// WSUG Chapter Introduction

[#ChapterIntroduction]

== Introduction

[#ChIntroWhatIs]

=== What is Wireshark?

Wireshark is a network packet analyzer. A network packet analyzer
presents captured packet data in as much detail as possible.

You could think of a network packet analyzer as a measuring device for
examining what’s happening inside a network cable, just like an electrician uses
a voltmeter for examining what’s happening inside an electric cable (but at a
higher level, of course).

In the past, such tools were either very expensive, proprietary, or both.
However, with the advent of Wireshark, that has changed. Wireshark is
available for free, is open source, and is one of the best packet
analyzers available today.

[#ChIntroPurposes]

==== Some intended purposes

Here are some reasons people use Wireshark:

*  Network administrators use it to _troubleshoot network problems_

*  Network security engineers use it to _examine security problems_

*  QA engineers use it to _verify network applications_

*  Developers use it to _debug protocol implementations_

*  People use it to _learn network protocol_ internals

Wireshark can also be helpful in many other situations.

[#ChIntroFeatures]

==== Features

The following are some of the many features Wireshark provides:

* Available for _UNIX_ and _Windows_.

* _Capture_ live packet data from a network interface.

* _Open_ files containing packet data captured with tcpdump/WinDump,
Wireshark, and many other packet capture programs.

* _Import_ packets from text files containing hex dumps of packet data.

* Display packets with _very detailed protocol information_.

* _Save_ packet data captured.

* _Export_ some or all packets in a number of capture file formats.

* _Filter packets_ on many criteria.

* _Search_ for packets on many criteria.

* _Colorize_ packet display based on filters.

* Create various _statistics_.

*  ...and _a lot more!_

However, to really appreciate its power you have to start using it.

<<ChIntroFig1>> shows Wireshark having captured some packets and waiting for you
to examine them.

[#ChIntroFig1]
.Wireshark captures packets and lets you examine their contents.
image::images/ws-main.png[{screenshot-attrs}]

==== Live capture from many different network media

Wireshark can capture traffic from many different network media types,
including Ethernet, Wireless LAN, Bluetooth, USB, and more. The specific media
types supported may be limited by several factors, including your hardware
and operating system. An overview of the supported media types can be found at
link:{wireshark-wiki-url}CaptureSetup/NetworkMedia[].

==== Import files from many other capture programs

Wireshark can open packet captures from a large number of capture
programs. For a list of input formats see <<ChIOInputFormatsSection>>.

==== Export files for many other capture programs

Wireshark can save captured packets in many formats, including those used by other
capture programs. For a list of output formats see <<ChIOOutputFormatsSection>>.

==== Many protocol dissectors

There are protocol dissectors (or decoders, as they are known in other products)
for a great many protocols: see <<AppProtocols>>.

==== Open Source Software

Wireshark is an open source software project, and is released under the
{gplv2-url}[GNU General Public License] (GPL). You can freely use
Wireshark on any number of computers you like, without worrying about license
keys or fees or such. In addition, all source code is freely available under the
GPL. Because of that, it is very easy for people to add new protocols to
Wireshark, either as plugins, or built into the source, and they often do!

[#ChIntroNoFeatures]

==== What Wireshark is not

Here are some things Wireshark does not provide:

* Wireshark isn’t an intrusion detection system. It will not warn you when
  someone does strange things on your network that he/she isn’t allowed to do.
  However, if strange things happen, Wireshark might help you figure out what is
  really going on.

* Wireshark will not manipulate things on the network, it will only “measure”
  things from it. Wireshark doesn’t send packets on the network or do other
  active things (except domain name resolution, but that can be disabled).

[#ChIntroPlatforms]

=== System Requirements

The amount of resources Wireshark needs depends on your environment and on the
size of the capture file you are analyzing. The values below should be fine for
small to medium-sized capture files no more than a few hundred MB. Larger
capture files will require more memory and disk space.

[NOTE]
.Busy networks mean large captures
====
A busy network can produce huge capture files. Capturing on
even a 100 megabit network can produce hundreds of megabytes of
capture data in a short time. A computer with a fast processor, and lots of
memory and disk space is always a good idea.
====

If Wireshark runs out of memory it will crash. See
{wireshark-wiki-url}KnownBugs/OutOfMemory for details and workarounds.

Although Wireshark uses a separate process to capture packets, the packet
analysis is single-threaded and won’t benefit much from multi-core systems.

==== Microsoft Windows

Wireshark should support any version of Windows that is still within its
https://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/lifecycle[extended support
lifetime]. At the time of writing this includes Windows 11, 10,
Server 2022,
Server 2019,
and Server 2016.
It also requires the following:

* The Universal C Runtime. This is included with Windows 10 and Windows
  Server 2019 and is installed automatically on earlier versions if
  Microsoft Windows Update is enabled. Otherwise you must install
  https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2999226[KB2999226] or
  https://support.microsoft.com/kb/3118401[KB3118401].

* Any modern 64-bit Intel or Arm processor.

* 500 MB available RAM. Larger capture files require more RAM.

* 500 MB available disk space. Capture files require additional disk space.

* Any modern display. 1280 {multiplication} 1024 or higher resolution is
  recommended. Wireshark will make use of HiDPI or Retina resolutions if
  available. Power users will find multiple monitors useful.

* A supported network card for capturing

  - Ethernet. Any card supported by Windows should work. See the wiki pages on
    link:{wireshark-wiki-url}CaptureSetup/Ethernet[Ethernet capture] and
    link:{wireshark-wiki-url}CaptureSetup/Offloading[offloading] for issues that
    may affect your environment.

  - 802.11. See the {wireshark-wiki-url}CaptureSetup/WLAN#Windows[Wireshark
    wiki page]. Capturing raw 802.11 information may be difficult without
    special equipment.

  - Other media. See link:{wireshark-wiki-url}CaptureSetup/NetworkMedia[].

Older versions of Windows which are outside Microsoft’s extended lifecycle
support window are no longer supported. It is often difficult or impossible to
support these systems due to circumstances beyond our control, such as third
party libraries on which we depend or due to necessary features that are only
present in newer versions of Windows such as hardened security or memory
management.

// Qt6 6.2 and later officially only supports Windows 10 1809 or later,
// which also means Windows Server 2019 or later.
// https://doc.qt.io/archives/qt-6.2/supported-platforms.html
// https://doc.qt.io/qt-6.9/supported-platforms.html
// In practice, it seems that Qt 6.2 and 6.5 will run on Windows 10 1607 /
// Windows Server 2016 (but not Windows 10 1507), but Qt 6.8 and later will not
// without compiling Qt oneself while setting a special flag:
// https://bugreports.qt.io/browse/QTBUG-134075

* Wireshark 4.4 was the last release branch to officially support Windows 10, version 1607 and Windows Server 2016.
* Wireshark 4.0 was the last release branch to officially support Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012.
* Wireshark 3.6 was the last release branch to officially support 32-bit Windows.
* Wireshark 3.2 was the last release branch to officially support Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.
* Wireshark 2.2 was the last release branch to support Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 sans R2
* Wireshark 1.12 was the last release branch to support Windows Server 2003.
* Wireshark 1.10 was the last release branch to officially support Windows XP.

See the link:{wireshark-wiki-url}Development/LifeCycle[Wireshark release lifecycle] page for more details.

==== macOS

Wireshark supports macOS 11 and later.
Similar to Windows, supported macOS versions depend on third party libraries and on Apple’s requirements.

// Wireshark 4.6 ships with Qt 6.9.3, which requires macOS 12 and later
// Wireshark 4.4 ships with Qt 6.5.3, which requires macOS 11 and later
// Wireshark 4.2 ships with Qt 6.2.4, which requires macOS 10.14 and later
// Wireshark 4.0 ships with Qt 6.2.4, which requires macOS 10.14 and later
// Wireshark 3.6 ships with Qt 5.15, which requires macOS 10.13 and later.
// Wireshark 3.4, 3.2 and 3.0 ship with Qt 5.12, which requires macOS 10.12 and later.
// Wireshark 2.6 ships with Qt 5.3, which was the last release to support 10.6: https://wiki.qt.io/New_Features_in_Qt_5.3
// "Mac OS 10.6 support is deprecated and scheduled for removal in Qt 5.4"

* Wireshark 4.4 was the last release branch to support macOS 11.
* Wireshark 4.2 was the last release branch to support macOS 10.14.
* Wireshark 3.6 was the last release branch to support macOS 10.13.
* Wireshark 3.4 was the last release branch to support macOS 10.12.
* Wireshark 2.6 was the last release branch to support Mac OS X 10.6 and 10.7 and OS X 10.8 to 10.11.
* Wireshark 2.0 was the last release branch to support OS X on 32-bit Intel.
* Wireshark 1.8 was the last release branch to support Mac OS X on PowerPC.

See the link:{wireshark-wiki-url}Development/LifeCycle[Wireshark release lifecycle] page for more details.

The system requirements should be comparable to the specifications listed above for Windows.

==== UNIX, Linux, and BSD

Wireshark runs on most UNIX and UNIX-like platforms including Linux and most BSD variants.
The system requirements should be comparable to the specifications listed above for Windows.

Binary packages are available for most Unices and Linux distributions
including the following platforms:

* Alpine Linux

* Arch Linux

* Canonical Ubuntu

* Debian GNU/Linux

* FreeBSD

* Gentoo Linux

* HP-UX

* NetBSD

* OpenPKG

* Oracle Solaris

* Red Hat Enterprise Linux / CentOS / Fedora

If a binary package is not available for your platform you can download
the source and try to build it. Please report your experiences to
mailto:{wireshark-dev-list-email}[].

[#ChIntroDownload]

=== Where To Get Wireshark

You can get the latest copy of the program from the Wireshark website at {wireshark-download-url}.
The download page should automatically highlight the appropriate download for your platform and direct you to the nearest mirror.
Official Windows and macOS installers are signed by *Wireshark Foundation* using trusted certificates on those platforms.
macOS installers are additionally notarized.

A new Wireshark version typically becomes available every six weeks.

If you want to be notified about new Wireshark releases you should subscribe to the wireshark-announce mailing list.
You will find more details in <<ChIntroMailingLists>>.

Each release includes a list of file hashes which are sent to the wireshark-announce mailing list and placed in a file named SIGNATURES-_x_._y_._z_.txt.
Announcement messages are archived at https://lists.wireshark.org/archives/wireshark-announce/ and SIGNATURES files can be found at https://www.wireshark.org/download/src/all-versions/.
Both are GPG-signed and include verification instructions for Windows, Linux, and macOS.
As noted above, you can also verify downloads on Windows and macOS using the code signature validation features on those systems.

[#ChIntroHistory]

=== A Brief History Of Wireshark

In late 1997 Gerald Combs needed a tool for tracking down network problems
and wanted to learn more about networking so he started writing Ethereal (the
original name of the Wireshark project) as a way to solve both problems.

Ethereal was initially released after several pauses in development in July
1998 as version 0.2.0. Within days patches, bug reports, and words of
encouragement started arriving and Ethereal was on its way to success.

Not long after that Gilbert Ramirez saw its potential and contributed a
low-level dissector to it.

In October, 1998 Guy Harris was looking for something better than tcpview so he
started applying patches and contributing dissectors to Ethereal.

In late 1998 Richard Sharpe, who was giving TCP/IP courses, saw its potential
on such courses and started looking at it to see if it supported the protocols
he needed. While it didn’t at that point new protocols could be easily added.
So he started contributing dissectors and contributing patches.

The list of people who have contributed to the project has become very long
since then, and almost all of them started with a protocol that they needed that
Wireshark did not already handle. So they copied an existing dissector and
contributed the code back to the team.

In 2006 the project moved house and re-emerged under a new name: Wireshark.

In 2008, after ten years of development, Wireshark finally arrived at version
1.0. This release was the first deemed complete, with the minimum features
implemented. Its release coincided with the first Wireshark Developer and User
Conference, called Sharkfest.

In 2015 Wireshark 2.0 was released, which featured a new user interface.

In 2023 Wireshark moved to the link:{wireshark-foundation-url}[Wireshark Foundation], a nonprofit corporation that operates under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code.
The foundation provides the project's infrastructure, hosts link:{sharkfest-url}[SharkFest], our developer and user conference, and promotes low level network education.

[#ChIntroMaintenance]

=== Development And Maintenance Of Wireshark

Wireshark was initially developed by Gerald Combs. Ongoing development and
maintenance of Wireshark is handled by the Wireshark team, a loose group of
individuals who fix bugs and provide new functionality.

There have also been a large number of people who have contributed
protocol dissectors to Wireshark, and it is expected that this will
continue. You can find a list of the people who have contributed code to
Wireshark by checking the about dialog box of Wireshark, or at the
link:{wireshark-authors-url}[authors] page on the Wireshark web site.

Wireshark is an open source software project, and is released under the
{gplv2-url}[GNU General Public License] (GPL) version 2. All source code is
freely available under the GPL. You are welcome to modify Wireshark to suit your
own needs, and it would be appreciated if you contribute your improvements back
to the Wireshark team.

You gain three benefits by contributing your improvements back to the community:

. Other people who find your contributions useful will appreciate them, and you
  will know that you have helped people in the same way that the developers of
  Wireshark have helped you.

. The developers of Wireshark can further improve your changes or implement
  additional features on top of your code, which may also benefit you.

. The maintainers and developers of Wireshark will maintain your code,
  fixing it when API changes or other changes are made, and generally keeping it
  in tune with what is happening with Wireshark. So when Wireshark is updated
  (which is often), you can get a new Wireshark version from the website
  and your changes will already be included without any additional effort from you.

The Wireshark source code and binary kits for some platforms are all
available on the download page of the Wireshark website:
{wireshark-download-url}.

[#ChIntroHelp]

=== Reporting Problems And Getting Help

If you have problems or need help with Wireshark there are several places that
may be of interest (besides this guide, of course).

[#ChIntroHomepage]

==== Website

You will find lots of useful information on the Wireshark homepage at
{wireshark-main-url}.

[#ChIntroWiki]

==== Wiki

The Wireshark Wiki at {wireshark-wiki-url} provides a
wide range of information related to Wireshark and packet capture in general.
You will find a lot of information not part of this user’s guide. For example,
it contains an explanation how to capture on a switched network, an ongoing effort
to build a protocol reference, protocol-specific information, and much more.

And best of all, if you would like to contribute your knowledge on a specific
topic (maybe a network protocol you know well), you can edit the wiki pages
with your web browser.

[#ChIntroQA]

==== Q&amp;A Site

The Wireshark Q&amp;A site at {wireshark-qa-url} offers a resource where
questions and answers come together. You can search for
questions asked before and see what answers were given by people who
knew about the issue. Answers are ranked, so you can easily pick out the best
ones. If your question hasn’t been discussed before you can post
one yourself.

[#ChIntroFAQ]

==== FAQ

The Frequently Asked Questions lists often asked questions and their
corresponding answers.

[NOTE]
.Read the FAQ
====
Before sending any mail to the mailing lists below, be sure to read the FAQ. It
will often answer any questions you might have. This will save yourself and
others a lot of time. Keep in mind that a lot of people are subscribed to the
mailing lists.
====

You will find the FAQ inside Wireshark by clicking the menu item Help/Contents
and selecting the FAQ page in the dialog shown.

An online version is available at the Wireshark website at
{wireshark-faq-url}. You might prefer this online version, as it’s
typically more up to date and the HTML format is easier to use.

[#ChIntroMailingLists]

==== Mailing Lists

There are several mailing lists of specific Wireshark topics available:

link:{wireshark-mailing-lists-url}wireshark-announce[wireshark-announce]::
    Information about new program releases, which usually appear about every six weeks.

link:{wireshark-mailing-lists-url}wireshark-users[wireshark-users]::
    Topics of interest to users of Wireshark.
    People typically post questions about using Wireshark and others (hopefully) provide answers.

link:{wireshark-mailing-lists-url}wireshark-dev[wireshark-dev]::
    Topics of interest to developers of Wireshark.
    If you want to develop a protocol dissector or update the user interface, join this list.

You can subscribe to each of these lists from the Wireshark web site:
{wireshark-mailing-lists-url}. From there, you can choose which mailing
list you want to subscribe to by clicking on the
Subscribe/Unsubscribe/Options button under the title of the relevant
list.  The links to the archives are included on that page as well.

[TIP]
.The lists are archived
====
You can search in the list archives to see if someone asked the same question
some time before and maybe already got an answer. That way you don’t have to
wait until someone answers your question.
====

==== Reporting Problems

[NOTE]
====
Before reporting any problems, please make sure you have installed the latest
version of Wireshark.
====


When reporting problems with Wireshark please supply the following information:

. The version number of Wireshark and the dependent libraries linked with it,
  such as Qt or GLib. You can obtain this from Wireshark’s about box or the
  command _wireshark -v_.

. Information about the platform you run Wireshark on
(Windows, Linux, etc. and 32-bit, 64-bit, etc.).

. A detailed description of your problem.

. If you get an error/warning message, copy the text of that message (and also a
  few lines before and after it, if there are some) so others may find the
  place where things go wrong. Please don’t give something like: “I get a
  warning while doing x” as this won’t give a good idea where to look.

[WARNING]
.Don’t send confidential information!
====
If you send capture files to the mailing lists be sure they don’t contain any
sensitive or confidential information like passwords or personally identifiable
information (PII).

In many cases you can use a tool like link:https://www.tracewrangler.com/[TraceWrangler] to sanitize a capture file before sharing it.
====

[NOTE]
.Don’t send large files
====
Do not send large files (> 1 MB) to the mailing lists. Instead, provide a
download link. For bugs and feature requests, you can create an issue on
link:{wireshark-bugs-url}[GitLab Issues] and upload the file there.
====

==== AI-assisted reports

If you use AI tools to help find or draft a bug report, please mention that and make sure you have personally verified the steps and details before submitting.
Purely AI-generated reports are not supported and might be closed; a quick human check keeps triage efficient for everyone.

==== Reporting Crashes on UNIX/Linux platforms

When reporting crashes with Wireshark it is helpful if you supply the traceback
information along with the information mentioned in “Reporting Problems”.

You can obtain this traceback information with the following commands on UNIX or
Linux (note the backticks):

----
$ gdb `whereis wireshark | cut -f2 -d: | cut -d' ' -f2` core >& backtrace.txt
backtrace
^D
----

If you do not have _gdb_ available, you will have to check out your operating system’s debugger.

Email _backtrace.txt_ to mailto:{wireshark-dev-list-email}[].

==== Reporting Crashes on Windows platforms

The Windows distributions don’t contain the symbol files (.pdb) because they are
very large. You can download them separately at
{wireshark-main-url}download/win64/all-versions/ .

// End of WSUG Chapter 1
