2003-07-29 19:42:01 +00:00
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$Id: README,v 1.60 2003/07/29 19:41:59 guy Exp $
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2000-02-19 22:01:26 +00:00
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1998-09-16 02:39:15 +00:00
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General Information
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------- -----------
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1999-08-27 22:57:56 +00:00
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Ethereal is a network traffic analyzer, or "sniffer", for Unix and
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Unix-like operating systems. It uses GTK+, a graphical user interface
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library, and libpcap, a packet capture and filtering library.
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1998-09-16 02:39:15 +00:00
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2000-01-14 08:12:14 +00:00
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The Ethereal distribution also comes with Tethereal, which is a
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line-oriented sniffer (similar to Sun's snoop, or tcpdump) that uses the
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same dissection, capture-file reading and writing, and packet filtering
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code as Ethereal, and with editcap, which is a program to read capture
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files and write the packets from that capture file, possibly in a
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different capture file format, and with some packets possibly removed
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from the capture.
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1998-09-16 02:39:15 +00:00
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The official home of Ethereal is
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2000-10-08 17:16:29 +00:00
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http://www.ethereal.com
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1998-09-16 02:39:15 +00:00
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The latest distribution can be found in the subdirectory
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2000-10-08 17:16:29 +00:00
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http://www.ethereal.com/distribution
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1998-09-16 02:39:15 +00:00
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Installation
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------------
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1998-12-29 03:12:07 +00:00
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Ethereal is known to compile and run on the following systems:
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1998-09-16 02:39:15 +00:00
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2000-07-28 20:03:59 +00:00
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- Linux (2.0.x, 2.1.x, 2.2.x, 2.3.x, 2.4.x)
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2000-01-14 08:12:14 +00:00
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- Solaris (2.5.1, 2.6, 7)
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- FreeBSD (2.2.5, 2.2.6, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3)
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1999-04-30 20:31:56 +00:00
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- Sequent PTX v4.4.5 (Nick Williams <njw@sequent.com>)
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1999-04-30 21:16:31 +00:00
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- Tru64 UNIX (formerly Digital UNIX) (3.2, 4.0)
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2000-01-14 08:12:14 +00:00
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- Irix (6.5)
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1999-11-23 03:50:40 +00:00
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- AIX (4.3.2, with a bit of work)
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2000-04-13 11:20:49 +00:00
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- Win32 (NT, 98)
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1998-09-16 02:39:15 +00:00
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2000-01-26 02:31:35 +00:00
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It should run on other Unix-ish systems without too much trouble.
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1998-09-16 02:39:15 +00:00
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1999-07-09 04:28:45 +00:00
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NOTE: the Makefile appears to depend on GNU "make"; it doesn't appear to
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work with the "make" that comes with Solaris 7 nor the BSD "make".
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1999-08-27 22:57:56 +00:00
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Perl is also needed to create the man page.
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1999-07-09 04:28:45 +00:00
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1999-08-27 22:57:56 +00:00
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If you decide to modify the yacc grammar or lex scanner, then
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you need "flex" - it cannot be built with vanilla "lex" -
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and either "bison" or the Berkeley "yacc". Your flex
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1999-08-03 16:33:12 +00:00
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version must be 2.5.1 or greater. Check this with 'flex -V'.
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1999-07-09 04:28:45 +00:00
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2000-07-28 20:03:59 +00:00
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If you decide to modify the NetWare Core Protocol dissector, you
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will need python, as the data for packet types is stored in a python
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script, ncp2222.py.
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1999-08-27 22:57:56 +00:00
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You must therefore install Perl, GNU "make", "flex", and either "bison" or
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1999-07-09 04:28:45 +00:00
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Berkeley "yacc" on systems that lack them.
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1998-09-16 02:39:15 +00:00
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1998-12-29 03:12:07 +00:00
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Full installation instructions can be found in the INSTALL file.
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1998-09-16 02:39:15 +00:00
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1999-04-30 21:16:31 +00:00
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See also the appropriate README.<OS> files for OS-specific installation
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instructions.
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1998-12-29 03:12:07 +00:00
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1998-09-16 02:39:15 +00:00
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Usage
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-----
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2000-01-14 08:12:14 +00:00
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In order to capture packets from the network, you need to be running as
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root, or have access to the appropriate entry under /dev if your system
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is so inclined (BSD-derived systems, and systems such as Solaris and
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HP-UX that support DLPI, typically fall into this category). Although
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it might be tempting to make the Ethereal executable setuid root, please
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don't - alpha code is by nature not very robust, and liable to contain
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security holes.
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1998-12-29 03:12:07 +00:00
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Please consult the man page for a description of each command-line
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option and interface feature.
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1998-09-16 02:39:15 +00:00
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1998-11-12 06:01:27 +00:00
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Multiple File Types
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-------------------
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1998-11-18 20:10:30 +00:00
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The wiretap library is a packet-capture library currently under
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development parallel to ethereal. In the future it is hoped that
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wiretap will have more features than libpcap, but wiretap is still in
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1999-07-09 04:18:36 +00:00
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its infancy. However, wiretap is used in ethereal for its ability
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1999-07-09 04:28:45 +00:00
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to read multiple file types. You can read the following file
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2000-08-22 06:50:16 +00:00
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formats:
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2001-12-05 20:01:03 +00:00
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libpcap (tcpdump -w, etc.) - this is Ethereal's native format
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2002-01-22 22:38:05 +00:00
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snoop and atmsnoop
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Shomiti/Finisar Surveyor
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Novell LANalyzer
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Network General/Network Associates DOS-based Sniffer (compressed and
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uncompressed)
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2000-08-22 06:50:16 +00:00
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Microsoft Network Monitor
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AIX's iptrace
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2002-01-22 22:38:05 +00:00
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Cinco Networks NetXRray
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Network Associates Windows-based Sniffer
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2002-01-29 09:45:58 +00:00
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AG Group/WildPackets EtherPeek/TokenPeek/AiroPeek
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2000-08-22 06:50:16 +00:00
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RADCOM's WAN/LAN Analyzer
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Lucent/Ascend access products
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HP-UX's nettl
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Toshiba's ISDN routers
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ISDN4BSD "i4btrace" utility
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Cisco Secure Intrustion Detection System iplogging facility
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2000-09-20 12:09:52 +00:00
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pppd logs (pppdump-format files)
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2001-12-04 22:43:41 +00:00
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VMS's TCPIPtrace utility
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DBS Etherwatch for VMS
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2001-12-05 21:42:07 +00:00
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Traffic captures from Visual Networks' Visual UpTime
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2002-07-31 19:27:57 +00:00
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CoSine L2 debug output
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2003-07-29 19:42:01 +00:00
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Output from Accellent's 5Views LAN agents
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1999-03-28 18:32:03 +00:00
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2000-06-08 03:09:32 +00:00
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In addition, it can read gzipped versions of any of these files
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1999-11-29 02:40:15 +00:00
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automatically, if you have the zlib library available when compiling
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1999-11-29 05:10:18 +00:00
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Ethereal. Ethereal needs a modern version of zlib to be able to use
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zlib to read gzipped files; version 1.1.3 is known to work. Versions
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prior to 1.0.9 are missing some functions that Ethereal needs and won't
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work. "./configure" should detect if you have the proper zlib version
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available and, if you don't, should disable zlib support. You can always
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use "./configure --disable-zlib" to explicitly disable zlib support.
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1999-11-29 02:40:15 +00:00
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1999-08-20 04:07:09 +00:00
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Although Ethereal can read AIX iptrace files, the documentation on
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AIX's iptrace packet-trace command is sparse. The 'iptrace' command
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starts a daemon which you must kill in order to stop the trace. Through
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experimentation it appears that sending a HUP signal to that iptrace
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daemon causes a graceful shutdown and a complete packet is written
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to the trace file. If a partial packet is saved at the end, Ethereal
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will complain when reading that file, but you will be able to read all
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other packets. If this occurs, please let the Ethereal developers know
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2001-01-10 06:23:58 +00:00
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at ethereal-dev@ethereal.com, and be sure to send us a copy of that trace
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1999-08-20 04:07:09 +00:00
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file if it's small and contains non-sensitive data.
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1999-09-13 03:51:09 +00:00
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Support for Lucent/Ascend products is limited to the debug trace output
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generated by the MAX and Pipline series of products. Ethereal can read
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the output of the "wandsession" "wandisplay", "wannext", and "wdd"
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commands. For detailed information on use of these commands, please refer
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the following pages:
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"wandsession", "wandisplay", and "wannext" on the Pipeline series:
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http://aos.ascend.com/aos:/gennavviewer.html?doc_id=0900253d80006c79
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"wandsession", "wandisplay", and "wannext" on the MAX series:
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http://aos.ascend.com/aos:/gennavviewer.html?doc_id=0900253d80006972
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"wdd" on the Pipeline series:
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http://aos.ascend.com/aos:/gennavviewer.html?doc_id=0900253d80006877
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1999-10-31 17:46:11 +00:00
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Ethereal can also read dump trace output from the Toshiba "Compact Router"
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line of ISDN routers (TR-600 and TR-650). You can telnet to the router
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and start a dump session with "snoop dump".
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2002-07-31 19:27:57 +00:00
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CoSine L2 debug output can also be read by Ethereal. To get the L2
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debug output, get in the diags mode first and then use
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"create-pkt-log-profile" and "apply-pkt-log-profile" commands under
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layer-2 category. For more detail how to use these commands, you
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should examine the help command by "layer-2 create ?" or "layer-2 apply ?".
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To use the Lucent/Ascend, Toshiba and CoSine traces with Ethereal, you must
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capture the trace output to a file on disk. The trace is happening inside
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the router and the router has no way of saving the trace to a file for you.
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1999-10-31 17:46:11 +00:00
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An easy way of doing this under Unix is to run "telnet <ascend> | tee <outfile>".
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Or, if your system has the "script" command installed, you can save
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a shell session, including telnet to a file. For example, to a file named
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tracefile.out:
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$ script tracefile.out
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Script started on <date/time>
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$ telnet router
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..... do your trace, then exit from the router's telnet session.
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$ exit
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Script done on <date/time>
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1999-09-13 03:51:09 +00:00
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1999-03-28 18:32:03 +00:00
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IPv6
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----
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If your operating system includes IPv6 support, ethereal will attempt to
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2002-05-29 19:16:40 +00:00
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use reverse name resolution capabilities when decoding IPv6 packets.
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If you want to turn off name resolution while using ethereal, start
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ethereal with the "-n" option to turn off all name resolution (including
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resolution of MAC addresses and TCP/UDP/SMTP port numbers to names), or
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with the "-N mt" option to turn off name resolution for all
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network-layer addresses (IPv4, IPv6, IPX).
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You can make that the default setting by opening the Preferences dialog
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box using the Preferences item in the Edit menu, selecting "Name
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resolution", turning off the appropriate name resolution options,
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clicking "Save", and clicking "OK".
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If you would like to compile ethereal without support for IPv6 name
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resolution, use the "--disable-ipv6" option with "./configure". If you
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compile ethereal without IPv6 name resolution, you will still be able to
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decode IPv6 packets, but you'll only see IPv6 addresses, not host names.
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1999-03-28 18:32:03 +00:00
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1998-11-12 06:01:27 +00:00
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1999-06-21 16:02:22 +00:00
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SNMP
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----
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2002-03-11 02:12:41 +00:00
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Ethereal can do some basic decoding of SNMP packets; it can also use the
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UCD SNMP library, version 4.2.2 or later, to do more sophisticated
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decoding, by reading MIB files and using the information in those files
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2002-05-20 19:13:20 +00:00
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to display OIDs and variable binding values in a friendlier fashion.
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The configure script will automatically determine whether you have the
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UCD SNMP library on your system, and will use it if it's version 4.2.2
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or later. If you have an SNMP library but _do not_ want to have
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ethereal use it, you can run configure with the "--without-ucdsnmp"
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option.
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If you have an earlier version of the UCD SNMP library on your system,
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the configure script will stop, reporting that it can't find the
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2002-03-11 02:12:41 +00:00
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"sprint_realloc_objid()" routine; you should either upgrade to version
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2002-05-20 19:13:20 +00:00
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4.2.4 or later, as UCD SNMP 4.2.4 fixes some potential buffer overflow
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problems, or should configure with "--without-ucdsnmp".
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1999-06-21 16:02:22 +00:00
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1999-08-27 22:57:56 +00:00
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1999-08-20 04:07:09 +00:00
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How to Report a Bug
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-------------------
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Ethereal is still under constant development, so it is possible that you will
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2001-01-10 06:23:58 +00:00
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encounter a bug while using it. Please report bugs to ethereal-dev@ethereal.com.
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1999-08-20 04:07:09 +00:00
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Be sure you tell us:
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1999-11-04 19:14:53 +00:00
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1) Operating System and version (the command 'uname -sr' may
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tell you this, although on Linux systems it will probably
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tell you only the version number of the Linux kernel, not of
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the distribution as a whole; on Linux systems, please tell us
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both the version number of the kernel, and which version of
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which distribution you're running)
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1999-08-20 04:07:09 +00:00
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2) Version of GTK+ (the command 'gtk-config --version' will tell you)
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1999-11-04 19:14:53 +00:00
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3) Version of Ethereal (the command 'ethereal -v' will tell you,
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1999-11-04 21:18:50 +00:00
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unless the bug is so severe as to prevent that from working,
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1999-11-29 04:38:23 +00:00
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and should also tell you the versions of libraries with which
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it was built)
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1999-11-04 19:14:53 +00:00
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4) The command you used to invoke Ethereal, and the sequence of
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operations you performed that caused the bug to appear
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1999-08-20 04:07:09 +00:00
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If the bug is produced by a particular trace file, please be sure to send
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a trace file along with your bug description. Please don't send a trace file
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1999-11-04 19:14:53 +00:00
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greater than 1 MB when compressed. If the trace file contains sensitive
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1999-08-20 04:07:09 +00:00
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information (e.g., passwords), then please do not send it.
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2000-08-24 23:33:09 +00:00
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If Ethereal died on you with a 'segmentation violation', 'bus error',
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'abort', or other error that produces a UNIX core dump file, you can
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help the developers a lot if you have a debugger installed. A stack
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trace can be obtained by using your debugger ('gdb' in this example),
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the ethereal binary, and the resulting core file. Here's an example of
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how to use the gdb command 'backtrace' to do so.
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1999-08-20 04:07:09 +00:00
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$ gdb ethereal core
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1999-08-20 06:01:07 +00:00
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(gdb) backtrace
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1999-08-20 04:07:09 +00:00
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..... prints the stack trace
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1999-08-20 06:01:07 +00:00
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(gdb) quit
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$
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1999-06-21 16:02:22 +00:00
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2000-08-24 23:33:09 +00:00
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The core dump file may be named "ethereal.core" rather than "core" on
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some platforms (e.g., BSD systems). If you got a core dump with
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Tethereal rather than Ethereal, use "tethereal" as the first argument to
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the debugger; the core dump may be named "tethereal.core".
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1998-09-16 02:39:15 +00:00
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Disclaimer
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----------
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There is no warranty, expressed or implied, associated with this product.
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Use at your own risk.
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1999-04-30 20:31:56 +00:00
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2001-01-10 10:11:27 +00:00
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Gerald Combs <gerald@ethereal.com>
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2001-11-13 23:55:44 +00:00
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Gilbert Ramirez <gram@alumni.rice.edu>
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2000-07-28 20:03:59 +00:00
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Guy Harris <guy@alum.mit.edu>
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