> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://itsfoss.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Install and Use Wireshark on Ubuntu Linux - URL: https://itsfoss.com/install-wireshark-ubuntu/ - Published: 2020-03-04T10:14:36.000Z - Updated: 2023-04-26T09:46:01.000Z - Description: Learn to install the latest Wireshark on Ubuntu based distributions. Also learn to run Wireshark without sudo and set it up for packet sniffing. - Author: Community - Tags: Installation 📥 [Wireshark](https://www.wireshark.org/?ref=itsfoss.com) is a free and open-source network protocol analyzer widely used around the globe. With Wireshark, you can capture incoming and outgoing packets of a network in real time and use it for network troubleshooting, packet analysis, software and communication protocol development, and many more. It is available on all major desktop operating systems like Windows, Linux, macOS, BSD and more. In this tutorial, I will guide you to install Wireshark on Ubuntu and other Ubuntu-based distributions. I’ll also show a little about setting up and configuring Wireshark to capture packets. # Installing Wireshark on Ubuntu based Linux distributions Wireshark is available on all major Linux distributions. You should check out the [official installation instructions](https://www.wireshark.org/docs/wsug%5Fhtml%5Fchunked/ChBuildInstallUnixInstallBins.html?ref=itsfoss.com). In this tutorial, I’ll focus on installing the latest Wireshark version on Ubuntu-based distributions only. Wireshark is available in the Universe repository of Ubuntu, which is usually enabled by default. If not, you can [enable universe repository](https://itsfoss.com/ubuntu-repositories/) and then install it by running: ``` sudo apt install wireshark ``` One slight problem with this approach is that you might not always get the latest version of Wireshark. 📋 For example, in Ubuntu 22.04, if you [use the apt command](https://itsfoss.com/apt-command-guide/) to check the available version of Wireshark, it is 3.6\. However, [Wireshark 4.0.0 stable version](https://www.wireshark.org/news/20221004.html?ref=itsfoss.com) was released a few months ago. The new release brings new features, of course. ![Details of Wireshark package available in default Ubuntu repositories displayed with "apt show" command](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/04/wireshark-apt-show.png) Wireshark Package Details So, what do you do in such a case? Thankfully, Wireshark developers provide an official PPA that you can use to install the latest stable version of Wireshark on Ubuntu and other Ubuntu-based distributions. I hope you are acquainted with PPA. If not, please [read our excellent guide on PPA to understand it completely](https://itsfoss.com/ppa-guide/). Open a terminal and use the following commands one by one: ``` sudo add-apt-repository ppa:wireshark-dev/stable sudo apt update sudo apt install wireshark ``` Even if you have an older version of Wireshark installed, it will be updated to the newer version. While installing, you will be asked whether to allow non-superusers to capture packets. Select Yes to allow and No to restrict non-superusers from capturing packets & finish the installation. ### Running Wireshark without sudo If you have selected **No** in the previous installation, then run the following command as root: ``` sudo dpkg-reconfigure wireshark-common ``` ![Reconfigure Wireshark to allow non-superuser to capture packets](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/04/reconfigure_wireshark-1.svg) Reconfigure Wireshark And select **Yes** by pressing the tab key and then using the enter key: Since you have allowed the non-superuser to capture packets, you have to add the user to Wireshark group. Use the [usermod command](https://linuxhandbook.com/usermod-command/?ref=itsfoss.com) to add yourself to the Wireshark group. ``` sudo usermod -aG wireshark $(whoami) ``` Finally, [restart your Ubuntu system](https://itsfoss.com/schedule-shutdown-ubuntu/) to make the necessary changes to your system. 📅 **Trivia:** First released in 1998, Wireshark was initially known as Ethereal. Developers had to change its name to Wireshark in 2006 due to trademark issues. ### Starting Wireshark Launching Wireshark application can be done from the application launcher or the CLI. To start from CLI, just type **Wireshark** on your console: ``` wireshark ``` From GUI, search for Wireshark application on the search bar and hit enter. ![Open Wireshark from Ubuntu Activities Overview](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/04/open-wireshark.png) Open Wireshark Now let’s play with Wireshark. ## Using Wireshark Wireshark provides a wide range of functions like capturing packets, stop packet capture, save packets etc., with a lot of additional information. ### Capturing packets using Wireshark When you start Wireshark, you will see a list of interfaces that you can use to capture packets to and from. There are many types of interfaces available which you can monitor using Wireshark such as, Wired, External devices, etc. According to your preference, you can choose to show specific types of interfaces in the welcome screen from the marked area in the given image below. ![Home screen of Wireshark Network Analyzer, where all the available interfaces are shown](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/04/wireshark-network-analyzer.png) Wireshark Network Analyzer For instance, I listed only the **Wired** network interfaces. ![Listing only Wired Network interfaces in Wireshark](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/04/wireshark-monitor-only-wired.png) Wired Network Interfaces Next, to start capturing packets, you have to select the interface (which in my case is enp1s0) and click on the Start capturing packets icon as marked in the image below. ![Monitor Selected Interface using Start Capture button](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/04/monitor-selected.png) Monitor selected interface You can also capture packets to and from multiple interfaces at the same time. Just press and hold the **CTRL** button while clicking on the interfaces that you want to capture to and from, and then hit the **Start capturing packets** icon as marked in the image below. ![Capture Packets from Multiple Interfaces by selecting them with CTRL and Click and then use the "Start Capturing" buttom](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/04/capture-multiple.png) Capture Packets from Multiple Interfaces ### Viewing Packets with details Next, I tried using `ping google.com` command in the terminal and as you can see, many packets were captured. ![Packets captured, when a ping to google command is executed in terminal](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/04/capture-packets-live.webp) Capture Packets in Real Time Now you can select on any packet to check that particular packet. After clicking on a particular packet, you can see the information about different layers of TCP/IP Protocol associated with it. You can also see the RAW data of that particular packet at the bottom as shown in the image below. ![Detailed information about the packets captured](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/04/packet-details.webp) Packets Details 💡 **This is why end-to-end encryption is important** Imagine you are logging into a website that doesn’t use HTTPS. Anyone on the same network as you can sniff the packets and see the username and password in the RAW data. This is why most chat applications use end-to-end encryption and most websites these days use HTTPS (instead of HTTP). ### Stopping packet capture in Wireshark You can click on the red icon as marked in the given image to stop capturing Wireshark packets. ![Stop Packet Capture using the Stop button](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/04/stop-packets.webp) Stop Packet Capture ### Save captured packets to a file You can click on the marked icon in the image below to save captured packets to a file for future use. ![Use the Save button to save a packet to a file](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/04/save-a-packet.webp) Save Packets 💡 Output can be exported to XML, PostScript®, CSV, or plain text. Next, select a destination folder, and type the file name and click on Save. ![Save packet to a file by giving it a name and destination](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/04/save-first-packet.png) Save the Packet to a file Now you can open and analyze the saved packets anytime. To open the file, press **CTRL + o** or go to **File > Open** from Wireshark. The captured packets should be loaded from the file. ![Open a saved packet from file, by opening them from "File - Open". Or use CTRL + O to select file from file manager](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/04/open-a-saved-packet-file.png) Open a saved packet from file ## More on networking... Get insights into your network activity and connected devices. [Monitor Linux Network Usage And Devices With NuttySee what devices are on your network and other network usage with this GUI tool.![](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/size/w256h256/2022/12/android-chrome-192x192.png)It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash![](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/03/monitor-network-usage-devices-with-nutty.png)](https://itsfoss.com/nutty-network-monitoring-tool/) Stay on top of your network bandwidth and speed. [Monitoring Network Bandwidth and Speed in LinuxBrief: In this article, we list some open source utilities to monitor the network traffic, bandwidth and internet speed in Linux. Monitoring internet speed can be a crucial step in understanding your connection and it can help you find possible problems. It will also help you troubleshoot any c…![](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/size/w256h256/2022/12/android-chrome-192x192.png)It's FOSSSergiu![](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/wordpress/2019/06/monitor-bandwidth-linux.jpg)](https://itsfoss.com/network-speed-monitor-linux/) Master Linux networking with these essential commands. [21 Basic Linux Networking Commands You Should KnowA list of basic Linux networking commands that will help you troubleshoot network issues, monitor packets, connect devices, and much more.![](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/size/w256h256/2022/12/android-chrome-192x192.png)It's FOSSSagar Sharma![](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/wordpress/2016/06/essential-linux-networking-commmands.png)](https://itsfoss.com/basic-linux-networking-commands/) Wireshark supports many communication protocols. There are many options and features that provide you the power to capture and analyze the network packets uniquely. You can learn more about Wireshark from their [official documentation](https://www.wireshark.org/docs/https://www.wireshark.org/docs/?ref=itsfoss.com). I hope this tutorial helped you to install Wireshark on Ubuntu. Please let me know your questions and suggestions.