided).
    • Pre-defined capture filter names — the ones you see in the GUI under Capture→Capture Filters — can be used by sticking "predef:" in front of the argument. Example: -f "predef:MyPredefinedHostOnlyFilter" ✨
  • -F <file format> — when you're doing a capture file from the command line with the -k option, this sets the file format of the output capture file written via -w. In situations that need the pcapng format — like capturing from multiple interfaces — this option gets overridden. -F with no value lists all the available formats. Default is pcapng format (unless somebody changed the default in preferences).
    • Heads up: this does not support every format Wireshark can convert a file to. That's intentional, for security reasons. 🔒 So capture in a supported format and then save the file in a different format if you want that.
  • --fullscreen — boots Wireshark in full screen mode (kiosk mode). To escape fullscreen, open the View menu and pick the Full Screen option. Or just smash the F11 key (or Ctrl + Cmd + F on macOS). 🖥️
  • -g <packet number> — after reading in a capture file with the -r flag, jumps to the given packet number. 🎯
  • -h|--help — prints the version number and options, then exits.
  • -H — hides the capture info dialog while live packet capture is happening. 🙈
  • -i|--interface <capture interface>|- — sets the name of the network interface (or pipe) to use for live packet capture. 👑
    • Network interface names should match one of the names listed by wireshark -D (described above); a number, as reported by tshark -D, works too.
    • No interface specified? Wireshark goes hunting through the interface list and picks the first non-loopback interface if there are any non-loopback interfaces, and the first loopback interface if there aren't any non-loopback ones. If there are no interfaces at all, Wireshark 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 standard input. On Windows systems, pipe names must look like "\\.\pipe\pipename". Data read from pipes has to be in standard pcapng or pcap format. And pcapng data must have the same endianness as the capturing host. 🧠
    • "TCP@<host>:<port>" makes Wireshark try to connect to the specified port on the specified host and read pcapng or pcap data.
    • This option can occur multiple times. When you're capturing from multiple interfaces, the capture file gets saved in pcapng format.
  • -I|--monitor-mode — puts the interface into "monitor mode". This is only supported on IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi interfaces, and only on some operating systems. 🦋
Real talk: in monitor mode the adapter might disassociate from the network it's currently on, which means you won't be able to use any wireless networks with that adapter. That could block you from reaching files on a network server, or resolving host names / network addresses, if you're capturing in monitor mode and you're not hooked up to another network through another adapter. ⚠️
  • This option can occur multiple times. Used before the first -i? It enables monitor mode for all interfaces. Used after an -i? It enables monitor mode for the interface named by the last -i before it.
  • -j — use this after -J to change the behavior when no exact match is found for the filter. With this option, select the first packet before. ⬅️
  • -J <jump filter> — after reading in a capture file with the -r flag, jumps to the packet matching the filter (using display filter syntax). If there's no exact match, the first packet after that one gets selected. ➡️
  • -k — starts the capture session immediately. If the -i flag was given, the capture uses that interface. Otherwise Wireshark scans the interface list, choosing the first non-loopback interface if there are any non-loopback interfaces, and choosing the first loopback interface if there are no non-loopback interfaces; and if there are no interfaces at all, it reports an error and doesn't start the capture. 😤
  • -l — turns on automatic scrolling when the packet display is being updated automatically as packets arrive during a capture (as specified by the -S flag). 📜
  • -L|--list-data-link-types — lists the data link types supported by the interface and exits.
  • --list-time-stamp-types — lists the time stamp types supported for the interface. If no time stamp type can be set, no time stamp types get listed at all.
  • -o <preference/recent setting> — sets a preference or recent value, overriding the default value and anything read from a preference/recent file. 🎀 The argument is a string shaped like prefname:value, where prefname is the name of the preference/recent value (the exact same name that would show up in the preference/recent file), and value is what you want it set to. Since Ethereal 0.10.12, the recent settings replace the old -B, -P and -T flags that used to handle GUI dimensions.
    • 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, quotes included. For instance, to specify a user DLT from the command line, you'd use:
    -o "uat:user_dlts:\"User 0 (DLT=147)\",\"cops\",\"0\",\"\",\"0\",\"\""
  • -p|--no-promiscuous-mode — don't put the interface into promiscuous mode. 🚫 But ngl, the interface might be in promiscuous mode for some other reason anyway, so -p cannot be used to guarantee that the only traffic captured is traffic sent to or from the machine Wireshark is running on, broadcast traffic, and multicast traffic to addresses received by that machine.
    • This option can occur multiple times. Used before the first -i? No interface gets put into promiscuous mode. Used after an -i? The interface named by the last -i before this option won't get put into promiscuous mode.
  • -P <path setting> — special path settings that are usually detected automatically. This exists for special cases, e.g. starting Wireshark from a known location on a USB stick. 🔌
    • The criterion is shaped like key:path, where key is one of:
      • persconf:path — path of personal configuration files, like the preferences files.
      • persdata:path — path of personal data files; it's the folder that gets opened initially. After the very first initialization, the recent file will keep the folder last used.
  • -r|--read-file <infile> — reads packet data from infile, which can be any supported capture file format (compressed files included). 🫶 You can't use named pipes or stdin here, unlike TShark! To capture from a pipe or from stdin, use -i -.
  • -R|--read-filter <read (display) filter> — when reading a capture file specified with the -r flag, applies the specified filter (which uses display filter syntax, not capture filter syntax) to every packet read from the capture file; packets that don't match get discarded. 🗑️
  • -s|--snapshot-length <capture snaplen> — sets the default snapshot length to use when capturing live data. No more than snaplen bytes of each network packet get read into memory, or saved to disk. A value of 0 specifies a snapshot length of 262144, so the full packet gets captured — that's the default. 📏
    • This option can occur multiple times. Used before the first -i? It sets the default snapshot length. Used after an -i? It sets the snapshot length for the interface named by the last -i before it. If the snapshot length isn't set specifically, the default snapshot length is used if provided.
  • -S — automatically updates the packet display as packets come in. 🔄
  • --temp-dir <directory> — specifies the directory where temporary files (capture files included) get written. Default behavior on UNIX-compatible systems — Linux, macOS, *BSD, Solaris, AIX — is to use the environment variable $TMPDIR if it's set, and the system default (typically /tmp) if it isn't. On Windows, the %TEMP% environment variable is used, which typically defaults to %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Temp. 📁
  • --time-stamp-type <type> — changes the interface's timestamp method. See --list-time-stamp-types. ⏱️
  • --update-interval <interval> — sets the length of time in milliseconds between new packet reports during a capture. Also sets the granularity of file duration conditions. Default value is 100ms.
  • -v|--version — prints the full version info and exits.
  • -w <outfile> — sets the default capture file name, or '-' for standard output. 💾
  • -X <eXtension options> — specify an option to pass to a Wireshark module. 🧩 The eXtension option is shaped like extension_key:value, where extension_key can be:
  • lua_script:lua_script_filename — okay so bestie, this tells Wireshark to load the given script in addition to the default Lua scripts. 💖
  • lua_scriptnum:argument — this one is giving “pass the argument” energy. It tells Wireshark 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'. 🦋✨
  • read_format:file_format — tells Wireshark to use the given file format to read in the file (the file given in the -r command option). It’s giving “read my mind” but for file formats. 📖
  • stdin_descr:description — tells Wireshark to use the given description when capturing from standard input (-i -). So you can name your stdin era. 🌸
  • -y, --linktype <capture link type> — if a capture is started from the command line with -k, set the data link type to use while capturing packets. The values reported by -L are the values that can be used. 🔥

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

  • -Y, --display-filter <displaY filter> — start with the given display filter. 👑
  • -z <statistics> — get Wireshark 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 — display all possible values for -z. 🆘
  • -z afp,srt[,filter] — show Apple Filing Protocol service response time statistics. 🍎
  • -z conv,type[,filter] — create a table that lists all conversations that could be seen in the capture. type specifies the conversation endpoint types for which we want to generate the statistics; currently the supported ones are:
    • "eth" — Ethernet addresses
    • "fc" — Fibre Channel addresses
    • "fddi" — FDDI addresses
    • "ip" — IPv4 addresses
    • "ipv6" — IPv6 addresses
    • "ipx" — IPX addresses
    • "tcp" — TCP/IP socket pairs Both IPv4 and IPv6 are supported
    • "tr" — Token Ring addresses
    • "udp" — UDP/IP socket pairs Both IPv4 and IPv6 are supported

If the optional filter is specified, only those packets that match the filter will be used in the calculations. 🧮

The table is presented with one line for each conversation and displays the number of packets/bytes in each direction as well as the total number of packets/bytes. By default, the table is sorted according to the total number of packets. 📈

These tables can also be generated at runtime by selecting the appropriate conversation type from the menu "Tools/Statistics/Conversation List/". 🖱️

  • -z dcerpc,srt,name-or-uuid,major.minor[,filter] — collect call/reply SRT (Service Response Time) data for DCERPC interface name or uuid, version major.minor. Data collected is the number of calls for each procedure, MinSRT, MaxSRT and AvgSRT. Interface name and uuid are case-insensitive. 💜

Example: -z dcerpc,srt,12345778-1234-abcd-ef00-0123456789ac,1.0 will collect data for the CIFS SAMR Interface. 🎀

This option can be used multiple times on the command line. 🔁

If the optional filter is provided, the stats will only be calculated on those calls that match that filter. 🎯

Example: -z dcerpc,srt,12345778-1234-abcd-ef00-0123456789ac,1.0,ip.addr==1.2.3.4 will collect SAMR SRT statistics for a specific host. 🖥️

  • -z dhcp,stat[,filter] — show DHCP (BOOTP) statistics. 📡
  • -z expert — show expert information. 🧠
  • -z fc,srt[,filter] — collect call/reply SRT (Service Response Time) data for FC. Data collected is the number of calls for each Fibre Channel command, MinSRT, MaxSRT and AvgSRT. 🌀

Example: -z fc,srt will calculate the Service Response Time as the time delta between the First packet of the exchange and the Last packet of the exchange. ⏱️

The data will be presented as separate tables for all normal FC commands, Only those commands that are seen in the capture will have its stats displayed. 📋

This option can be used multiple times on the command line. 🔁

If the optional filter is provided, the stats will only be calculated on those calls that match that filter. 🎯

Example: -z "fc,srt,fc.id==01.02.03" will collect stats only for FC packets exchanged by the host at FC address 01.02.03 . 🏠

  • -z h225,counter[,filter] — count ITU-T H.225 messages and their reasons. In the first column you get a list of H.225 messages and H.225 message reasons which occur in the current capture file. The number of occurrences of each message or reason is displayed in the second column. 📊

Example: -z h225,counter 🧮

This option can be used multiple times on the command line. 🔁

If the optional filter is provided, the stats will only be calculated on those calls that match that filter. 🎯

Example: -z "h225,counter,ip.addr==1.2.3.4" will collect stats only for H.225 packets exchanged by the host at IP address 1.2.3.4 . 🖥️

  • -z h225,srt[,filter] — collect request/response SRT (Service Response Time) data for ITU-T H.225 RAS. Data collected is the number of calls of each ITU-T H.225 RAS Message Type, Minimum SRT, Maximum SRT, Average SRT, Minimum in Packet, and Maximum in Packet. You will also get the number of Open Requests (Unresponded Requests), Discarded Responses (Responses without matching request) and Duplicate Messages. 📨

Example: -z h225,srt 🧮

This option can be used multiple times on the command line. 🔁

If the optional filter is provided, the stats will only be calculated on those calls that match that filter. 🎯

Example: -z "h225,srt,ip.addr==1.2.3.4" will collect stats only for ITU-T H.225 RAS packets exchanged by the host at IP address 1.2.3.4 . 🖥️

  • -z io,stat — collect packet/bytes statistics for the capture in intervals of 1 second. This option will open a window with up to 5 color-coded graphs where number-of-packets-per-second or number-of-bytes-per-second statistics can be calculated and displayed. 📈

This option can be used multiple times on the command line. 🔁

This graph window can also be opened from the Analyze:Statistics:Traffic:IO-Stat menu item. 🖱️

  • -z ldap,srt[,filter] — collect call/reply SRT (Service Response Time) data for LDAP. Data collected is the number of calls for each implemented LDAP command, MinSRT, MaxSRT and AvgSRT. 📇

Example: -z ldap,srt will calculate the Service Response Time as the time delta between the Request and the Response. ⏱️

The data will be presented as separate tables for all implemented LDAP commands, Only those commands that are seen in the capture will have its stats displayed. 📋

This option can be used multiple times on the command line. 🔁

If the optional filter is provided, the stats will only be calculated on those calls that match that filter. 🎯

Example: use -z "ldap,srt,ip.addr==10.1.1.1" will collect stats only for LDAP packets exchanged by the host at IP address 10.1.1.1 . 🖥️

The only LDAP commands that are currently implemented and for which the stats will be available are: BIND SEARCH MODIFY ADD DELETE MODRDN COMPARE EXTENDED 📚

  • -z megaco,srt[,filter] — collect request/response SRT (Service Response Time) data for MEGACO. (This is similar to -z smb,srt). Data collected is the number of calls for each known MEGACO Command, Minimum SRT, Maximum SRT and Average SRT. 📞

Example: -z megaco,srt 🧮

This option can be used multiple times on the command line. 🔁

If the optional filter is provided, the stats will only be calculated on those calls that match that filter. 🎯

Example: -z "megaco,srt,ip.addr==1.2.3.4" will collect stats only for MEGACO packets exchanged by the host at IP address 1.2.3.4 . 🖥️

  • -z mgcp,srt[,filter] — collect request/response SRT (Service Response Time) data for MGCP. (This is similar to -z smb,srt). Data collected is the number of calls for each known MGCP Type, Minimum SRT, Maximum SRT and Average SRT. 📞

Example: -z mgcp,srt 🧮

This option can be used multiple times on the command line. 🔁

If the optional filter is provided, the stats will only be calculated on those calls that match that filter. 🎯

Example: -z "mgcp,srt,ip.addr==1.2.3.4" will collect stats only for MGCP packets exchanged by the host at IP address 1.2.3.4 . 🖥️

  • -z mtp3,msus[,<filter>] — show MTP3 MSU statistics. 📶
  • -z multicast,stat[,<filter>] — show UDP multicast stream statistics. 📡
  • -z rpc,programs — collect call/reply SRT data for all known ONC-RPC programs/versions. Data collected is the number of calls for each protocol/version, MinSRT, MaxSRT and AvgSRT. 🛰️
  • -z rpc,srt,name-or-number,version[,<filter>] — collect call/reply SRT (Service Response Time) data for program name/version or number/version. Data collected is the number of calls for each procedure, MinSRT, MaxSRT and AvgSRT. Program name is case-insensitive. 📡

Example: -z rpc,srt,100003,3 will collect data for NFS v3. 🗂️

This option can be used multiple times on the command line. 🔁

If the optional filter is provided, the stats will only be calculated on those calls that match that filter. 🎯

Example: -z rpc,srt,nfs,3,nfs.fh.hash==0x12345678 will collect NFS v3 SRT statistics for a specific file. 📁

  • -z scsi,srt,cmdset[,<filter>] — collect call/reply SRT (Service Response Time) data for SCSI commandset <cmdset>. 💾

Commandsets are 0:SBC 1:SSC 5:MMC 📚

Data collected is the number of calls for each procedure, MinSRT, MaxSRT and AvgSRT. 📊

Example: -z scsi,srt,0 will collect data for SCSI BLOCK COMMANDS (SBC). 🧱

This option can be used multiple times on the command line. 🔁

If the optional filter is provided, the stats will only be calculated on those calls that match that filter. 🎯

Example: -z scsi,srt,0,ip.addr==1.2.3.4 will collect SCSI SBC SRT statistics for a specific iscsi/ifcp/fcip host. 🖥️

  • -z sip,stat[,filter] — (the manpage just drops this one with no description, bestie, so we simply vibe with it 💅)

Ngl bestie, this is the stats girlie part and she serves 💅

  • It's gonna switch on a counter for SIP messages — you get the number of occurrences of each SIP Method and of each SIP Status-Code. Oh and bonus: you also get the number of resent SIP Messages (that part's only for SIP over UDP, iykyk).

Example: -z sip,stat

This option can be used multiple times on the command line. Slay.

If the optional filter is provided, the stats will only be calculated on those calls that match that filter.

Example: -z "sip,stat,ip.addr==1.2.3.4" will collect stats only for SIP packets exchanged by the host at IP address 1.2.3.4 .

  • -z smb,srt[,filter] — collect call/reply SRT (Service Response Time) data for SMB. What you get is the number of calls for each SMB command, plus MinSRT, MaxSRT and AvgSRT. So much data, so organized ✨

Example: -z smb,srt

The data will be presented as separate tables for all normal SMB commands, all Transaction2 commands and all NT Transaction commands. Only those commands that are seen in the capture will have their stats displayed. Only the first command in a xAndX command chain will be used in the calculation. So for common SessionSetupAndX + TreeConnectAndX chains, only the SessionSetupAndX call will be used in the statistics. This is a flaw that might be fixed in the future. (not me exposing the flaw, but fr fr, transparency is iconic 💀)

This option can be used multiple times on the command line.

If the optional filter is provided, the stats will only be calculated on those calls that match that filter.

Example: -z "smb,srt,ip.addr==1.2.3.4" will collect stats only for SMB packets exchanged by the host at IP address 1.2.3.4 .

  • -z voip,calls — pops open a window showing the VoIP calls found in the capture file. It's literally the same window you get when you go to the Statistics Menu and choose VoIP Calls. Same vibe, different door 🚪✨

Example: -z voip,calls

  • -z wlan,stat[,<filter>] — show IEEE 802.11 network and station statistics. WiFi girlies rise 🦋
  • -z wsp,stat[,<filter>] — show WSP packet counters.

🔍 DISSECTION OPTIONS 🔍

  • -d <layer type>==<selector>,<decode-as protocol> — okay so this is exactly like Wireshark's Decode As... feature. It 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. It's giving main character energy for your packets 👑

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 — disable dissection of all protocols. All of them. Gone. Periodt.
  • --disable-protocol <proto_name>[,<proto_name>,...] — disable 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. So dramatic, love that for you 🙈
  • --disable-heuristic <short_name> — disable dissection of heuristic protocol.
  • --enable-protocol <proto_name>[,<proto_name>,...] — enable 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. Bringing them all back like a glow-up montage 🌈

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

  • --enable-heuristic <short_name> — enable dissection of heuristic protocol.
  • -K <keytab> — load kerberos crypto keys from the specified keytab file. This option can be used multiple times to load keys from several files. Collecting keys like they're friendship bracelets 🎀

Example: -K krb5.keytab

  • -n — disable network object name resolution (such as hostname, TCP and UDP port names); the -N option might override this one. Yes bestie, they fight, and -N might win.
  • -N <name resolving flags> — turn 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. (yes, uppercase N is a whole different girlie from lowercase n, don't mix them up 💅)
  • 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 enable dissection of these protocols, comma separated. Disable everything else. The exclusivity?? The boundaries?? We love to see it ✨
  • -t (a|ad|adoy|d|dd|e|r|u|ud|udoy)[.[N]]|.[N] — set 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> — set the active log level. Supported levels in 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. So you can yell it in any font, she'll hear you 📣
  • --log-fatal <level> — abort the program if any messages are logged at the specified level or higher. For example, "warning" aborts on any "warning", "critical", or "error" messages. She said no more, and she means it 💀
  • --log-domains <list> — only print 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> — force 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> — force 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> — abort the program if any messages are logged for the specified log domains. List of domains must be comma-separated.
  • --log-file <path> — write log messages and stderr output to the specified file.

🖥️ INTERFACE 🖥️

The Wireshark User's Guide https://www.wireshark.org/docs/wsug_html_chunked/ contains a description of the user interface. It also may be installed locally along with Wireshark. Pressing the F1 key will attempt to open the guide locally if present, falling back to the online guide if not. F1 = emotional support documentation key 🫶

🎣 CAPTURE FILTER SYNTAX 🎣

See the manual page of pcap-filter(7) or, if that doesn't exist, tcpdump(8), or, if that doesn't exist, https://wiki.wireshark.org/CaptureFilters.

🔎 DISPLAY FILTER SYNTAX 🔎

For a complete table of protocol and protocol fields that are filterable in Wireshark see the wireshark-filter(4) manual page.

📁 FILES 📁

These files contain various Wireshark configuration settings. Your whole config wardrobe, basically 🎀

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 the order is: defaults → system-wide → personal → command line. The command line is the final boss 👑

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
Bestie, keep the vibes going — there's more page coming 💖

The global preferences file is looked for in the wireshark directory under the share subdirectory of the main installation directory, bestie. On macOS, that's typically /Application/Wireshark.app/Contents/Resources/share; on other UNIX-compatible systems — think Linux, *BSD, Solaris, and AIX — it's typically /usr/share/wireshark/preferences for system-installed packages and /usr/local/share/wireshark/preferences for locally-installed packages; and on Windows it's typically C:\Program Files\Wireshark\preferences. slay, so many paths 💅

On UNIX-compatible systems, the personal preferences file lives at $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, it's looked for in %APPDATA%\Wireshark\preferences (or, if %APPDATA% isn't defined, %USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Wireshark\preferences).

Note: whenever your preferences get saved by hitting the Save button in the Edit:Preferences dialog box, your personal preferences file gets overwritten with the new settings — destroying any comments and unknown/obsolete settings that were chillin' in the file. no cap, back them up if they matter to you 😭

🦋 Recent 🦋

The recent file is holding your personal settings (mostly GUI-related stuff) like the current Wireshark window size. It gets saved at program exit and read back in at program start, automatically, no cap. Note: the command line flag -o may be used to override settings from this file.

The settings in this file have the same format as in the preferences files, and it uses the same directory as the personal preferences file.

Note: whenever Wireshark closes, your recent file gets overwritten with the new settings, destroying any comments and unknown/obsolete settings that were in the file. it's giving "no notes, just vibes" and the vibes are gone 🙈

💜 Disabled (Enabled) Protocols 💜

The disabled_protos files hold system-wide and personal lists of protocols that have been disabled, so that their dissectors are never called. 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. So it's not displayed in the Analyze::Enabled Protocols dialog box. periodt.

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. 💫

Note: whenever the disabled protocols list gets saved by hitting the Save button in the Analyze:Enabled Protocols dialog box, your personal disabled protocols file gets overwritten with the new settings, destroying any comments that were in the file. bye comments 🥲

🌈 Heuristic Dissectors 🌈

The heuristic_protos files contain system-wide and personal lists of heuristic dissectors, and they indicate whether each one is 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. 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. main character energy fr fr 👑

Capture filter name resolution is handled by libpcap on UNIX-compatible systems — 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. rip 🫠

⭐ Name Resolution (subnets) ⭐

If an IPv4 address can't be translated via name resolution (like, 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". iconic little naming scheme ngl 💅

🍓 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 isn't found there, the global ethers file is tried next.

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. 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 — 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.

🌸 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 to 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. math is mathing 📐

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. glow up 🫶

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 adddresses and address ranges assembled from various non IEEE but respected 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. 💖

👑 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.

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

and that's the whole file directory situation, bestie — every path, every format, every "note:" that will absolutely eat your comments if you're not careful 💀

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. Bestie behavior, honestly — it just wants to live next to its friend. 🫶

✨ Name Resolution (ss7pcs) ✨

The ss7pcs file is used to translate SS7 point codes to names. It is read from the personal configuration directory. 👑

Each line in this file consists of one network indicator followed by a dash followed by a point code in decimal and a node name separated by whitespace. An example is:

2-1234 MyPointCode1

🦋 Name Resolution (vlans) 🦋

The vlans file is used to translate VLAN tag IDs into names. It is read from the personal configuration directory. 🌸

Each line in this file consists of one VLAN tag ID separated by whitespace from a name. An example is:

123    Server-Lan
2049   HR-Client-LAN

💅 Capture Filters 💅

The cfilters files contain system-wide and personal capture filters. Each line contains one filter, starting with the string displayed 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. It's giving "pick one," no cap. 💀

🌈 Display Filters 🌈

The dfilters files contain system-wide and personal display filters. Each line contains 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 above, fr fr: 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 contain system-wide and personal display filter macros. Each line contains 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. 🦋

And yep, the pattern continues: 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. ✨

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 used to migrate to the new format. Glow-up arc, honestly. 🧚

👑 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. 🌈

Yes, this one too: 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.

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). 📁

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. ⭐

🌸 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES 🌸

okay bestie, this is the part where Wireshark reads your vibes — aka your environment — and changes how it behaves. every single one of these matters, so let's go 💖

  • WIRESHARK_CONFIG_DIR — this one overrides where your personal config files live. on UNIX-compatible systems — like 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 it's $HOME/.wireshark). realistically that's usually $HOME/.config/wireshark. on Windows it defaults to %APPDATA%\Wireshark (or, if %APPDATA% isn't defined at all, %USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Wireshark). available since Wireshark 3.0. she's been around a minute 💅
  • WIRESHARK_DEBUG_WMEM_OVERRIDE — setting this forces the wmem framework to use the allocator backend you specify for all allocations, no matter which backend the code would normally pick. mainly a dev thing, for testing or debugging. details live in README.wmem in the source distribution. nerd mode: activated 🧚
  • WIRESHARK_RUN_FROM_BUILD_DIRECTORY — makes the plugins and other data files load from the build directory (where the program got compiled) instead of the standard locations. it does nothing when the program in question is running with root (or setuid) permissions on UNIX-compatible systems like Linux, macOS, *BSD, Solaris, and AIX. root said no 🙈
  • WIRESHARK_DATA_DIR — loads the various data files from a directory that isn't the standard locations. also does nothing 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. same deal: no effect when the program is 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. and yeah, no effect when the program is running with root (or setuid) permissions on UNIX-compatible systems. the pattern is patterning ✨
  • ERF_RECORDS_TO_CHECK — controls how many ERF records get checked when Wireshark is deciding if a file really is in the ERF format. set it higher than the default (20) and false positives become less likely. more paranoid, more accurate 🎀
  • IPFIX_RECORDS_TO_CHECK — same energy, different format: controls how many IPFIX records get checked when deciding if a file really is IPFIX. higher than the default (20) = fewer false positives.
  • WIRESHARK_ABORT_ON_DISSECTOR_BUG — if this is set, Wireshark calls abort(3) the moment a dissector bug shows up. abort(3) makes the program exit abnormally — if you're running Wireshark in a debugger it should halt right there so you can inspect the process, and if you're not in a debugger, on some OSes (assuming your environment is set up right) it'll generate a core dump file. super useful for devs trying to troubleshoot a protocol dissector problem. it's giving dramatic exit 💀
  • WIRESHARK_ABORT_ON_TOO_MANY_ITEMS — same abort(3) situation, but triggered when a dissector tries to add too many items to a tree (usually a sign the dissector isn't breaking out of a loop soon enough). abort(3) exits the program abnormally; in a debugger it should halt and let you inspect the process, and outside a debugger, on some OSes with a correctly configured environment, it'll generate a core dump file. again: devs troubleshooting protocol dissectors, this one's for you.
  • WIRESHARK_QUIT_AFTER_CAPTURE — makes Wireshark exit once the capture session ends. important: this does not start a capture by itself, you still need -k for that. and you also have to specify an autostop condition, like -c or -a duration:.... the tradeoff? you won't be able to see the results of the capture after it stops. mostly useful for testing. capture and dip, no notes 🦋
  • WIRESHARK_LOG_LEVEL — controls how chatty the diagnostic messages to the console are. from least to most verbose, the levels are critical, warning, message, info, debug or noisy. levels above the current level are also active. and critical and error are always active, no take-backs. turn the volume up 🔊
  • WIRESHARK_LOG_FATAL — sets the fatal log level. fatal log levels make the program abort. this one can be set to Error, critical or warning. Error is always fatal and it's the default.
  • WIRESHARK_LOG_DOMAINS — picks which log domains are active. the filter is a case-insensitive comma separated list. if you set it, only the included domains get enabled. the default domain is always considered enabled. and heads up: a domain filter list can be preceded by ! to invert the sense of the match. flip the script 🫶
  • WIRESHARK_LOG_DEBUG — a list of domains at debug log level. this sets the level of the provided log domains and takes precedence over the active domains filter. if it's preceded by !, it disables the debug level instead.
  • WIRESHARK_LOG_NOISY — same as above but for the noisy log level instead. maximum chaos mode 🌈

👑 AUTHORS 👑

Wireshark would not be the powerful, featureful application it is without the generous contributions of hundreds of developers. hundreds!! the way that's so iconic 😭

a complete list of authors can be found in the AUTHORS file in Wireshark's source code repository.

🌟 SEE ALSO 🌟

go read them, they're all besties fr fr 📚

📝 NOTES 📝

this is the manual page for Wireshark 4.6.9. the latest version of Wireshark can be found at https://www.wireshark.org/.

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

Wireshark's User Guide is available at https://www.wireshark.org/docs/wsug_html_chunked/.

and that's the whole page, bestie 💜 Wireshark 4.6.9, dated 2026-09-24 — you made it all the way to the end, which honestly? main character energy. go capture something slay ✨🦋

📦 where this page comes from
  • fedora 43: wireshark 1:4.6.9-1.fc43 · BSD-1-Clause AND BSD-2-Clause AND BSD-3-Clause AND MIT AND GPL-2.0-or-later AND LGPL-2.0-or-later AND Zlib AND ISC AND (BSD-3-Clause OR GPL-2.0-only) AND (GPL-2.0-or-later AND Zlib)
  • fedora 44: wireshark 1:4.6.9-1.fc44 · BSD-1-Clause AND BSD-2-Clause AND BSD-3-Clause AND MIT AND GPL-2.0-or-later AND LGPL-2.0-or-later AND Zlib AND ISC AND (BSD-3-Clause OR GPL-2.0-only) AND (GPL-2.0-or-later AND Zlib)
  • 💖 girlified by deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash on : a language model's rewrite of the original, under its terms