1 .\" @(#) $Header: /tcpdump/master/tcpdump/Attic/tcpdump.1,v 1.167 2004-12-28 22:31:25 guy Exp $ (LBL)
3 .\" $NetBSD: tcpdump.8,v 1.9 2003/03/31 00:18:17 perry Exp $
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25 .TH TCPDUMP 1 "22 March 2004"
27 tcpdump \- dump traffic on a network
32 .B \-AdDeflLnNOpqRStuUvxX
88 .I spi@ipaddr algo:secret,...
108 \fITcpdump\fP prints out the headers of packets on a network interface
109 that match the boolean \fIexpression\fP. It can also be run with the
111 flag, which causes it to save the packet data to a file for later
112 analysis, and/or with the
114 flag, which causes it to read from a saved packet file rather than to
115 read packets from a network interface. In all cases, only packets that
122 will, if not run with the
124 flag, continue capturing packets until it is interrupted by a SIGINT
125 signal (generated, for example, by typing your interrupt character,
126 typically control-C) or a SIGTERM signal (typically generated with the
128 command); if run with the
130 flag, it will capture packets until it is interrupted by a SIGINT or
131 SIGTERM signal or the specified number of packets have been processed.
135 finishes capturing packets, it will report counts of:
137 packets ``captured'' (this is the number of packets that
139 has received and processed);
141 packets ``received by filter'' (the meaning of this depends on the OS on
144 and possibly on the way the OS was configured - if a filter was
145 specified on the command line, on some OSes it counts packets regardless
146 of whether they were matched by the filter expression and, even if they
147 were matched by the filter expression, regardless of whether
149 has read and processed them yet, on other OSes it counts only packets that were
150 matched by the filter expression regardless of whether
152 has read and processed them yet, and on other OSes it counts only
153 packets that were matched by the filter expression and were processed by
156 packets ``dropped by kernel'' (this is the number of packets that were
157 dropped, due to a lack of buffer space, by the packet capture mechanism
160 is running, if the OS reports that information to applications; if not,
161 it will be reported as 0).
163 On platforms that support the SIGINFO signal, such as most BSDs
164 (including Mac OS X) and Digital/Tru64 UNIX, it will report those counts
165 when it receives a SIGINFO signal (generated, for example, by typing
166 your ``status'' character, typically control-T, although on some
167 platforms, such as Mac OS X, the ``status'' character is not set by
168 default, so you must set it with
170 in order to use it) and will continue capturing packets.
172 Reading packets from a network interface may require that you have
175 .B Under SunOS 3.x or 4.x with NIT or BPF:
176 You must have read access to
181 .B Under Solaris with DLPI:
182 You must have read/write access to the network pseudo device, e.g.
184 On at least some versions of Solaris, however, this is not sufficient to
187 to capture in promiscuous mode; on those versions of Solaris, you must
190 must be installed setuid to root, in order to capture in promiscuous
191 mode. Note that, on many (perhaps all) interfaces, if you don't capture
192 in promiscuous mode, you will not see any outgoing packets, so a capture
193 not done in promiscuous mode may not be very useful.
195 .B Under HP-UX with DLPI:
198 must be installed setuid to root.
200 .B Under IRIX with snoop:
203 must be installed setuid to root.
208 must be installed setuid to root (unless your distribution has a kernel
209 that supports capability bits such as CAP_NET_RAW and code to allow
210 those capability bits to be given to particular accounts and to cause
211 those bits to be set on a user's initial processes when they log in, in
212 which case you must have CAP_NET_RAW in order to capture and
213 CAP_NET_ADMIN to enumerate network devices with, for example, the
217 .B Under ULTRIX and Digital UNIX/Tru64 UNIX:
218 Any user may capture network traffic with
220 However, no user (not even the super-user) can capture in promiscuous
221 mode on an interface unless the super-user has enabled promiscuous-mode
222 operation on that interface using
224 and no user (not even the super-user) can capture unicast traffic
225 received by or sent by the machine on an interface unless the super-user
226 has enabled copy-all-mode operation on that interface using
230 packet capture on an interface probably requires that either
231 promiscuous-mode or copy-all-mode operation, or both modes of
232 operation, be enabled on that interface.
234 .B Under BSD (this includes Mac OS X):
235 You must have read access to
237 On BSDs with a devfs (this includes Mac OS X), this might involve more
238 than just having somebody with super-user access setting the ownership
239 or permissions on the BPF devices - it might involve configuring devfs
240 to set the ownership or permissions every time the system is booted,
241 if the system even supports that; if it doesn't support that, you might
242 have to find some other way to make that happen at boot time.
244 Reading a saved packet file doesn't require special privileges.
248 Print each packet (minus its link level header) in ASCII. Handy for
252 Exit after receiving \fIcount\fP packets.
255 Before writing a raw packet to a savefile, check whether the file is
256 currently larger than \fIfile_size\fP and, if so, close the current
257 savefile and open a new one. Savefiles after the first savefile will
258 have the name specified with the
260 flag, with a number after it, starting at 1 and continuing upward.
261 The units of \fIfile_size\fP are millions of bytes (1,000,000 bytes,
262 not 1,048,576 bytes).
265 Dump the compiled packet-matching code in a human readable form to
266 standard output and stop.
269 Dump packet-matching code as a
274 Dump packet-matching code as decimal numbers (preceded with a count).
277 Print the list of the network interfaces available on the system and on
280 can capture packets. For each network interface, a number and an
281 interface name, possibly followed by a text description of the
282 interface, is printed. The interface name or the number can be supplied
285 flag to specify an interface on which to capture.
287 This can be useful on systems that don't have a command to list them
288 (e.g., Windows systems, or UNIX systems lacking
289 .BR "ifconfig \-a" );
290 the number can be useful on Windows 2000 and later systems, where the
291 interface name is a somewhat complex string.
295 flag will not be supported if
297 was built with an older version of
300 .B pcap_findalldevs()
304 Print the link-level header on each dump line.
307 Use \fIspi@ipaddr algo:secret\fP for decrypting IPsec ESP packets that
308 are addressed to \fIaddr\fP and contain Security Parameter Index value
309 \fIspi\fP. This combination may be repeated with comma or newline seperation.
311 Note that setting the secret for IPv4 ESP packets is supported at this time.
318 \fBcast128-cbc\fP, or
320 The default is \fBdes-cbc\fP.
321 The ability to decrypt packets is only present if \fItcpdump\fP was compiled
322 with cryptography enabled.
324 \fIsecret\fP is the ASCII text for ESP secret key.
325 If preceeded by 0x, then a hex value will be read.
327 The option assumes RFC2406 ESP, not RFC1827 ESP.
328 The option is only for debugging purposes, and
329 the use of this option with a true `secret' key is discouraged.
330 By presenting IPsec secret key onto command line
331 you make it visible to others, via
335 In addition to the above syntax, the syntax \fIfile name\fP may be used
336 to have tcpdump read the provided file in. The file is opened upon
337 receiving the first ESP packet, so any special permissions that tcpdump
338 may have been given should already have been given up.
341 Print `foreign' IPv4 addresses numerically rather than symbolically
342 (this option is intended to get around serious brain damage in
343 Sun's NIS server \(em usually it hangs forever translating non-local
346 The test for `foreign' IPv4 addresses is done using the IPv4 address and
347 netmask of the interface on which capture is being done. If that
348 address or netmask are not available, available, either because the
349 interface on which capture is being done has no address or netmask or
350 because the capture is being done on the Linux "any" interface, which
351 can capture on more than one interface, this option will not work
355 Use \fIfile\fP as input for the filter expression.
356 An additional expression given on the command line is ignored.
359 Listen on \fIinterface\fP.
360 If unspecified, \fItcpdump\fP searches the system interface list for the
361 lowest numbered, configured up interface (excluding loopback).
362 Ties are broken by choosing the earliest match.
364 On Linux systems with 2.2 or later kernels, an
366 argument of ``any'' can be used to capture packets from all interfaces.
367 Note that captures on the ``any'' device will not be done in promiscuous
372 flag is supported, an interface number as printed by that flag can be
378 Make stdout line buffered.
379 Useful if you want to see the data
383 ``tcpdump\ \ \-l\ \ |\ \ tee dat'' or
384 ``tcpdump\ \ \-l \ \ > dat\ \ &\ \ tail\ \ \-f\ \ dat''.
387 List the known data link types for the interface and exit.
390 Load SMI MIB module definitions from file \fImodule\fR.
392 can be used several times to load several MIB modules into \fItcpdump\fP.
395 Use \fIsecret\fP as a shared secret for validating the digests found in
396 TCP segments with the TCP-MD5 option (RFC 2385), if present.
399 Don't convert addresses (i.e., host addresses, port numbers, etc.) to names.
402 Don't print domain name qualification of host names.
404 if you give this flag then \fItcpdump\fP will print ``nic''
405 instead of ``nic.ddn.mil''.
408 Do not run the packet-matching code optimizer.
410 if you suspect a bug in the optimizer.
413 \fIDon't\fP put the interface
414 into promiscuous mode.
415 Note that the interface might be in promiscuous
416 mode for some other reason; hence, `-p' cannot be used as an abbreviation for
417 `ether host {local-hw-addr} or ether broadcast'.
420 Quick (quiet?) output.
421 Print less protocol information so output
425 Assume ESP/AH packets to be based on old specification (RFC1825 to RFC1829).
426 If specified, \fItcpdump\fP will not print replay prevention field.
427 Since there is no protocol version field in ESP/AH specification,
428 \fItcpdump\fP cannot deduce the version of ESP/AH protocol.
431 Read packets from \fIfile\fR (which was created with the
434 Standard input is used if \fIfile\fR is ``-''.
437 Print absolute, rather than relative, TCP sequence numbers.
440 Snarf \fIsnaplen\fP bytes of data from each packet rather than the
441 default of 68 (with SunOS's NIT, the minimum is actually 96).
442 68 bytes is adequate for IP, ICMP, TCP
443 and UDP but may truncate protocol information from name server and NFS
445 Packets truncated because of a limited snapshot
446 are indicated in the output with ``[|\fIproto\fP]'', where \fIproto\fP
447 is the name of the protocol level at which the truncation has occurred.
448 Note that taking larger snapshots both increases
449 the amount of time it takes to process packets and, effectively,
450 decreases the amount of packet buffering.
451 This may cause packets to be
453 You should limit \fIsnaplen\fP to the smallest number that will
454 capture the protocol information you're interested in.
456 \fIsnaplen\fP to 0 means use the required length to catch whole packets.
459 Force packets selected by "\fIexpression\fP" to be interpreted the
460 specified \fItype\fR.
461 Currently known types are
462 \fBaodv\fR (Ad-hoc On-demand Distance Vector protocol),
463 \fBcnfp\fR (Cisco NetFlow protocol),
464 \fBrpc\fR (Remote Procedure Call),
465 \fBrtp\fR (Real-Time Applications protocol),
466 \fBrtcp\fR (Real-Time Applications control protocol),
467 \fBsnmp\fR (Simple Network Management Protocol),
468 \fBtftp\fR (Trivial File Transfer Protocol),
469 \fBvat\fR (Visual Audio Tool),
471 \fBwb\fR (distributed White Board).
474 \fIDon't\fP print a timestamp on each dump line.
477 Print an unformatted timestamp on each dump line.
480 Print a delta (in micro-seconds) between current and previous line
484 Print a timestamp in default format proceeded by date on each dump line.
487 Print undecoded NFS handles.
490 Make output saved via the
492 option ``packet-buffered''; i.e., as each packet is saved, it will be
493 written to the output file, rather than being written only when the
498 flag will not be supported if
500 was built with an older version of
507 When parsing and printing, produce (slightly more) verbose output.
508 For example, the time to live,
509 identification, total length and options in an IP packet are printed.
510 Also enables additional packet integrity checks such as verifying the
511 IP and ICMP header checksum.
513 When writing to a file with the
515 option, report, every 10 seconds, the number of packets captured.
518 Even more verbose output.
519 For example, additional fields are
520 printed from NFS reply packets, and SMB packets are fully decoded.
523 Even more verbose output.
525 telnet \fBSB\fP ... \fBSE\fP options
529 Telnet options are printed in hex as well.
532 Write the raw packets to \fIfile\fR rather than parsing and printing
534 They can later be printed with the \-r option.
535 Standard output is used if \fIfile\fR is ``-''.
538 Used in conjunction with the
540 option, this will limit the number
541 of files created to the specified number, and begin overwriting files
542 from the beginning, thus creating a 'rotating' buffer.
543 In addition, it will name
544 the files with enough leading 0s to support the maximum number of
545 files, allowing them to sort correctly.
548 Print each packet (minus its link level header) in hex.
549 The smaller of the entire packet or
551 bytes will be printed. Note that this is the entire link-layer
552 packet, so for link layers that pad (e.g. Ethernet), the padding bytes
553 will also be printed when the higher layer packet is shorter than the
559 its link level header, in hex.
562 Print each packet (minus its link level header) in hex and ASCII.
563 This is very handy for analysing new protocols.
568 its link level header, in hex and ASCII.
571 Set the data link type to use while capturing packets to \fIdatalinktype\fP.
574 Drops privileges (if root) and changes user ID to
576 and the group ID to the primary group of
579 This behavior can also be enabled by default at compile time.
580 .IP "\fI expression\fP"
582 selects which packets will be dumped.
583 If no \fIexpression\fP
584 is given, all packets on the net will be dumped.
586 only packets for which \fIexpression\fP is `true' will be dumped.
588 The \fIexpression\fP consists of one or more
590 Primitives usually consist of an
592 (name or number) preceded by one or more qualifiers.
594 different kinds of qualifier:
596 qualifiers say what kind of thing the id name or number refers to.
602 E.g., `host foo', `net 128.3', `port 20'.
608 qualifiers specify a particular transfer direction to and/or from
610 Possible directions are
617 E.g., `src foo', `dst net 128.3', `src or dst port ftp-data'.
619 there is no dir qualifier,
622 For some link layers, such as SLIP and the ``cooked'' Linux capture mode
623 used for the ``any'' device and for some other device types, the
627 qualifiers can be used to specify a desired direction.
629 qualifiers restrict the match to a particular protocol.
644 E.g., `ether src foo', `arp net 128.3', `tcp port 21'.
646 no proto qualifier, all protocols consistent with the type are
648 E.g., `src foo' means `(ip or arp or rarp) src foo'
649 (except the latter is not legal syntax), `net bar' means `(ip or
650 arp or rarp) net bar' and `port 53' means `(tcp or udp) port 53'.
652 [`fddi' is actually an alias for `ether'; the parser treats them
653 identically as meaning ``the data link level used on the specified
654 network interface.'' FDDI headers contain Ethernet-like source
655 and destination addresses, and often contain Ethernet-like packet
656 types, so you can filter on these FDDI fields just as with the
657 analogous Ethernet fields.
658 FDDI headers also contain other fields,
659 but you cannot name them explicitly in a filter expression.
661 Similarly, `tr' and `wlan' are aliases for `ether'; the previous
662 paragraph's statements about FDDI headers also apply to Token Ring
663 and 802.11 wireless LAN headers. For 802.11 headers, the destination
664 address is the DA field and the source address is the SA field; the
665 BSSID, RA, and TA fields aren't tested.]
667 In addition to the above, there are some special `primitive' keywords
668 that don't follow the pattern:
673 and arithmetic expressions.
674 All of these are described below.
676 More complex filter expressions are built up by using the words
681 to combine primitives.
682 E.g., `host foo and not port ftp and not port ftp-data'.
683 To save typing, identical qualifier lists can be omitted.
685 `tcp dst port ftp or ftp-data or domain' is exactly the same as
686 `tcp dst port ftp or tcp dst port ftp-data or tcp dst port domain'.
688 Allowable primitives are:
689 .IP "\fBdst host \fIhost\fR"
690 True if the IPv4/v6 destination field of the packet is \fIhost\fP,
691 which may be either an address or a name.
692 .IP "\fBsrc host \fIhost\fR"
693 True if the IPv4/v6 source field of the packet is \fIhost\fP.
694 .IP "\fBhost \fIhost\fP
695 True if either the IPv4/v6 source or destination of the packet is \fIhost\fP.
696 Any of the above host expressions can be prepended with the keywords,
697 \fBip\fP, \fBarp\fP, \fBrarp\fP, or \fBip6\fP as in:
700 \fBip host \fIhost\fR
703 which is equivalent to:
706 \fBether proto \fI\\ip\fB and host \fIhost\fR
709 If \fIhost\fR is a name with multiple IP addresses, each address will
710 be checked for a match.
711 .IP "\fBether dst \fIehost\fP
712 True if the Ethernet destination address is \fIehost\fP.
714 may be either a name from /etc/ethers or a number (see
717 .IP "\fBether src \fIehost\fP
718 True if the Ethernet source address is \fIehost\fP.
719 .IP "\fBether host \fIehost\fP
720 True if either the Ethernet source or destination address is \fIehost\fP.
721 .IP "\fBgateway\fP \fIhost\fP
722 True if the packet used \fIhost\fP as a gateway.
724 source or destination address was \fIhost\fP but neither the IP source
725 nor the IP destination was \fIhost\fP.
726 \fIHost\fP must be a name and
727 must be found both by the machine's host-name-to-IP-address resolution
728 mechanisms (host name file, DNS, NIS, etc.) and by the machine's
729 host-name-to-Ethernet-address resolution mechanism (/etc/ethers, etc.).
730 (An equivalent expression is
733 \fBether host \fIehost \fBand not host \fIhost\fR
736 which can be used with either names or numbers for \fIhost / ehost\fP.)
737 This syntax does not work in IPv6-enabled configuration at this moment.
738 .IP "\fBdst net \fInet\fR"
739 True if the IPv4/v6 destination address of the packet has a network
741 \fINet\fP may be either a name from /etc/networks
742 or a network number (see \fInetworks(4)\fP for details).
743 .IP "\fBsrc net \fInet\fR"
744 True if the IPv4/v6 source address of the packet has a network
746 .IP "\fBnet \fInet\fR"
747 True if either the IPv4/v6 source or destination address of the packet has a network
749 .IP "\fBnet \fInet\fR \fBmask \fInetmask\fR"
750 True if the IP address matches \fInet\fR with the specific \fInetmask\fR.
751 May be qualified with \fBsrc\fR or \fBdst\fR.
752 Note that this syntax is not valid for IPv6 \fInet\fR.
753 .IP "\fBnet \fInet\fR/\fIlen\fR"
754 True if the IPv4/v6 address matches \fInet\fR with a netmask \fIlen\fR
756 May be qualified with \fBsrc\fR or \fBdst\fR.
757 .IP "\fBdst port \fIport\fR"
758 True if the packet is ip/tcp, ip/udp, ip6/tcp or ip6/udp and has a
759 destination port value of \fIport\fP.
760 The \fIport\fP can be a number or a name used in /etc/services (see
764 If a name is used, both the port
765 number and protocol are checked.
766 If a number or ambiguous name is used,
767 only the port number is checked (e.g., \fBdst port 513\fR will print both
768 tcp/login traffic and udp/who traffic, and \fBport domain\fR will print
769 both tcp/domain and udp/domain traffic).
770 .IP "\fBsrc port \fIport\fR"
771 True if the packet has a source port value of \fIport\fP.
772 .IP "\fBport \fIport\fR"
773 True if either the source or destination port of the packet is \fIport\fP.
774 Any of the above port expressions can be prepended with the keywords,
775 \fBtcp\fP or \fBudp\fP, as in:
778 \fBtcp src port \fIport\fR
781 which matches only tcp packets whose source port is \fIport\fP.
782 .IP "\fBless \fIlength\fR"
783 True if the packet has a length less than or equal to \fIlength\fP.
784 This is equivalent to:
787 \fBlen <= \fIlength\fP.
790 .IP "\fBgreater \fIlength\fR"
791 True if the packet has a length greater than or equal to \fIlength\fP.
792 This is equivalent to:
795 \fBlen >= \fIlength\fP.
798 .IP "\fBip proto \fIprotocol\fR"
799 True if the packet is an IP packet (see
801 of protocol type \fIprotocol\fP.
802 \fIProtocol\fP can be a number or one of the names
803 \fBicmp\fP, \fBicmp6\fP, \fBigmp\fP, \fBigrp\fP, \fBpim\fP, \fBah\fP,
804 \fBesp\fP, \fBvrrp\fP, \fBudp\fP, or \fBtcp\fP.
805 Note that the identifiers \fBtcp\fP, \fBudp\fP, and \fBicmp\fP are also
806 keywords and must be escaped via backslash (\\), which is \\\\ in the C-shell.
807 Note that this primitive does not chase the protocol header chain.
808 .IP "\fBip6 proto \fIprotocol\fR"
809 True if the packet is an IPv6 packet of protocol type \fIprotocol\fP.
810 Note that this primitive does not chase the protocol header chain.
811 .IP "\fBip6 protochain \fIprotocol\fR"
812 True if the packet is IPv6 packet,
813 and contains protocol header with type \fIprotocol\fR
814 in its protocol header chain.
818 \fBip6 protochain 6\fR
821 matches any IPv6 packet with TCP protocol header in the protocol header chain.
822 The packet may contain, for example,
823 authentication header, routing header, or hop-by-hop option header,
824 between IPv6 header and TCP header.
825 The BPF code emitted by this primitive is complex and
826 cannot be optimized by BPF optimizer code in \fItcpdump\fP,
827 so this can be somewhat slow.
828 .IP "\fBip protochain \fIprotocol\fR"
829 Equivalent to \fBip6 protochain \fIprotocol\fR, but this is for IPv4.
830 .IP "\fBether broadcast\fR"
831 True if the packet is an Ethernet broadcast packet.
834 .IP "\fBip broadcast\fR"
835 True if the packet is an IPv4 broadcast packet.
836 It checks for both the all-zeroes and all-ones broadcast conventions,
837 and looks up the subnet mask on the interface on which the capture is
840 If the subnet mask of the interface on which the capture is being done
841 is not available, either because the interface on which capture is being
842 done has no netmask or because the capture is being done on the Linux
843 "any" interface, which can capture on more than one interface, this
844 check will not work correctly.
845 .IP "\fBether multicast\fR"
846 True if the packet is an Ethernet multicast packet.
849 This is shorthand for `\fBether[0] & 1 != 0\fP'.
850 .IP "\fBip multicast\fR"
851 True if the packet is an IP multicast packet.
852 .IP "\fBip6 multicast\fR"
853 True if the packet is an IPv6 multicast packet.
854 .IP "\fBether proto \fIprotocol\fR"
855 True if the packet is of ether type \fIprotocol\fR.
856 \fIProtocol\fP can be a number or one of the names
857 \fBip\fP, \fBip6\fP, \fBarp\fP, \fBrarp\fP, \fBatalk\fP, \fBaarp\fP,
858 \fBdecnet\fP, \fBsca\fP, \fBlat\fP, \fBmopdl\fP, \fBmoprc\fP,
859 \fBiso\fP, \fBstp\fP, \fBipx\fP, or \fBnetbeui\fP.
860 Note these identifiers are also keywords
861 and must be escaped via backslash (\\).
863 [In the case of FDDI (e.g., `\fBfddi protocol arp\fR'), Token Ring
864 (e.g., `\fBtr protocol arp\fR'), and IEEE 802.11 wireless LANS (e.g.,
865 `\fBwlan protocol arp\fR'), for most of those protocols, the
866 protocol identification comes from the 802.2 Logical Link Control (LLC)
867 header, which is usually layered on top of the FDDI, Token Ring, or
870 When filtering for most protocol identifiers on FDDI, Token Ring, or
871 802.11, \fItcpdump\fR checks only the protocol ID field of an LLC header
872 in so-called SNAP format with an Organizational Unit Identifier (OUI) of
873 0x000000, for encapsulated Ethernet; it doesn't check whether the packet
874 is in SNAP format with an OUI of 0x000000.
879 \fItcpdump\fR checks the DSAP (Destination Service Access Point) and
880 SSAP (Source Service Access Point) fields of the LLC header;
882 \fBstp\fP and \fBnetbeui\fP
883 \fItcpdump\fR checks the DSAP of the LLC header;
886 \fItcpdump\fR checks for a SNAP-format packet with an OUI of 0x080007
887 and the AppleTalk etype.
890 In the case of Ethernet, \fItcpdump\fR checks the Ethernet type field
891 for most of those protocols. The exceptions are:
894 \fBiso\fP, \fBstp\fP, and \fBnetbeui\fP
895 \fItcpdump\fR checks for an 802.3 frame and then checks the LLC header as
896 it does for FDDI, Token Ring, and 802.11;
899 \fItcpdump\fR checks both for the AppleTalk etype in an Ethernet frame and
900 for a SNAP-format packet as it does for FDDI, Token Ring, and 802.11;
903 \fItcpdump\fR checks for the AppleTalk ARP etype in either an Ethernet
904 frame or an 802.2 SNAP frame with an OUI of 0x000000;
907 \fItcpdump\fR checks for the IPX etype in an Ethernet frame, the IPX
908 DSAP in the LLC header, the 802.3-with-no-LLC-header encapsulation of
909 IPX, and the IPX etype in a SNAP frame.
911 .IP "\fBdecnet src \fIhost\fR"
912 True if the DECNET source address is
914 which may be an address of the form ``10.123'', or a DECNET host
916 [DECNET host name support is only available on ULTRIX systems
917 that are configured to run DECNET.]
918 .IP "\fBdecnet dst \fIhost\fR"
919 True if the DECNET destination address is
921 .IP "\fBdecnet host \fIhost\fR"
922 True if either the DECNET source or destination address is
924 .IP "\fBifname \fIinterface\fR"
925 True if the packet was logged as coming from the specified interface (applies
926 only to packets logged by OpenBSD's
928 .IP "\fBon \fIinterface\fR"
932 .IP "\fBrnr \fInum\fR"
933 True if the packet was logged as matching the specified PF rule number
934 (applies only to packets logged by OpenBSD's
936 .IP "\fBrulenum \fInum\fR"
940 .IP "\fBreason \fIcode\fR"
941 True if the packet was logged with the specified PF reason code. The known
950 (applies only to packets logged by OpenBSD's
952 .IP "\fBrset \fIname\fR"
953 True if the packet was logged as matching the specified PF ruleset
954 name of an anchored ruleset (applies only to packets logged by
956 .IP "\fBruleset \fIname\fR"
960 .IP "\fBsrnr \fInum\fR"
961 True if the packet was logged as matching the specified PF rule number
962 of an anchored ruleset (applies only to packets logged by
964 .IP "\fBsubrulenum \fInum\fR"
968 .IP "\fBaction \fIact\fR"
969 True if PF took the specified action when the packet was logged. Known actions
974 (applies only to packets logged by OpenBSD's
976 .IP "\fBip\fR, \fBip6\fR, \fBarp\fR, \fBrarp\fR, \fBatalk\fR, \fBaarp\fR, \fBdecnet\fR, \fBiso\fR, \fBstp\fR, \fBipx\fR, \fInetbeui\fP"
980 \fBether proto \fIp\fR
983 where \fIp\fR is one of the above protocols.
984 .IP "\fBlat\fR, \fBmoprc\fR, \fBmopdl\fR"
988 \fBether proto \fIp\fR
991 where \fIp\fR is one of the above protocols.
993 \fItcpdump\fP does not currently know how to parse these protocols.
994 .IP "\fBvlan \fI[vlan_id]\fR"
995 True if the packet is an IEEE 802.1Q VLAN packet.
996 If \fI[vlan_id]\fR is specified, only true is the packet has the specified
998 Note that the first \fBvlan\fR keyword encountered in \fIexpression\fR
999 changes the decoding offsets for the remainder of \fIexpression\fR
1000 on the assumption that the packet is a VLAN packet.
1001 .IP "\fBtcp\fR, \fBudp\fR, \fBicmp\fR"
1005 \fBip proto \fIp\fR\fB or ip6 proto \fIp\fR
1008 where \fIp\fR is one of the above protocols.
1009 .IP "\fBiso proto \fIprotocol\fR"
1010 True if the packet is an OSI packet of protocol type \fIprotocol\fP.
1011 \fIProtocol\fP can be a number or one of the names
1012 \fBclnp\fP, \fBesis\fP, or \fBisis\fP.
1013 .IP "\fBclnp\fR, \fBesis\fR, \fBisis\fR"
1017 \fBiso proto \fIp\fR
1020 where \fIp\fR is one of the above protocols.
1021 .IP "\fBl1\fR, \fBl2\fR, \fBiih\fR, \fBlsp\fR, \fBsnp\fR, \fBcsnp\fR, \fBpsnp\fR"
1022 Abbreviations for IS-IS PDU types.
1023 .IP "\fBvpi\fP \fIn\fR
1024 True if the packet is an ATM packet, for SunATM on Solaris, with a
1025 virtual path identifier of
1027 .IP "\fBvci\fP \fIn\fR
1028 True if the packet is an ATM packet, for SunATM on Solaris, with a
1029 virtual channel identifier of
1032 True if the packet is an ATM packet, for SunATM on Solaris, and is
1034 Note that the first \fBlane\fR keyword encountered in \fIexpression\fR
1035 changes the tests done in the remainder of \fIexpression\fR
1036 on the assumption that the packet is either a LANE emulated Ethernet
1037 packet or a LANE LE Control packet. If \fBlane\fR isn't specified, the
1038 tests are done under the assumption that the packet is an
1039 LLC-encapsulated packet.
1041 True if the packet is an ATM packet, for SunATM on Solaris, and is
1042 an LLC-encapsulated packet.
1044 True if the packet is an ATM packet, for SunATM on Solaris, and is
1045 a segment OAM F4 flow cell (VPI=0 & VCI=3).
1047 True if the packet is an ATM packet, for SunATM on Solaris, and is
1048 an end-to-end OAM F4 flow cell (VPI=0 & VCI=4).
1050 True if the packet is an ATM packet, for SunATM on Solaris, and is
1051 a segment or end-to-end OAM F4 flow cell (VPI=0 & (VCI=3 | VCI=4)).
1053 True if the packet is an ATM packet, for SunATM on Solaris, and is
1054 a segment or end-to-end OAM F4 flow cell (VPI=0 & (VCI=3 | VCI=4)).
1056 True if the packet is an ATM packet, for SunATM on Solaris, and is
1057 on a meta signaling circuit (VPI=0 & VCI=1).
1059 True if the packet is an ATM packet, for SunATM on Solaris, and is
1060 on a broadcast signaling circuit (VPI=0 & VCI=2).
1062 True if the packet is an ATM packet, for SunATM on Solaris, and is
1063 on a signaling circuit (VPI=0 & VCI=5).
1065 True if the packet is an ATM packet, for SunATM on Solaris, and is
1066 on an ILMI circuit (VPI=0 & VCI=16).
1067 .IP \fBconnectmsg\fP
1068 True if the packet is an ATM packet, for SunATM on Solaris, and is
1069 on a signaling circuit and is a Q.2931 Setup, Call Proceeding, Connect,
1070 Connect Ack, Release, or Release Done message.
1071 .IP \fBmetaconnect\fP
1072 True if the packet is an ATM packet, for SunATM on Solaris, and is
1073 on a meta signaling circuit and is a Q.2931 Setup, Call Proceeding, Connect,
1074 Release, or Release Done message.
1075 .IP "\fIexpr relop expr\fR"
1076 True if the relation holds, where \fIrelop\fR is one of >, <, >=, <=, =,
1077 !=, and \fIexpr\fR is an arithmetic expression composed of integer
1078 constants (expressed in standard C syntax), the normal binary operators
1079 [+, -, *, /, &, |, <<, >>], a length operator, and special packet data
1080 accessors. Note that all comparisons are unsigned, so that, for example,
1081 0x80000000 and 0xffffffff are > 0.
1083 data inside the packet, use the following syntax:
1086 \fIproto\fB [ \fIexpr\fB : \fIsize\fB ]\fR
1089 \fIProto\fR is one of \fBether, fddi, tr, wlan, ppp, slip, link,
1090 ip, arp, rarp, tcp, udp, icmp\fR or \fBip6\fR, and
1091 indicates the protocol layer for the index operation.
1092 (\fBether, fddi, wlan, tr, ppp, slip\fR and \fBlink\fR all refer to the
1094 Note that \fItcp, udp\fR and other upper-layer protocol types only
1095 apply to IPv4, not IPv6 (this will be fixed in the future).
1096 The byte offset, relative to the indicated protocol layer, is
1097 given by \fIexpr\fR.
1098 \fISize\fR is optional and indicates the number of bytes in the
1099 field of interest; it can be either one, two, or four, and defaults to one.
1100 The length operator, indicated by the keyword \fBlen\fP, gives the
1101 length of the packet.
1103 For example, `\fBether[0] & 1 != 0\fP' catches all multicast traffic.
1104 The expression `\fBip[0] & 0xf != 5\fP'
1105 catches all IP packets with options.
1107 `\fBip[6:2] & 0x1fff = 0\fP'
1108 catches only unfragmented datagrams and frag zero of fragmented datagrams.
1109 This check is implicitly applied to the \fBtcp\fP and \fBudp\fP
1111 For instance, \fBtcp[0]\fP always means the first
1112 byte of the TCP \fIheader\fP, and never means the first byte of an
1113 intervening fragment.
1115 Some offsets and field values may be expressed as names rather than
1117 The following protocol header field offsets are
1118 available: \fBicmptype\fP (ICMP type field), \fBicmpcode\fP (ICMP
1119 code field), and \fBtcpflags\fP (TCP flags field).
1121 The following ICMP type field values are available: \fBicmp-echoreply\fP,
1122 \fBicmp-unreach\fP, \fBicmp-sourcequench\fP, \fBicmp-redirect\fP,
1123 \fBicmp-echo\fP, \fBicmp-routeradvert\fP, \fBicmp-routersolicit\fP,
1124 \fBicmp-timxceed\fP, \fBicmp-paramprob\fP, \fBicmp-tstamp\fP,
1125 \fBicmp-tstampreply\fP, \fBicmp-ireq\fP, \fBicmp-ireqreply\fP,
1126 \fBicmp-maskreq\fP, \fBicmp-maskreply\fP.
1128 The following TCP flags field values are available: \fBtcp-fin\fP,
1129 \fBtcp-syn\fP, \fBtcp-rst\fP, \fBtcp-push\fP,
1130 \fBtcp-ack\fP, \fBtcp-urg\fP.
1132 Primitives may be combined using:
1134 A parenthesized group of primitives and operators
1135 (parentheses are special to the Shell and must be escaped).
1137 Negation (`\fB!\fP' or `\fBnot\fP').
1139 Concatenation (`\fB&&\fP' or `\fBand\fP').
1141 Alternation (`\fB||\fP' or `\fBor\fP').
1143 Negation has highest precedence.
1144 Alternation and concatenation have equal precedence and associate
1146 Note that explicit \fBand\fR tokens, not juxtaposition,
1147 are now required for concatenation.
1149 If an identifier is given without a keyword, the most recent keyword
1154 \fBnot host vs and ace\fR
1160 \fBnot host vs and host ace\fR
1163 which should not be confused with
1166 \fBnot ( host vs or ace )\fR
1170 Expression arguments can be passed to \fItcpdump\fP as either a single
1171 argument or as multiple arguments, whichever is more convenient.
1172 Generally, if the expression contains Shell metacharacters, it is
1173 easier to pass it as a single, quoted argument.
1174 Multiple arguments are concatenated with spaces before being parsed.
1177 To print all packets arriving at or departing from \fIsundown\fP:
1180 \fBtcpdump host sundown\fP
1184 To print traffic between \fIhelios\fR and either \fIhot\fR or \fIace\fR:
1187 \fBtcpdump host helios and \\( hot or ace \\)\fP
1191 To print all IP packets between \fIace\fR and any host except \fIhelios\fR:
1194 \fBtcpdump ip host ace and not helios\fP
1198 To print all traffic between local hosts and hosts at Berkeley:
1202 tcpdump net ucb-ether
1206 To print all ftp traffic through internet gateway \fIsnup\fP:
1207 (note that the expression is quoted to prevent the shell from
1208 (mis-)interpreting the parentheses):
1212 tcpdump 'gateway snup and (port ftp or ftp-data)'
1216 To print traffic neither sourced from nor destined for local hosts
1217 (if you gateway to one other net, this stuff should never make it
1218 onto your local net).
1222 tcpdump ip and not net \fIlocalnet\fP
1226 To print the start and end packets (the SYN and FIN packets) of each
1227 TCP conversation that involves a non-local host.
1231 tcpdump 'tcp[tcpflags] & (tcp-syn|tcp-fin) != 0 and not src and dst net \fIlocalnet\fP'
1235 To print all IPv4 HTTP packets to and from port 80, i.e. print only
1236 packets that contain data, not, for example, SYN and FIN packets and
1237 ACK-only packets. (IPv6 is left as an exercise for the reader.)
1241 tcpdump 'tcp port 80 and (((ip[2:2] - ((ip[0]&0xf)<<2)) - ((tcp[12]&0xf0)>>2)) != 0)'
1245 To print IP packets longer than 576 bytes sent through gateway \fIsnup\fP:
1249 tcpdump 'gateway snup and ip[2:2] > 576'
1253 To print IP broadcast or multicast packets that were
1255 sent via Ethernet broadcast or multicast:
1259 tcpdump 'ether[0] & 1 = 0 and ip[16] >= 224'
1263 To print all ICMP packets that are not echo requests/replies (i.e., not
1268 tcpdump 'icmp[icmptype] != icmp-echo and icmp[icmptype] != icmp-echoreply'
1273 The output of \fItcpdump\fP is protocol dependent.
1275 gives a brief description and examples of most of the formats.
1283 If the '-e' option is given, the link level header is printed out.
1284 On Ethernets, the source and destination addresses, protocol,
1285 and packet length are printed.
1287 On FDDI networks, the '-e' option causes \fItcpdump\fP to print
1288 the `frame control' field, the source and destination addresses,
1289 and the packet length.
1290 (The `frame control' field governs the
1291 interpretation of the rest of the packet.
1292 Normal packets (such
1293 as those containing IP datagrams) are `async' packets, with a priority
1294 value between 0 and 7; for example, `\fBasync4\fR'.
1296 are assumed to contain an 802.2 Logical Link Control (LLC) packet;
1297 the LLC header is printed if it is \fInot\fR an ISO datagram or a
1298 so-called SNAP packet.
1300 On Token Ring networks, the '-e' option causes \fItcpdump\fP to print
1301 the `access control' and `frame control' fields, the source and
1302 destination addresses, and the packet length.
1303 As on FDDI networks,
1304 packets are assumed to contain an LLC packet.
1305 Regardless of whether
1306 the '-e' option is specified or not, the source routing information is
1307 printed for source-routed packets.
1309 On 802.11 networks, the '-e' option causes \fItcpdump\fP to print
1310 the `frame control' fields, all of the addresses in the 802.11 header,
1311 and the packet length.
1312 As on FDDI networks,
1313 packets are assumed to contain an LLC packet.
1315 \fI(N.B.: The following description assumes familiarity with
1316 the SLIP compression algorithm described in RFC-1144.)\fP
1318 On SLIP links, a direction indicator (``I'' for inbound, ``O'' for outbound),
1319 packet type, and compression information are printed out.
1320 The packet type is printed first.
1321 The three types are \fIip\fP, \fIutcp\fP, and \fIctcp\fP.
1322 No further link information is printed for \fIip\fR packets.
1323 For TCP packets, the connection identifier is printed following the type.
1324 If the packet is compressed, its encoded header is printed out.
1325 The special cases are printed out as
1326 \fB*S+\fIn\fR and \fB*SA+\fIn\fR, where \fIn\fR is the amount by which
1327 the sequence number (or sequence number and ack) has changed.
1328 If it is not a special case,
1329 zero or more changes are printed.
1330 A change is indicated by U (urgent pointer), W (window), A (ack),
1331 S (sequence number), and I (packet ID), followed by a delta (+n or -n),
1332 or a new value (=n).
1333 Finally, the amount of data in the packet and compressed header length
1336 For example, the following line shows an outbound compressed TCP packet,
1337 with an implicit connection identifier; the ack has changed by 6,
1338 the sequence number by 49, and the packet ID by 6; there are 3 bytes of
1339 data and 6 bytes of compressed header:
1342 \fBO ctcp * A+6 S+49 I+6 3 (6)\fP
1348 Arp/rarp output shows the type of request and its arguments.
1350 format is intended to be self explanatory.
1351 Here is a short sample taken from the start of an `rlogin' from
1352 host \fIrtsg\fP to host \fIcsam\fP:
1356 \f(CWarp who-has csam tell rtsg
1357 arp reply csam is-at CSAM\fR
1361 The first line says that rtsg sent an arp packet asking
1362 for the Ethernet address of internet host csam.
1364 replies with its Ethernet address (in this example, Ethernet addresses
1365 are in caps and internet addresses in lower case).
1367 This would look less redundant if we had done \fItcpdump \-n\fP:
1371 \f(CWarp who-has 128.3.254.6 tell 128.3.254.68
1372 arp reply 128.3.254.6 is-at 02:07:01:00:01:c4\fP
1376 If we had done \fItcpdump \-e\fP, the fact that the first packet is
1377 broadcast and the second is point-to-point would be visible:
1381 \f(CWRTSG Broadcast 0806 64: arp who-has csam tell rtsg
1382 CSAM RTSG 0806 64: arp reply csam is-at CSAM\fR
1386 For the first packet this says the Ethernet source address is RTSG, the
1387 destination is the Ethernet broadcast address, the type field
1388 contained hex 0806 (type ETHER_ARP) and the total length was 64 bytes.
1392 \fI(N.B.:The following description assumes familiarity with
1393 the TCP protocol described in RFC-793.
1394 If you are not familiar
1395 with the protocol, neither this description nor \fItcpdump\fP will
1396 be of much use to you.)\fP
1398 The general format of a tcp protocol line is:
1402 \fIsrc > dst: flags data-seqno ack window urgent options\fP
1406 \fISrc\fP and \fIdst\fP are the source and destination IP
1407 addresses and ports.
1408 \fIFlags\fP are some combination of S (SYN),
1409 F (FIN), P (PUSH), R (RST), W (ECN CWR) or E (ECN-Echo), or a single
1411 \fIData-seqno\fP describes the portion of sequence space covered
1412 by the data in this packet (see example below).
1413 \fIAck\fP is sequence number of the next data expected the other
1414 direction on this connection.
1415 \fIWindow\fP is the number of bytes of receive buffer space available
1416 the other direction on this connection.
1417 \fIUrg\fP indicates there is `urgent' data in the packet.
1418 \fIOptions\fP are tcp options enclosed in angle brackets (e.g., <mss 1024>).
1420 \fISrc, dst\fP and \fIflags\fP are always present.
1422 depend on the contents of the packet's tcp protocol header and
1423 are output only if appropriate.
1425 Here is the opening portion of an rlogin from host \fIrtsg\fP to
1430 \s-2\f(CWrtsg.1023 > csam.login: S 768512:768512(0) win 4096 <mss 1024>
1431 csam.login > rtsg.1023: S 947648:947648(0) ack 768513 win 4096 <mss 1024>
1432 rtsg.1023 > csam.login: . ack 1 win 4096
1433 rtsg.1023 > csam.login: P 1:2(1) ack 1 win 4096
1434 csam.login > rtsg.1023: . ack 2 win 4096
1435 rtsg.1023 > csam.login: P 2:21(19) ack 1 win 4096
1436 csam.login > rtsg.1023: P 1:2(1) ack 21 win 4077
1437 csam.login > rtsg.1023: P 2:3(1) ack 21 win 4077 urg 1
1438 csam.login > rtsg.1023: P 3:4(1) ack 21 win 4077 urg 1\fR\s+2
1442 The first line says that tcp port 1023 on rtsg sent a packet
1445 The \fBS\fP indicates that the \fISYN\fP flag was set.
1446 The packet sequence number was 768512 and it contained no data.
1447 (The notation is `first:last(nbytes)' which means `sequence
1449 up to but not including \fIlast\fP which is \fInbytes\fP bytes of user data'.)
1450 There was no piggy-backed ack, the available receive window was 4096
1451 bytes and there was a max-segment-size option requesting an mss of
1454 Csam replies with a similar packet except it includes a piggy-backed
1456 Rtsg then acks csam's SYN.
1459 The packet contained no data so there is no data sequence number.
1460 Note that the ack sequence
1461 number is a small integer (1).
1462 The first time \fItcpdump\fP sees a
1463 tcp `conversation', it prints the sequence number from the packet.
1464 On subsequent packets of the conversation, the difference between
1465 the current packet's sequence number and this initial sequence number
1467 This means that sequence numbers after the
1468 first can be interpreted
1469 as relative byte positions in the conversation's data stream (with the
1470 first data byte each direction being `1').
1471 `-S' will override this
1472 feature, causing the original sequence numbers to be output.
1474 On the 6th line, rtsg sends csam 19 bytes of data (bytes 2 through 20
1475 in the rtsg \(-> csam side of the conversation).
1476 The PUSH flag is set in the packet.
1477 On the 7th line, csam says it's received data sent by rtsg up to
1478 but not including byte 21.
1479 Most of this data is apparently sitting in the
1480 socket buffer since csam's receive window has gotten 19 bytes smaller.
1481 Csam also sends one byte of data to rtsg in this packet.
1482 On the 8th and 9th lines,
1483 csam sends two bytes of urgent, pushed data to rtsg.
1485 If the snapshot was small enough that \fItcpdump\fP didn't capture
1486 the full TCP header, it interprets as much of the header as it can
1487 and then reports ``[|\fItcp\fP]'' to indicate the remainder could not
1489 If the header contains a bogus option (one with a length
1490 that's either too small or beyond the end of the header), \fItcpdump\fP
1491 reports it as ``[\fIbad opt\fP]'' and does not interpret any further
1492 options (since it's impossible to tell where they start).
1494 length indicates options are present but the IP datagram length is not
1495 long enough for the options to actually be there, \fItcpdump\fP reports
1496 it as ``[\fIbad hdr length\fP]''.
1498 .B Capturing TCP packets with particular flag combinations (SYN-ACK, URG-ACK, etc.)
1500 There are 8 bits in the control bits section of the TCP header:
1502 .I CWR | ECE | URG | ACK | PSH | RST | SYN | FIN
1504 Let's assume that we want to watch packets used in establishing
1506 Recall that TCP uses a 3-way handshake protocol
1507 when it initializes a new connection; the connection sequence with
1508 regard to the TCP control bits is
1514 2) Recipient responds with SYN, ACK
1520 Now we're interested in capturing packets that have only the
1521 SYN bit set (Step 1).
1522 Note that we don't want packets from step 2
1523 (SYN-ACK), just a plain initial SYN.
1524 What we need is a correct filter
1525 expression for \fItcpdump\fP.
1527 Recall the structure of a TCP header without options:
1531 -----------------------------------------------------------------
1532 | source port | destination port |
1533 -----------------------------------------------------------------
1535 -----------------------------------------------------------------
1536 | acknowledgment number |
1537 -----------------------------------------------------------------
1538 | HL | rsvd |C|E|U|A|P|R|S|F| window size |
1539 -----------------------------------------------------------------
1540 | TCP checksum | urgent pointer |
1541 -----------------------------------------------------------------
1544 A TCP header usually holds 20 octets of data, unless options are
1546 The first line of the graph contains octets 0 - 3, the
1547 second line shows octets 4 - 7 etc.
1549 Starting to count with 0, the relevant TCP control bits are contained
1554 ----------------|---------------|---------------|----------------
1555 | HL | rsvd |C|E|U|A|P|R|S|F| window size |
1556 ----------------|---------------|---------------|----------------
1557 | | 13th octet | | |
1560 Let's have a closer look at octet no. 13:
1570 These are the TCP control bits we are interested
1572 We have numbered the bits in this octet from 0 to 7, right to
1573 left, so the PSH bit is bit number 3, while the URG bit is number 5.
1575 Recall that we want to capture packets with only SYN set.
1576 Let's see what happens to octet 13 if a TCP datagram arrives
1577 with the SYN bit set in its header:
1588 control bits section we see that only bit number 1 (SYN) is set.
1590 Assuming that octet number 13 is an 8-bit unsigned integer in
1591 network byte order, the binary value of this octet is
1595 and its decimal representation is
1599 0*2 + 0*2 + 0*2 + 0*2 + 0*2 + 0*2 + 1*2 + 0*2 = 2
1602 We're almost done, because now we know that if only SYN is set,
1603 the value of the 13th octet in the TCP header, when interpreted
1604 as a 8-bit unsigned integer in network byte order, must be exactly 2.
1606 This relationship can be expressed as
1612 We can use this expression as the filter for \fItcpdump\fP in order
1613 to watch packets which have only SYN set:
1616 tcpdump -i xl0 tcp[13] == 2
1619 The expression says "let the 13th octet of a TCP datagram have
1620 the decimal value 2", which is exactly what we want.
1622 Now, let's assume that we need to capture SYN packets, but we
1623 don't care if ACK or any other TCP control bit is set at the
1625 Let's see what happens to octet 13 when a TCP datagram
1626 with SYN-ACK set arrives:
1636 Now bits 1 and 4 are set in the 13th octet.
1642 which translates to decimal
1646 0*2 + 0*2 + 0*2 + 1*2 + 0*2 + 0*2 + 1*2 + 0*2 = 18
1649 Now we can't just use 'tcp[13] == 18' in the \fItcpdump\fP filter
1650 expression, because that would select only those packets that have
1651 SYN-ACK set, but not those with only SYN set.
1652 Remember that we don't care
1653 if ACK or any other control bit is set as long as SYN is set.
1655 In order to achieve our goal, we need to logically AND the
1656 binary value of octet 13 with some other value to preserve
1658 We know that we want SYN to be set in any case,
1659 so we'll logically AND the value in the 13th octet with
1660 the binary value of a SYN:
1664 00010010 SYN-ACK 00000010 SYN
1665 AND 00000010 (we want SYN) AND 00000010 (we want SYN)
1667 = 00000010 = 00000010
1670 We see that this AND operation delivers the same result
1671 regardless whether ACK or another TCP control bit is set.
1672 The decimal representation of the AND value as well as
1673 the result of this operation is 2 (binary 00000010),
1674 so we know that for packets with SYN set the following
1675 relation must hold true:
1677 ( ( value of octet 13 ) AND ( 2 ) ) == ( 2 )
1679 This points us to the \fItcpdump\fP filter expression
1682 tcpdump -i xl0 'tcp[13] & 2 == 2'
1685 Note that you should use single quotes or a backslash
1686 in the expression to hide the AND ('&') special character
1692 UDP format is illustrated by this rwho packet:
1696 \f(CWactinide.who > broadcast.who: udp 84\fP
1700 This says that port \fIwho\fP on host \fIactinide\fP sent a udp
1701 datagram to port \fIwho\fP on host \fIbroadcast\fP, the Internet
1703 The packet contained 84 bytes of user data.
1705 Some UDP services are recognized (from the source or destination
1706 port number) and the higher level protocol information printed.
1707 In particular, Domain Name service requests (RFC-1034/1035) and Sun
1708 RPC calls (RFC-1050) to NFS.
1710 UDP Name Server Requests
1712 \fI(N.B.:The following description assumes familiarity with
1713 the Domain Service protocol described in RFC-1035.
1714 If you are not familiar
1715 with the protocol, the following description will appear to be written
1718 Name server requests are formatted as
1722 \fIsrc > dst: id op? flags qtype qclass name (len)\fP
1724 \f(CWh2opolo.1538 > helios.domain: 3+ A? ucbvax.berkeley.edu. (37)\fR
1728 Host \fIh2opolo\fP asked the domain server on \fIhelios\fP for an
1729 address record (qtype=A) associated with the name \fIucbvax.berkeley.edu.\fP
1730 The query id was `3'.
1731 The `+' indicates the \fIrecursion desired\fP flag
1733 The query length was 37 bytes, not including the UDP and
1734 IP protocol headers.
1735 The query operation was the normal one, \fIQuery\fP,
1736 so the op field was omitted.
1737 If the op had been anything else, it would
1738 have been printed between the `3' and the `+'.
1739 Similarly, the qclass was the normal one,
1740 \fIC_IN\fP, and omitted.
1741 Any other qclass would have been printed
1742 immediately after the `A'.
1744 A few anomalies are checked and may result in extra fields enclosed in
1745 square brackets: If a query contains an answer, authority records or
1746 additional records section,
1751 are printed as `[\fIn\fPa]', `[\fIn\fPn]' or `[\fIn\fPau]' where \fIn\fP
1752 is the appropriate count.
1753 If any of the response bits are set (AA, RA or rcode) or any of the
1754 `must be zero' bits are set in bytes two and three, `[b2&3=\fIx\fP]'
1755 is printed, where \fIx\fP is the hex value of header bytes two and three.
1757 UDP Name Server Responses
1759 Name server responses are formatted as
1763 \fIsrc > dst: id op rcode flags a/n/au type class data (len)\fP
1765 \f(CWhelios.domain > h2opolo.1538: 3 3/3/7 A 128.32.137.3 (273)
1766 helios.domain > h2opolo.1537: 2 NXDomain* 0/1/0 (97)\fR
1770 In the first example, \fIhelios\fP responds to query id 3 from \fIh2opolo\fP
1771 with 3 answer records, 3 name server records and 7 additional records.
1772 The first answer record is type A (address) and its data is internet
1773 address 128.32.137.3.
1774 The total size of the response was 273 bytes,
1775 excluding UDP and IP headers.
1776 The op (Query) and response code
1777 (NoError) were omitted, as was the class (C_IN) of the A record.
1779 In the second example, \fIhelios\fP responds to query 2 with a
1780 response code of non-existent domain (NXDomain) with no answers,
1781 one name server and no authority records.
1782 The `*' indicates that
1783 the \fIauthoritative answer\fP bit was set.
1785 answers, no type, class or data were printed.
1787 Other flag characters that might appear are `\-' (recursion available,
1788 RA, \fInot\fP set) and `|' (truncated message, TC, set).
1790 `question' section doesn't contain exactly one entry, `[\fIn\fPq]'
1793 Note that name server requests and responses tend to be large and the
1794 default \fIsnaplen\fP of 68 bytes may not capture enough of the packet
1796 Use the \fB\-s\fP flag to increase the snaplen if you
1797 need to seriously investigate name server traffic.
1799 has worked well for me.
1804 \fItcpdump\fP now includes fairly extensive SMB/CIFS/NBT decoding for data
1805 on UDP/137, UDP/138 and TCP/139.
1806 Some primitive decoding of IPX and
1807 NetBEUI SMB data is also done.
1809 By default a fairly minimal decode is done, with a much more detailed
1810 decode done if -v is used.
1811 Be warned that with -v a single SMB packet
1812 may take up a page or more, so only use -v if you really want all the
1815 For information on SMB packet formats and what all te fields mean see
1816 www.cifs.org or the pub/samba/specs/ directory on your favorite
1817 samba.org mirror site.
1818 The SMB patches were written by Andrew Tridgell
1822 NFS Requests and Replies
1824 Sun NFS (Network File System) requests and replies are printed as:
1828 \fIsrc.xid > dst.nfs: len op args\fP
1829 \fIsrc.nfs > dst.xid: reply stat len op results\fP
1832 sushi.6709 > wrl.nfs: 112 readlink fh 21,24/10.73165
1833 wrl.nfs > sushi.6709: reply ok 40 readlink "../var"
1834 sushi.201b > wrl.nfs:
1835 144 lookup fh 9,74/4096.6878 "xcolors"
1836 wrl.nfs > sushi.201b:
1837 reply ok 128 lookup fh 9,74/4134.3150
1842 In the first line, host \fIsushi\fP sends a transaction with id \fI6709\fP
1843 to \fIwrl\fP (note that the number following the src host is a
1844 transaction id, \fInot\fP the source port).
1845 The request was 112 bytes,
1846 excluding the UDP and IP headers.
1847 The operation was a \fIreadlink\fP
1848 (read symbolic link) on file handle (\fIfh\fP) 21,24/10.731657119.
1849 (If one is lucky, as in this case, the file handle can be interpreted
1850 as a major,minor device number pair, followed by the inode number and
1852 \fIWrl\fP replies `ok' with the contents of the link.
1854 In the third line, \fIsushi\fP asks \fIwrl\fP to lookup the name
1855 `\fIxcolors\fP' in directory file 9,74/4096.6878.
1856 Note that the data printed
1857 depends on the operation type.
1858 The format is intended to be self
1859 explanatory if read in conjunction with
1860 an NFS protocol spec.
1862 If the \-v (verbose) flag is given, additional information is printed.
1868 sushi.1372a > wrl.nfs:
1869 148 read fh 21,11/12.195 8192 bytes @ 24576
1870 wrl.nfs > sushi.1372a:
1871 reply ok 1472 read REG 100664 ids 417/0 sz 29388
1876 (\-v also prints the IP header TTL, ID, length, and fragmentation fields,
1877 which have been omitted from this example.) In the first line,
1878 \fIsushi\fP asks \fIwrl\fP to read 8192 bytes from file 21,11/12.195,
1879 at byte offset 24576.
1880 \fIWrl\fP replies `ok'; the packet shown on the
1881 second line is the first fragment of the reply, and hence is only 1472
1882 bytes long (the other bytes will follow in subsequent fragments, but
1883 these fragments do not have NFS or even UDP headers and so might not be
1884 printed, depending on the filter expression used).
1885 Because the \-v flag
1886 is given, some of the file attributes (which are returned in addition
1887 to the file data) are printed: the file type (``REG'', for regular file),
1888 the file mode (in octal), the uid and gid, and the file size.
1890 If the \-v flag is given more than once, even more details are printed.
1892 Note that NFS requests are very large and much of the detail won't be printed
1893 unless \fIsnaplen\fP is increased.
1894 Try using `\fB\-s 192\fP' to watch
1897 NFS reply packets do not explicitly identify the RPC operation.
1899 \fItcpdump\fP keeps track of ``recent'' requests, and matches them to the
1900 replies using the transaction ID.
1901 If a reply does not closely follow the
1902 corresponding request, it might not be parsable.
1904 AFS Requests and Replies
1906 Transarc AFS (Andrew File System) requests and replies are printed
1912 \fIsrc.sport > dst.dport: rx packet-type\fP
1913 \fIsrc.sport > dst.dport: rx packet-type service call call-name args\fP
1914 \fIsrc.sport > dst.dport: rx packet-type service reply call-name args\fP
1917 elvis.7001 > pike.afsfs:
1918 rx data fs call rename old fid 536876964/1/1 ".newsrc.new"
1919 new fid 536876964/1/1 ".newsrc"
1920 pike.afsfs > elvis.7001: rx data fs reply rename
1925 In the first line, host elvis sends a RX packet to pike.
1927 a RX data packet to the fs (fileserver) service, and is the start of
1929 The RPC call was a rename, with the old directory file id
1930 of 536876964/1/1 and an old filename of `.newsrc.new', and a new directory
1931 file id of 536876964/1/1 and a new filename of `.newsrc'.
1933 responds with a RPC reply to the rename call (which was successful, because
1934 it was a data packet and not an abort packet).
1936 In general, all AFS RPCs are decoded at least by RPC call name.
1938 AFS RPCs have at least some of the arguments decoded (generally only
1939 the `interesting' arguments, for some definition of interesting).
1941 The format is intended to be self-describing, but it will probably
1942 not be useful to people who are not familiar with the workings of
1945 If the -v (verbose) flag is given twice, acknowledgement packets and
1946 additional header information is printed, such as the the RX call ID,
1947 call number, sequence number, serial number, and the RX packet flags.
1949 If the -v flag is given twice, additional information is printed,
1950 such as the the RX call ID, serial number, and the RX packet flags.
1951 The MTU negotiation information is also printed from RX ack packets.
1953 If the -v flag is given three times, the security index and service id
1956 Error codes are printed for abort packets, with the exception of Ubik
1957 beacon packets (because abort packets are used to signify a yes vote
1958 for the Ubik protocol).
1960 Note that AFS requests are very large and many of the arguments won't
1961 be printed unless \fIsnaplen\fP is increased.
1962 Try using `\fB-s 256\fP'
1963 to watch AFS traffic.
1965 AFS reply packets do not explicitly identify the RPC operation.
1967 \fItcpdump\fP keeps track of ``recent'' requests, and matches them to the
1968 replies using the call number and service ID.
1969 If a reply does not closely
1971 corresponding request, it might not be parsable.
1974 KIP AppleTalk (DDP in UDP)
1976 AppleTalk DDP packets encapsulated in UDP datagrams are de-encapsulated
1977 and dumped as DDP packets (i.e., all the UDP header information is
1981 is used to translate AppleTalk net and node numbers to names.
1982 Lines in this file have the form
1994 The first two lines give the names of AppleTalk networks.
1996 line gives the name of a particular host (a host is distinguished
1997 from a net by the 3rd octet in the number \-
1998 a net number \fImust\fP have two octets and a host number \fImust\fP
1999 have three octets.) The number and name should be separated by
2000 whitespace (blanks or tabs).
2003 file may contain blank lines or comment lines (lines starting with
2006 AppleTalk addresses are printed in the form
2012 \f(CW144.1.209.2 > icsd-net.112.220
2013 office.2 > icsd-net.112.220
2014 jssmag.149.235 > icsd-net.2\fR
2020 doesn't exist or doesn't contain an entry for some AppleTalk
2021 host/net number, addresses are printed in numeric form.)
2022 In the first example, NBP (DDP port 2) on net 144.1 node 209
2023 is sending to whatever is listening on port 220 of net icsd node 112.
2024 The second line is the same except the full name of the source node
2025 is known (`office').
2026 The third line is a send from port 235 on
2027 net jssmag node 149 to broadcast on the icsd-net NBP port (note that
2028 the broadcast address (255) is indicated by a net name with no host
2029 number \- for this reason it's a good idea to keep node names and
2030 net names distinct in /etc/atalk.names).
2032 NBP (name binding protocol) and ATP (AppleTalk transaction protocol)
2033 packets have their contents interpreted.
2034 Other protocols just dump
2035 the protocol name (or number if no name is registered for the
2036 protocol) and packet size.
2038 \fBNBP packets\fP are formatted like the following examples:
2042 \s-2\f(CWicsd-net.112.220 > jssmag.2: nbp-lkup 190: "=:LaserWriter@*"
2043 jssmag.209.2 > icsd-net.112.220: nbp-reply 190: "RM1140:LaserWriter@*" 250
2044 techpit.2 > icsd-net.112.220: nbp-reply 190: "techpit:LaserWriter@*" 186\fR\s+2
2048 The first line is a name lookup request for laserwriters sent by net icsd host
2049 112 and broadcast on net jssmag.
2050 The nbp id for the lookup is 190.
2051 The second line shows a reply for this request (note that it has the
2052 same id) from host jssmag.209 saying that it has a laserwriter
2053 resource named "RM1140" registered on port 250.
2055 another reply to the same request saying host techpit has laserwriter
2056 "techpit" registered on port 186.
2058 \fBATP packet\fP formatting is demonstrated by the following example:
2062 \s-2\f(CWjssmag.209.165 > helios.132: atp-req 12266<0-7> 0xae030001
2063 helios.132 > jssmag.209.165: atp-resp 12266:0 (512) 0xae040000
2064 helios.132 > jssmag.209.165: atp-resp 12266:1 (512) 0xae040000
2065 helios.132 > jssmag.209.165: atp-resp 12266:2 (512) 0xae040000
2066 helios.132 > jssmag.209.165: atp-resp 12266:3 (512) 0xae040000
2067 helios.132 > jssmag.209.165: atp-resp 12266:4 (512) 0xae040000
2068 helios.132 > jssmag.209.165: atp-resp 12266:5 (512) 0xae040000
2069 helios.132 > jssmag.209.165: atp-resp 12266:6 (512) 0xae040000
2070 helios.132 > jssmag.209.165: atp-resp*12266:7 (512) 0xae040000
2071 jssmag.209.165 > helios.132: atp-req 12266<3,5> 0xae030001
2072 helios.132 > jssmag.209.165: atp-resp 12266:3 (512) 0xae040000
2073 helios.132 > jssmag.209.165: atp-resp 12266:5 (512) 0xae040000
2074 jssmag.209.165 > helios.132: atp-rel 12266<0-7> 0xae030001
2075 jssmag.209.133 > helios.132: atp-req* 12267<0-7> 0xae030002\fR\s+2
2079 Jssmag.209 initiates transaction id 12266 with host helios by requesting
2080 up to 8 packets (the `<0-7>').
2081 The hex number at the end of the line
2082 is the value of the `userdata' field in the request.
2084 Helios responds with 8 512-byte packets.
2085 The `:digit' following the
2086 transaction id gives the packet sequence number in the transaction
2087 and the number in parens is the amount of data in the packet,
2088 excluding the atp header.
2089 The `*' on packet 7 indicates that the
2092 Jssmag.209 then requests that packets 3 & 5 be retransmitted.
2094 resends them then jssmag.209 releases the transaction.
2096 jssmag.209 initiates the next request.
2097 The `*' on the request
2098 indicates that XO (`exactly once') was \fInot\fP set.
2103 Fragmented Internet datagrams are printed as
2107 \fB(frag \fIid\fB:\fIsize\fB@\fIoffset\fB+)\fR
2108 \fB(frag \fIid\fB:\fIsize\fB@\fIoffset\fB)\fR
2112 (The first form indicates there are more fragments.
2114 indicates this is the last fragment.)
2116 \fIId\fP is the fragment id.
2117 \fISize\fP is the fragment
2118 size (in bytes) excluding the IP header.
2119 \fIOffset\fP is this
2120 fragment's offset (in bytes) in the original datagram.
2122 The fragment information is output for each fragment.
2124 fragment contains the higher level protocol header and the frag
2125 info is printed after the protocol info.
2127 after the first contain no higher level protocol header and the
2128 frag info is printed after the source and destination addresses.
2129 For example, here is part of an ftp from arizona.edu to lbl-rtsg.arpa
2130 over a CSNET connection that doesn't appear to handle 576 byte datagrams:
2134 \s-2\f(CWarizona.ftp-data > rtsg.1170: . 1024:1332(308) ack 1 win 4096 (frag 595a:328@0+)
2135 arizona > rtsg: (frag 595a:204@328)
2136 rtsg.1170 > arizona.ftp-data: . ack 1536 win 2560\fP\s+2
2140 There are a couple of things to note here: First, addresses in the
2141 2nd line don't include port numbers.
2142 This is because the TCP
2143 protocol information is all in the first fragment and we have no idea
2144 what the port or sequence numbers are when we print the later fragments.
2145 Second, the tcp sequence information in the first line is printed as if there
2146 were 308 bytes of user data when, in fact, there are 512 bytes (308 in
2147 the first frag and 204 in the second).
2148 If you are looking for holes
2149 in the sequence space or trying to match up acks
2150 with packets, this can fool you.
2152 A packet with the IP \fIdon't fragment\fP flag is marked with a
2153 trailing \fB(DF)\fP.
2157 By default, all output lines are preceded by a timestamp.
2159 is the current clock time in the form
2165 and is as accurate as the kernel's clock.
2166 The timestamp reflects the time the kernel first saw the packet.
2168 is made to account for the time lag between when the
2169 Ethernet interface removed the packet from the wire and when the kernel
2170 serviced the `new packet' interrupt.
2172 stty(1), pcap(3), bpf(4), nit(4P), pfconfig(8)
2174 The original authors are:
2178 Steven McCanne, all of the
2179 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA.
2181 It is currently being maintained by tcpdump.org.
2183 The current version is available via http:
2186 .I http://www.tcpdump.org/
2189 The original distribution is available via anonymous ftp:
2192 .I ftp://ftp.ee.lbl.gov/tcpdump.tar.Z
2195 IPv6/IPsec support is added by WIDE/KAME project.
2196 This program uses Eric Young's SSLeay library, under specific configuration.
2198 Please send problems, bugs, questions, desirable enhancements, etc. to:
2201 tcpdump-workers@tcpdump.org
2204 Please send source code contributions, etc. to:
2210 NIT doesn't let you watch your own outbound traffic, BPF will.
2211 We recommend that you use the latter.
2213 On Linux systems with 2.0[.x] kernels:
2215 packets on the loopback device will be seen twice;
2217 packet filtering cannot be done in the kernel, so that all packets must
2218 be copied from the kernel in order to be filtered in user mode;
2220 all of a packet, not just the part that's within the snapshot length,
2221 will be copied from the kernel (the 2.0[.x] packet capture mechanism, if
2222 asked to copy only part of a packet to userland, will not report the
2223 true length of the packet; this would cause most IP packets to get an
2227 capturing on some PPP devices won't work correctly.
2229 We recommend that you upgrade to a 2.2 or later kernel.
2231 Some attempt should be made to reassemble IP fragments or, at least
2232 to compute the right length for the higher level protocol.
2234 Name server inverse queries are not dumped correctly: the (empty)
2235 question section is printed rather than real query in the answer
2237 Some believe that inverse queries are themselves a bug and
2238 prefer to fix the program generating them rather than \fItcpdump\fP.
2240 A packet trace that crosses a daylight savings time change will give
2241 skewed time stamps (the time change is ignored).
2243 Filter expressions on fields other than those in Token Ring headers will
2244 not correctly handle source-routed Token Ring packets.
2246 Filter expressions on fields other than those in 802.11 headers will not
2247 correctly handle 802.11 data packets with both To DS and From DS set.
2250 should chase header chain, but at this moment it does not.
2251 .BR "ip6 protochain"
2252 is supplied for this behavior.
2254 Arithmetic expression against transport layer headers, like \fBtcp[0]\fP,
2255 does not work against IPv6 packets.
2256 It only looks at IPv4 packets.