PCAP_LOOKUPDEV(3PCAP)

💖 NAME 💖

This is the pcap_lookupdev(3PCAP) page, bestie, and here's the vibe: pcap_lookupdev is your go-to for finding the default device on which to capture. 🎀

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

#include <pcap/pcap.h>

char errbuf[PCAP_ERRBUF_SIZE];

[DEPRECATED] char *pcap_lookupdev(char *errbuf);

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

Okay so first things first: this interface is obsoleted by pcap_findalldevs(3PCAP). Like, it's giving deprecated icon energy, but we still gotta know what it does. 💅

To find a default device on which to capture, call pcap_findalldevs() and, if the list it returns is not empty, use the first device in the list. (If the list is empty, there are no devices on which capture is possible.) errbuf is a buffer large enough to hold at least PCAP_ERRBUF_SIZE chars. 🫶

🚨 If pcap_init(3PCAP) has been called, this interface always returns NULL. No cap.

pcap_lookupdev() returns a pointer to a string giving the name of a network device suitable for use with pcap_create(3PCAP) and pcap_activate(3PCAP), or with pcap_open_live(3PCAP), and with pcap_lookupnet(3PCAP). If there is an error, or if pcap_init(3PCAP) has been called, NULL is returned and errbuf is filled in with an appropriate error message. 😭✨

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

• pcap(3PCAP)

💀 BUGS 💀

• The pointer returned by pcap_lookupdev() points to a static buffer; subsequent calls to pcap_lookupdev() in the same thread, or calls to pcap_lookupdev() in another thread, may overwrite that buffer. Lowkey risky, bestie. 🙈
• In WinPcap and Npcap, this function may return a UTF-16 string rather than an ASCII or UTF-8 string. It's giving plot twist. 😭

✨ That's the tea from the PCAP_LOOKUPDEV(3PCAP) manual, dated 30 November 2023 — mwah, bestie! 💅💖