Wireshark Command Line Without GUI: A Step-by-Step Guide

As IT professionals, we often encounter network issues that require us to dive deep into packet captures and analysis. Wireshark is an industry-standard tool for sniffing and analyzing network traffic, but did you know that it can also be run from the command line without a graphical user interface? In this article, we will explore the steps to take packet traces using tcpdump and analyze them with Wireshark from the command line.

To start, you'll need to identify which network interface you want to capture traffic on. You can do this by running the command `tcpdump -i` followed by a list of all your network interfaces. For example, if you're using the primary wireless interface (en0), run:

`sudo tcpdump -i en0 -s 0 -B 524288 -w ~/Desktop/DumpFile01.pcap`

This will start capturing packets on the en0 interface and save them to a file named DumpFile01.pcap on your Desktop. You can use other interfaces by replacing 'en0' with the name of your desired interface.

Once you've started the capture, go ahead and hit the URL you're having trouble with in another window. For example, you could use Apachebench (ab) to simulate multiple requests:

`ab -n 10`

Then, control-C out of the tcpdump capture to stop it.

To analyze your packet trace using Wireshark from the command line, you'll need to open the captured file in Wireshark. Run the following command:

`sudo wireshark ~/Desktop/DumpFile01.pcap`

This will launch Wireshark and load the packet capture for analysis.

Other popular URL-hitters you might want to install include curl, wget, and siege. By using these tools, you can simulate traffic and generate packet captures that help you troubleshoot network issues.

In conclusion, running Wireshark from the command line without a GUI is a powerful tool for IT professionals who need to troubleshoot network issues quickly and efficiently. By following these steps, you can take packet traces using tcpdump and analyze them with Wireshark from the command line. Happy troubleshooting!

Wireshark commandline no gui