But the graphical interface is also a big draw, especially for those who are not trained how to use, or who simply don’t like, the command line type interfaces found on many utility programs. The fact that Wireshark is a free and open source program certainly contributes to its legacy as one of the most popular tools of its type being used today. Wireshark is currently on version 3.6.5, and a separate development version, numbered 3.7.0, is currently being worked on by the community.

The more popular Wireshark version has a graphical user interface and is designed to be able to be used by people with various skill levels, not just experts or programmers. The TShark utility version uses a command-line type interface with no graphics. There are two different versions of the tool. Output can also be exported to XML, PostScript, CSV or plain text files. This includes tcpdump (libpcap), Pcap NG, Catapult DCT2000, Cisco Secure IDS iplog, Microsoft Network Monitor, Network General Sniffer (compressed and uncompressed), Sniffer Pro, NetXray, Network Instruments Observer, NetScreen snoop, Novell LANalyzer, RADCOM WAN/LAN Analyzer, Shomiti/Finisar Surveyor, Tektronix K12xx, Visual Networks Visual UpTime, WildPackets, EtherPeek, TokenPeek, AiroPeek and others. The tool can read, in real-time, data flowing through a network or device using all the common protocols: wired Ethernet, wireless IEEE 802.11, WAN protocol PPP/HDLC, Bluetooth, USB, etc.įor encrypted traffic, Wireshark offers automatic decryption and support for many protocols including IPsec, ISAKMP, Kerberos, SNMPv3, SSL/TLS, WEP and WPA/WPA2.Īs of the most recent version of Wireshark, most capture file formats are also supported so that traffic can be later analyzed. All versions of Wireshark and the source code are fully open source and can be downloaded for free.

The source code is also available for those who want to modify Wireshark to run within a unique environment. Wireshark was initially written to run on Solaris and Linux, but now runs on virtually all operating systems including Windows and macOS.

Even without that ability, Wireshark is able to sniff out most packets flowing through a network, no matter the OS, the networking protocol, encryption method or file format.

Wireshark use