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PCAP(3PCAP)                                                        PCAP(3PCAP)

NAME
       pcap - Packet Capture library

SYNOPSIS
       #include <pcap/pcap.h>

DESCRIPTION
       The  Packet  Capture  library provides a high level interface to packet
       capture systems. All packets on the network, even  those  destined  for
       other  hosts,  are accessible through this mechanism.  It also supports
       saving captured packets to a ``savefile'', and reading packets  from  a
       ``savefile''.

   Initializing
       pcap_init()  initializes  the library.  It takes an argument giving op-
       tions; currently, the options are:

       PCAP_CHAR_ENC_LOCAL
              Treat all strings supplied as arguments, and return all  strings
              to the caller, as being in the local character encoding.

       PCAP_CHAR_ENC_UTF_8
              Treat  all strings supplied as arguments, and return all strings
              to the caller, as being in UTF-8.

       On UNIX-like systems, the local character encoding  is  assumed  to  be
       UTF-8, so no character encoding transformations are done.

       On Windows, the local character encoding is the local ANSI code page.

       If  pcap_init()  is called, the deprecated pcap_lookupdev() routine al-
       ways fails, so it should not be used, and,  on  Windows,  pcap_create()
       does not attempt to handle UTF-16LE strings.

       If pcap_init() is not called, strings are treated as being in the local
       ANSI code page on Windows, pcap_lookupdev() will succeed if there is  a
       device on which to capture, and pcap_create() makes an attempt to check
       whether the string passed as an argument is a UTF-16LE  string  -  note
       that this attempt is unsafe, as it may run past the end of the string -
       to handle pcap_lookupdev() returning a UTF-16LE string.  Programs  that
       don't  call  pcap_init()  should,  on Windows, call pcap_wsockinit() to
       initialize Winsock; this is not necessary if pcap_init() is called,  as
       pcap_init() will initialize Winsock itself on Windows.

       Routines

              pcap_init(3PCAP)
                     initialize the library

   Opening a capture handle for reading
       To  open  a handle for a live capture, given the name of the network or
       other interface on which the capture should  be  done,  call  pcap_cre-
       ate(),  set the appropriate options on the handle, and then activate it
       with pcap_activate().  If pcap_activate() fails, the handle  should  be
       closed with pcap_close().

       To obtain a list of devices that can be opened for a live capture, call
       pcap_findalldevs(); to free the list  returned  by  pcap_findalldevs(),
       call pcap_freealldevs().  pcap_lookupdev() will return the first device
       on that list that is not a ``loopback`` network interface.

       To open a handle for a ``savefile'' from which to read  packets,  given
       the pathname of the ``savefile'', call pcap_open_offline(); to set up a
       handle for a ``savefile'', given a FILE * referring to a  file  already
       opened for reading, call pcap_fopen_offline().

       In  order  to  get a ``fake'' pcap_t for use in routines that require a
       pcap_t as an argument, such as routines  to  open  a  ``savefile''  for
       writing and to compile a filter expression, call pcap_open_dead().

       pcap_create(),     pcap_open_offline(),    pcap_fopen_offline(),    and
       pcap_open_dead() return a pointer to a pcap_t, which is the handle used
       for  reading  packets  from the capture stream or the ``savefile'', and
       for finding out information about the capture stream  or  ``savefile''.
       To close a handle, use pcap_close().

       The options that can be set on a capture handle include

       snapshot length
              If,  when  capturing,  you  capture  the  entire contents of the
              packet, that requires more CPU time to copy the packet  to  your
              application,  more  disk and possibly network bandwidth to write
              the packet data to a file, and  more  disk  space  to  save  the
              packet.   If  you don't need the entire contents of the packet -
              for example, if you are only interested in the  TCP  headers  of
              packets  -  you can set the "snapshot length" for the capture to
              an appropriate value.  If the snapshot length is set to snaplen,
              and  snaplen is less than the size of a packet that is captured,
              only the first snaplen bytes of that packet will be captured and
              provided as packet data.

              A  snapshot length of 65535 should be sufficient, on most if not
              all networks, to capture all the data available from the packet.

              The snapshot length is set with pcap_set_snaplen().

       promiscuous mode
              On broadcast  LANs  such  as  Ethernet,  if  the  network  isn't
              switched, or if the adapter is connected to a "mirror port" on a
              switch to which all packets passing through the switch are sent,
              a  network  adapter  receives  all packets on the LAN, including
              unicast or multicast packets not sent to a network address  that
              the network adapter isn't configured to recognize.

              Normally,  the adapter will discard those packets; however, many
              network adapters support "promiscuous mode", which is a mode  in
              which  all packets, even if they are not sent to an address that
              the adapter recognizes, are provided to the host.  This is  use-
              ful  for  passively  capturing traffic between two or more other
              hosts for analysis.

              Note that even if an application does not set promiscuous  mode,
              the  adapter  could  well  be in promiscuous mode for some other
              reason.

              For now, this doesn't work on the "any" device; if  an  argument
              of "any" or NULL is supplied, the setting of promiscuous mode is
              ignored.

              Promiscuous mode is set with pcap_set_promisc().

       monitor mode
              On IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs, even if an adapter is in promiscu-
              ous mode, it will supply to the host only frames for the network
              with which it's associated.  It  might  also  supply  only  data
              frames,  not management or control frames, and might not provide
              the 802.11 header or radio information pseudo-header  for  those
              frames.

              In  "monitor mode", sometimes also called "rfmon mode" (for "Ra-
              dio Frequency MONitor"), the adapter will supply all frames that
              it  receives,  with  802.11  headers, and might supply a pseudo-
              header with radio information about the frame as well.

              Note that in monitor mode the adapter  might  disassociate  from
              the  network with which it's associated, so that you will not be
              able to use any wireless networks with that adapter.  This could
              prevent  accessing  files on a network server, or resolving host
              names or network addresses, if you are capturing in monitor mode
              and are not connected to another network with another adapter.

              Monitor  mode is set with pcap_set_rfmon(), and pcap_can_set_rf-
              mon() can be used to determine whether an  adapter  can  be  put
              into monitor mode.

       packet buffer timeout
              If,  when  capturing,  packets are delivered as soon as they ar-
              rive, the application capturing the packets will be woken up for
              each  packet  as  it arrives, and might have to make one or more
              calls to the operating system to fetch each packet.

              If, instead, packets are not delivered as soon as  they  arrive,
              but  are  delivered after a short delay (called a "packet buffer
              timeout"), more than one packet can be  accumulated  before  the
              packets are delivered, so that a single wakeup would be done for
              multiple packets, and each set of calls made  to  the  operating
              system  would  supply  multiple  packets,  rather  than a single
              packet.  This reduces the per-packet CPU overhead if packets are
              arriving  at  a  high rate, increasing the number of packets per
              second that can be captured.

              The packet buffer timeout is required  so  that  an  application
              won't  wait for the operating system's capture buffer to fill up
              before packets are delivered; if packets  are  arriving  slowly,
              that wait could take an arbitrarily long period of time.

              Not  all platforms support a packet buffer timeout; on platforms
              that don't, the packet buffer timeout is ignored.  A zero  value
              for the timeout, on platforms that support a packet buffer time-
              out, will cause a read to wait forever to allow  enough  packets
              to  arrive,  with  no timeout.  A negative value is invalid; the
              result of setting the timeout to  a  negative  value  is  unpre-
              dictable.

              NOTE:  the  packet  buffer timeout cannot be used to cause calls
              that read packets to return within a limited period of time, be-
              cause,  on  some platforms, the packet buffer timeout isn't sup-
              ported, and, on other platforms, the timer doesn't  start  until
              at  least one packet arrives.  This means that the packet buffer
              timeout should NOT be used, for example, in an  interactive  ap-
              plication  to allow the packet capture loop to ``poll'' for user
              input periodically, as there's no guarantee that a call  reading
              packets will return after the timeout expires even if no packets
              have arrived.

              The packet buffer timeout is set with pcap_set_timeout().

       immediate mode
              In immediate mode, packets are always delivered as soon as  they
              arrive,   with   no  buffering.   Immediate  mode  is  set  with
              pcap_set_immediate_mode().

       buffer size
              Packets that arrive for a capture are stored  in  a  buffer,  so
              that  they  do not have to be read by the application as soon as
              they arrive.  On some platforms, the buffer's size can be set; a
              size  that's  too small could mean that, if too many packets are
              being captured and the snapshot length doesn't limit the  amount
              of  data that's buffered, packets could be dropped if the buffer
              fills up before the application can read packets from it,  while
              a  size  that's  too large could use more non-pageable operating
              system memory than is necessary to prevent  packets  from  being
              dropped.

              The buffer size is set with pcap_set_buffer_size().

       timestamp type
              On  some platforms, the time stamp given to packets on live cap-
              tures can come from different sources that  can  have  different
              resolutions or that can have different relationships to the time
              values for the current time supplied by routines on  the  native
              operating  system.   See pcap-tstamp(7) for a list of time stamp
              types.

              The time stamp type is set with pcap_set_tstamp_type().

       Reading packets from a network interface may require that you have spe-
       cial privileges:

       Under SunOS 3.x or 4.x with NIT or BPF:
              You must have read access to /dev/nit or /dev/bpf*.

       Under Solaris with DLPI:
              You  must  have  read/write access to the network pseudo device,
              e.g.  /dev/le.  On at least some versions of  Solaris,  however,
              this  is not sufficient to allow tcpdump to capture in promiscu-
              ous mode; on those versions of Solaris, you must be root, or the
              application  capturing packets must be installed setuid to root,
              in order to capture in promiscuous mode.   Note  that,  on  many
              (perhaps  all)  interfaces,  if you don't capture in promiscuous
              mode, you will not see any outgoing packets, so  a  capture  not
              done in promiscuous mode may not be very useful.

              In  newer  versions  of  Solaris,  you  must have been given the
              net_rawaccess privilege; this is both necessary  and  sufficient
              to  give  you  access to the network pseudo-device - there is no
              need to change the privileges on that device.   A  user  can  be
              given  that  privilege by, for example, adding that privilege to
              the user's defaultpriv key with the usermod(8) command.

       Under HP-UX with DLPI:
              You must be root or the application capturing  packets  must  be
              installed setuid to root.

       Under IRIX with snoop:
              You  must  be  root or the application capturing packets must be
              installed setuid to root.

       Under Linux:
              You must be root or the application capturing  packets  must  be
              installed  setuid to root, unless your distribution has a kernel
              that supports capability bits such as CAP_NET_RAW  and  code  to
              allow  those  capability bits to be given to particular accounts
              and to cause those bits to be set on a user's initial  processes
              when they log in, in which case you must have CAP_NET_RAW in or-
              der to capture.

       Under ULTRIX and Digital UNIX/Tru64 UNIX:
              Any user may capture network traffic.   However,  no  user  (not
              even  the  super-user) can capture in promiscuous mode on an in-
              terface unless the super-user has enabled promiscuous-mode oper-
              ation on that interface using pfconfig(8), and no user (not even
              the super-user) can capture unicast traffic received by or  sent
              by the machine on an interface unless the super-user has enabled
              copy-all-mode operation on that  interface  using  pfconfig,  so
              useful packet capture on an interface probably requires that ei-
              ther promiscuous-mode or copy-all-mode operation, or both  modes
              of operation, be enabled on that interface.

       Under BSD (this includes macOS):
              You  must  have  read  access to /dev/bpf* on systems that don't
              have a cloning BPF device, or to /dev/bpf on  systems  that  do.
              On  BSDs  with a devfs (this includes macOS), this might involve
              more than just having somebody with  super-user  access  setting
              the  ownership  or permissions on the BPF devices - it might in-
              volve configuring devfs to set the ownership or permissions  ev-
              ery time the system is booted, if the system even supports that;
              if it doesn't support that, you might have to  find  some  other
              way to make that happen at boot time.

       Reading a saved packet file doesn't require special privileges.

       The  packets  read from the handle may include a ``pseudo-header'' con-
       taining various forms of packet  meta-data,  and  probably  includes  a
       link-layer  header  whose contents can differ for different network in-
       terfaces.  To determine the format of the packets supplied by the  han-
       dle, call pcap_datalink(); https://www.tcpdump.org/linktypes.html lists
       the values it returns and describes the packet formats that  correspond
       to those values.

       Do NOT assume that the packets for a given capture or ``savefile`` will
       have any given link-layer header type, such as DLT_EN10MB for Ethernet.
       For  example,  the  "any" device on Linux will have a link-layer header
       type of DLT_LINUX_SLL or DLT_LINUX_SLL2 even if all devices on the sys-
       tem  at  the  time the "any" device is opened have some other data link
       type, such as DLT_EN10MB for Ethernet.

       To obtain the FILE * corresponding to a pcap_t  opened  for  a  ``save-
       file'', call pcap_file().

       Routines

              pcap_create(3PCAP)
                     get a pcap_t for live capture

              pcap_activate(3PCAP)
                     activate a pcap_t for live capture

              pcap_findalldevs(3PCAP)
                     get  a list of devices that can be opened for a live cap-
                     ture

              pcap_freealldevs(3PCAP)
                     free list of devices

              pcap_lookupdev(3PCAP)
                     get first non-loopback device on that list

              pcap_open_offline(3PCAP)
                     open a pcap_t for a ``savefile'', given a pathname

              pcap_open_offline_with_tstamp_precision(3PCAP)
                     open a pcap_t for a ``savefile'', given a  pathname,  and
                     specify the precision to provide for packet time stamps

              pcap_fopen_offline(3PCAP)
                     open a pcap_t for a ``savefile'', given a FILE *

              pcap_fopen_offline_with_tstamp_precision(3PCAP)
                     open  a  pcap_t  for  a ``savefile'', given a FILE *, and
                     specify the precision to provide for packet time stamps

              pcap_open_dead(3PCAP)
                     create a ``fake'' pcap_t

              pcap_close(3PCAP)
                     close a pcap_t

              pcap_set_snaplen(3PCAP)
                     set the snapshot length for  a  not-yet-activated  pcap_t
                     for live capture

              pcap_snapshot(3PCAP)
                     get the snapshot length for a pcap_t

              pcap_set_promisc(3PCAP)
                     set  promiscuous  mode for a not-yet-activated pcap_t for
                     live capture

              pcap_set_protocol_linux(3PCAP)
                     set capture protocol for a not-yet-activated  pcap_t  for
                     live capture (Linux only)

              pcap_set_rfmon(3PCAP)
                     set  monitor mode for a not-yet-activated pcap_t for live
                     capture

              pcap_can_set_rfmon(3PCAP)
                     determine whether monitor mode can be set  for  a  pcap_t
                     for live capture

              pcap_set_timeout(3PCAP)
                     set  packet buffer timeout for a not-yet-activated pcap_t
                     for live capture

              pcap_set_immediate_mode(3PCAP)
                     set immediate mode for  a  not-yet-activated  pcap_t  for
                     live capture

              pcap_set_buffer_size(3PCAP)
                     set  buffer  size for a not-yet-activated pcap_t for live
                     capture

              pcap_set_tstamp_type(3PCAP)
                     set time stamp type for a  not-yet-activated  pcap_t  for
                     live capture

              pcap_list_tstamp_types(3PCAP)
                     get  list of available time stamp types for a not-yet-ac-
                     tivated pcap_t for live capture

              pcap_free_tstamp_types(3PCAP)
                     free list of available time stamp types

              pcap_tstamp_type_val_to_name(3PCAP)
                     get name for a time stamp type

              pcap_tstamp_type_val_to_description(3PCAP)
                     get description for a time stamp type

              pcap_tstamp_type_name_to_val(3PCAP)
                     get time stamp type corresponding to a name

              pcap_set_tstamp_precision(3PCAP)
                     set time stamp precision for a  not-yet-activated  pcap_t
                     for live capture

              pcap_get_tstamp_precision(3PCAP)
                     get the time stamp precision of a pcap_t for live capture

              pcap_datalink(3PCAP)
                     get link-layer header type for a pcap_t

              pcap_file(3PCAP)
                     get the FILE * for a pcap_t opened for a ``savefile''

              pcap_is_swapped(3PCAP)
                     determine  whether  a ``savefile'' being read came from a
                     machine with the opposite byte order

              pcap_major_version(3PCAP)
              pcap_minor_version(3PCAP)
                     get the major and minor version of the file  format  ver-
                     sion for a ``savefile''

   Selecting a link-layer header type for a live capture
       Some  devices may provide more than one link-layer header type.  To ob-
       tain a list of all link-layer header types provided by a  device,  call
       pcap_list_datalinks() on an activated pcap_t for the device.  To free a
       list of link-layer header types, call  pcap_free_datalinks().   To  set
       the  link-layer  header  type  for  a device, call pcap_set_datalink().
       This should be done after the device has been activated but before  any
       packets are read and before any filters are compiled or installed.

       Routines

              pcap_list_datalinks(3PCAP)
                     get a list of link-layer header types for a device

              pcap_free_datalinks(3PCAP)
                     free list of link-layer header types

              pcap_set_datalink(3PCAP)
                     set link-layer header type for a device

              pcap_datalink_val_to_name(3PCAP)
                     get name for a link-layer header type

              pcap_datalink_val_to_description(3PCAP)
              pcap_datalink_val_to_description_or_dlt(3PCAP)
                     get description for a link-layer header type

              pcap_datalink_name_to_val(3PCAP)
                     get link-layer header type corresponding to a name

   Reading packets
       Packets are read with pcap_dispatch() or pcap_loop(), which process one
       or more packets, calling a callback routine for each  packet,  or  with
       pcap_next() or pcap_next_ex(), which return the next packet.  The call-
       back for pcap_dispatch() and pcap_loop() is supplied  a  pointer  to  a
       struct pcap_pkthdr, which includes the following members:

              ts     a  struct timeval containing the time when the packet was
                     captured

              caplen a bpf_u_int32 giving the number of bytes  of  the  packet
                     that are available from the capture

              len    a  bpf_u_int32  giving the length of the packet, in bytes
                     (which might be more than the number of  bytes  available
                     from  the  capture, if the length of the packet is larger
                     than the maximum number of bytes to capture).

       The callback is also supplied a  const  u_char  pointer  to  the  first
       caplen  (as  given  in the struct pcap_pkthdr mentioned above) bytes of
       data from the packet.  This won't necessarily be the entire packet;  to
       capture the entire packet, you will have to provide a value for snaplen
       in your call to pcap_set_snaplen() that is sufficiently  large  to  get
       all  of  the  packet's  data - a value of 65535 should be sufficient on
       most if not all networks).  When reading from a ``savefile'', the snap-
       shot  length  specified  when  the capture was performed will limit the
       amount of packet data available.

       pcap_next() is passed an argument that points to a  struct  pcap_pkthdr
       structure,  and  fills  it in with the time stamp and length values for
       the packet.  It returns a const u_char to the first caplen bytes of the
       packet on success, and NULL on error.

       pcap_next_ex()  is passed two pointer arguments, one of which points to
       a structpcap_pkthdr* and one of which points to a  const  u_char*.   It
       sets  the first pointer to point to a struct pcap_pkthdr structure with
       the time stamp and length values for the packet, and  sets  the  second
       pointer to point to the first caplen bytes of the packet.

       To  force the loop in pcap_dispatch() or pcap_loop() to terminate, call
       pcap_breakloop().

       By default, when reading packets from an interface opened  for  a  live
       capture,  pcap_dispatch(),  pcap_next(), and pcap_next_ex() will, if no
       packets are currently available to be read, block waiting  for  packets
       to become available.  On some, but not all, platforms, if a packet buf-
       fer timeout was specified, the wait will  terminate  after  the  packet
       buffer timeout expires; applications should be prepared for this, as it
       happens on some platforms, but should not rely on it, as  it  does  not
       happen  on  other  platforms.   Note that the wait might, or might not,
       terminate even if no packets are available; applications should be pre-
       pared for this to happen, but must not rely on it happening.

       A  handle can be put into ``non-blocking mode'', so that those routines
       will, rather than blocking, return an indication that  no  packets  are
       available  to  read.  Call pcap_setnonblock() to put a handle into non-
       blocking mode or to take it out of non-blocking mode; call pcap_getnon-
       block()  to  determine  whether a handle is in non-blocking mode.  Note
       that non-blocking mode does not work correctly in Mac OS X 10.6.

       Non-blocking mode is often combined with routines such as select(2)  or
       poll(2) or other routines a platform offers to wait for any of a set of
       descriptors to be ready to read.  To obtain, for a handle, a descriptor
       that  can be used in those routines, call pcap_get_selectable_fd().  If
       the routine indicates that data is available to read on the descriptor,
       an attempt should be made to read from the device.

       Not   all  handles  have  such  a  descriptor  available;  pcap_get_se-
       lectable_fd() will return -1 if no such descriptor is available.  If no
       such  descriptor  is  available, this may be because the device must be
       polled periodically for packets; in  that  case,  pcap_get_required_se-
       lect_timeout()  will  return  a pointer to a struct timeval whose value
       can be used as a timeout in those routines.  When the routine  returns,
       an  attempt  should  be  made  to  read  packets  from  the device.  If
       pcap_get_required_select_timeout() returns NULL,  no  such  timeout  is
       available, and those routines cannot be used with the device.

       In  addition,  for  various reasons, one or more of those routines will
       not  work  properly  with  the  descriptor;   the   documentation   for
       pcap_get_selectable_fd()  gives details.  Note that, just as an attempt
       to read packets from a pcap_t may not return any packets if the  packet
       buffer  timeout expires, a select(), poll(), or other such call may, if
       the packet buffer timeout expires, indicate that a descriptor is  ready
       to read even if there are no packets available to read.

       Routines

              pcap_dispatch(3PCAP)
                     read a bufferful of packets from a pcap_t open for a live
                     capture or the full set of packets from a pcap_t open for
                     a ``savefile''

              pcap_loop(3PCAP)
                     read  packets  from  a pcap_t until an interrupt or error
                     occurs

              pcap_next(3PCAP)
                     read the next packet from a pcap_t without an  indication
                     whether an error occurred

              pcap_next_ex(3PCAP)
                     read  the next packet from a pcap_t with an error indica-
                     tion on an error

              pcap_breakloop(3PCAP)
                     prematurely terminate  the  loop  in  pcap_dispatch()  or
                     pcap_loop()

              pcap_setnonblock(3PCAP)
                     set or clear non-blocking mode on a pcap_t

              pcap_getnonblock(3PCAP)
                     get the state of non-blocking mode for a pcap_t

              pcap_get_selectable_fd(3PCAP)
                     attempt to get a descriptor for a pcap_t that can be used
                     in calls such as select() and poll()

              pcap_get_required_select_timeout(3PCAP)
                     attempt to get a timeout required for using a  pcap_t  in
                     calls such as select() and poll()

   Filters
       In  order  to  cause  only  certain packets to be returned when reading
       packets, a filter can be set on a handle.  For a live capture, the fil-
       tering  will be performed in kernel mode, if possible, to avoid copying
       ``uninteresting'' packets from the kernel to user mode.

       A filter can be specified as a text string; the syntax and semantics of
       the string are as described by pcap-filter(7).  A filter string is com-
       piled into a program in a pseudo-machine-language by pcap_compile() and
       the  resulting program can be made a filter for a handle with pcap_set-
       filter().  The result of pcap_compile() can be freed  with  a  call  to
       pcap_freecode().  pcap_compile() may require a network mask for certain
       expressions in the filter string; pcap_lookupnet() can be used to  find
       the network address and network mask for a given capture device.

       A  compiled  filter  can  also be applied directly to a packet that has
       been read using pcap_offline_filter().

       Routines

              pcap_compile(3PCAP)
                     compile filter expression  to  a  pseudo-machine-language
                     code program

              pcap_freecode(3PCAP)
                     free a filter program

              pcap_setfilter(3PCAP)
                     set filter for a pcap_t

              pcap_lookupnet(3PCAP)
                     get network address and network mask for a capture device

              pcap_offline_filter(3PCAP)
                     apply a filter program to a packet

   Incoming and outgoing packets
       By  default,  libpcap  will attempt to capture both packets sent by the
       machine and packets received by the machine.  To limit it to  capturing
       only packets received by the machine or, if possible, only packets sent
       by the machine, call pcap_setdirection().

       Routines

              pcap_setdirection(3PCAP)
                     specify whether to  capture  incoming  packets,  outgoing
                     packets, or both

   Capture statistics
       To get statistics about packets received and dropped in a live capture,
       call pcap_stats().

       Routines

              pcap_stats(3PCAP)
                     get capture statistics

   Opening a handle for writing captured packets
       To open a ``savefile`` to which to write packets,  given  the  pathname
       the ``savefile'' should have, call pcap_dump_open().  To open a ``save-
       file`` to which to write packets, given the pathname  the  ``savefile''
       should  have,  call  pcap_dump_open(); to set up a handle for a ``save-
       file'', given a FILE * referring to a file already opened for  writing,
       call  pcap_dump_fopen().  They each return pointers to a pcap_dumper_t,
       which is the handle used for writing packets to the  ``savefile''.   If
       it  succeeds,  it  will  have  created the file if it doesn't exist and
       truncated the file if it does exist.  To close  a  pcap_dumper_t,  call
       pcap_dump_close().

       Routines

              pcap_dump_open(3PCAP)
                     open  a  pcap_dumper_t  for a ``savefile``, given a path-
                     name, replacing any existing data

              pcap_dump_open_append(3PCAP)
                     open a pcap_dumper_t for a ``savefile``,  given  a  path-
                     name, appending to the existing data

              pcap_dump_fopen(3PCAP)
                     open  a pcap_dumper_t for a ``savefile``, given a FILE *,
                     assuming an empty file

              pcap_dump_close(3PCAP)
                     close a pcap_dumper_t

              pcap_dump_file(3PCAP)
                     get the FILE * for a pcap_dumper_t opened for  a  ``save-
                     file''

   Writing packets
       To  write a packet to a pcap_dumper_t, call pcap_dump().  Packets writ-
       ten with pcap_dump() may be buffered,  rather  than  being  immediately
       written  to the ``savefile''.  Closing the pcap_dumper_t will cause all
       buffered-but-not-yet-written packets to be written to the ``savefile''.
       To  force all packets written to the pcap_dumper_t, and not yet written
       to the ``savefile'' because they're buffered by the  pcap_dumper_t,  to
       be written to the ``savefile'', without closing the pcap_dumper_t, call
       pcap_dump_flush().

       Routines

              pcap_dump(3PCAP)
                     write packet to a pcap_dumper_t

              pcap_dump_flush(3PCAP)
                     flush buffered packets written to a pcap_dumper_t to  the
                     ``savefile''

              pcap_dump_ftell(3PCAP)
                     get current file position for a pcap_dumper_t

   Injecting packets
       If you have the required privileges, you can inject packets onto a net-
       work  with  a  pcap_t  for  a  live  capture,  using  pcap_inject()  or
       pcap_sendpacket().  (The two routines exist for compatibility with both
       OpenBSD and WinPcap/Npcap; they perform the  same  function,  but  have
       different return values.)

       Routines

              pcap_inject(3PCAP)
              pcap_sendpacket(3PCAP)
                     transmit a packet

   Reporting errors
       Some  routines return error or warning status codes; to convert them to
       a string, use pcap_statustostr().

       Routines

              pcap_statustostr(3PCAP)
                     get a string for an error or warning status code

   Getting library version information
       To  get  a  string  giving  version  information  about  libpcap,  call
       pcap_lib_version().

       Routines

              pcap_lib_version(3PCAP)
                     get library version string

BACKWARD COMPATIBILITY
       In  versions of libpcap prior to 1.0, the pcap.h header file was not in
       a pcap directory on most platforms; if you are writing  an  application
       that  must  work on versions of libpcap prior to 1.0, include <pcap.h>,
       which  will  include  <pcap/pcap.h>  for  you,  rather  than  including
       <pcap/pcap.h>.

       pcap_create()  and  pcap_activate()  were  not available in versions of
       libpcap prior to 1.0; if you are writing an application that must  work
       on versions of libpcap prior to 1.0, either use pcap_open_live() to get
       a handle for a live capture or, if you want to be able to use the addi-
       tional capabilities offered by using pcap_create() and pcap_activate(),
       use an autoconf(1) script or some other configuration script  to  check
       whether  the  libpcap  1.0 APIs are available and use them only if they
       are.

SEE ALSO
       autoconf(1),  tcpdump(8),  tcpslice(1),  pcap-filter(7),   pfconfig(8),
       usermod(8)

AUTHORS
       The original authors of libpcap are:

       Van  Jacobson,  Craig  Leres  and  Steven  McCanne, all of the Lawrence
       Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA.

       The current version is available from "The Tcpdump Group"'s Web site at

              https://www.tcpdump.org/

BUGS
       To   report   a   security   issue   please   send   an    e-mail    to
       security@tcpdump.org.

       To  report  bugs and other problems, contribute patches, request a fea-
       ture, provide generic feedback etc please see the file  CONTRIBUTING.md
       in the libpcap source tree root.

                               9 September 2020                    PCAP(3PCAP)

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