+be interpreted.
+If the header contains a bogus option (one with a length
+that's either too small or beyond the end of the header), \fItcpdump\fP
+reports it as ``[\fIbad opt\fP]'' and does not interpret any further
+options (since it's impossible to tell where they start).
+If the header
+length indicates options are present but the IP datagram length is not
+long enough for the options to actually be there, \fItcpdump\fP reports
+it as ``[\fIbad hdr length\fP]''.
+.HD
+.B Capturing TCP packets with particular flag combinations (SYN-ACK, URG-ACK, etc.)
+.PP
+There are 8 bits in the control bits section of the TCP header:
+.IP
+.I CWR | ECE | URG | ACK | PSH | RST | SYN | FIN
+.PP
+Let's assume that we want to watch packets used in establishing
+a TCP connection.
+Recall that TCP uses a 3-way handshake protocol
+when it initializes a new connection; the connection sequence with
+regard to the TCP control bits is
+.PP
+.RS
+1) Caller sends SYN
+.RE
+.RS
+2) Recipient responds with SYN, ACK
+.RE
+.RS
+3) Caller sends ACK
+.RE
+.PP
+Now we're interested in capturing packets that have only the
+SYN bit set (Step 1).
+Note that we don't want packets from step 2
+(SYN-ACK), just a plain initial SYN.
+What we need is a correct filter
+expression for \fItcpdump\fP.
+.PP
+Recall the structure of a TCP header without options:
+.PP
+.nf
+ 0 15 31
+-----------------------------------------------------------------
+| source port | destination port |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------
+| sequence number |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------
+| acknowledgment number |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------
+| HL | rsvd |C|E|U|A|P|R|S|F| window size |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------
+| TCP checksum | urgent pointer |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------
+.fi
+.PP
+A TCP header usually holds 20 octets of data, unless options are
+present.
+The first line of the graph contains octets 0 - 3, the
+second line shows octets 4 - 7 etc.
+.PP
+Starting to count with 0, the relevant TCP control bits are contained
+in octet 13:
+.PP
+.nf
+ 0 7| 15| 23| 31
+----------------|---------------|---------------|----------------
+| HL | rsvd |C|E|U|A|P|R|S|F| window size |
+----------------|---------------|---------------|----------------
+| | 13th octet | | |
+.fi
+.PP
+Let's have a closer look at octet no. 13:
+.PP
+.nf
+ | |
+ |---------------|
+ |C|E|U|A|P|R|S|F|
+ |---------------|
+ |7 5 3 0|
+.fi
+.PP
+These are the TCP control bits we are interested
+in.
+We have numbered the bits in this octet from 0 to 7, right to
+left, so the PSH bit is bit number 3, while the URG bit is number 5.
+.PP
+Recall that we want to capture packets with only SYN set.
+Let's see what happens to octet 13 if a TCP datagram arrives
+with the SYN bit set in its header:
+.PP
+.nf
+ |C|E|U|A|P|R|S|F|
+ |---------------|
+ |0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0|
+ |---------------|
+ |7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0|
+.fi
+.PP
+Looking at the
+control bits section we see that only bit number 1 (SYN) is set.
+.PP
+Assuming that octet number 13 is an 8-bit unsigned integer in
+network byte order, the binary value of this octet is
+.IP
+00000010
+.PP
+and its decimal representation is
+.PP
+.nf
+ 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
+0*2 + 0*2 + 0*2 + 0*2 + 0*2 + 0*2 + 1*2 + 0*2 = 2
+.fi
+.PP
+We're almost done, because now we know that if only SYN is set,
+the value of the 13th octet in the TCP header, when interpreted
+as a 8-bit unsigned integer in network byte order, must be exactly 2.
+.PP
+This relationship can be expressed as
+.RS
+.B
+tcp[13] == 2
+.RE
+.PP
+We can use this expression as the filter for \fItcpdump\fP in order
+to watch packets which have only SYN set:
+.RS
+.B
+tcpdump -i xl0 tcp[13] == 2
+.RE
+.PP
+The expression says "let the 13th octet of a TCP datagram have
+the decimal value 2", which is exactly what we want.
+.PP
+Now, let's assume that we need to capture SYN packets, but we
+don't care if ACK or any other TCP control bit is set at the
+same time.
+Let's see what happens to octet 13 when a TCP datagram
+with SYN-ACK set arrives:
+.PP
+.nf
+ |C|E|U|A|P|R|S|F|
+ |---------------|
+ |0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0|
+ |---------------|
+ |7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0|
+.fi
+.PP
+Now bits 1 and 4 are set in the 13th octet.
+The binary value of
+octet 13 is
+.IP
+ 00010010
+.PP
+which translates to decimal
+.PP
+.nf
+ 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
+0*2 + 0*2 + 0*2 + 1*2 + 0*2 + 0*2 + 1*2 + 0*2 = 18
+.fi
+.PP
+Now we can't just use 'tcp[13] == 18' in the \fItcpdump\fP filter
+expression, because that would select only those packets that have
+SYN-ACK set, but not those with only SYN set.
+Remember that we don't care
+if ACK or any other control bit is set as long as SYN is set.
+.PP
+In order to achieve our goal, we need to logically AND the
+binary value of octet 13 with some other value to preserve
+the SYN bit.
+We know that we want SYN to be set in any case,
+so we'll logically AND the value in the 13th octet with
+the binary value of a SYN:
+.PP
+.nf
+
+ 00010010 SYN-ACK 00000010 SYN
+ AND 00000010 (we want SYN) AND 00000010 (we want SYN)
+ -------- --------
+ = 00000010 = 00000010
+.fi
+.PP
+We see that this AND operation delivers the same result
+regardless whether ACK or another TCP control bit is set.
+The decimal representation of the AND value as well as
+the result of this operation is 2 (binary 00000010),
+so we know that for packets with SYN set the following
+relation must hold true:
+.IP
+( ( value of octet 13 ) AND ( 2 ) ) == ( 2 )
+.PP
+This points us to the \fItcpdump\fP filter expression
+.RS
+.B
+ tcpdump -i xl0 'tcp[13] & 2 == 2'
+.RE
+.PP
+Note that you should use single quotes or a backslash
+in the expression to hide the AND ('&') special character
+from the shell.