How to use tcpdump command in CentOS 7

Dear Friends, Today we will se how to use tcpdump command in CentOS 7. We will also see what is tcpdump? and how to install dcpdump in CentOS 7. So let’s start see step by step tcpdump installation and uses in CentOS 7.

We will cover these topics in this tutorial:-

  1. What is tcpdump?
  2. How to install tcpdump in CentOS 7?
  3. How to use tcpdunp commands in CentOS 7.

What is tcpdump?

Tcpdump is a common packet analyzer tool that runs under the command line. We can use it to display TCP/IP and other packets being transmitted or received over a network where computers are attached with each other.

Tcpdump can be use on most Unix operating systems like: – Linux, Solaris, FreeBSD, DragonFly BSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, OpenWrt, macOS, HP-UX 11i, and AIX.

For more details abut tcpdump you can Click Here

How to install tcpdump in CentOS 7

We can install tcpdump package in CentOS 7 using yum tool. Here I am going to install tcpdump package using yum in CentOS 7 you can see below.

[root@urclouds ~]# yum install tcpdump
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
base: mirrors.piconets.webwerks.in
extras: mirrors.piconets.webwerks.in
updates: mirrors.piconets.webwerks.in
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package tcpdump.x86_64 14:4.9.2-4.el7 will be installed
--> Processing Dependency: libpcap >= 14:1.5.3-10 for package: 14:tcpdump-4.9.2-4.el7.x86_64
--> Processing Dependency: libpcap.so.1()(64bit) for package: 14:tcpdump-4.9.2-4.el7.x86_64
--> Running transaction check
---> Package libpcap.x86_64 14:1.5.3-11.el7 will be installed
--> Finished Dependency Resolution 
Dependencies Resolved
 =====================================================================================================================================================================================================
 Package                                       Arch                                         Version                                                 Repository                                  Size
Installing:
 tcpdump                                       x86_64                                       14:4.9.2-4.el7                                          base                                       421 k
 Installing for dependencies:
  libpcap                                       x86_64                                       14:1.5.3-11.el7                                         base                                       138 k
 Transaction Summary
 Install  1 Package (+1 Dependent package)
 Total download size: 559 k
 Installed size: 1.3 M
 Is this ok [y/d/N]: y
 Downloading packages:
 warning: /var/cache/yum/x86_64/7/base/packages/libpcap-1.5.3-11.el7.x86_64.rpm: Header V3 RSA/SHA256 Signature, key ID f4a80eb5: NOKEY                             ]  62 kB/s | 116 kB  00:00:07 ETA
 Public key for libpcap-1.5.3-11.el7.x86_64.rpm is not installed
 (1/2): libpcap-1.5.3-11.el7.x86_64.rpm                                                                                                                                        | 138 kB  00:00:01
 (2/2): tcpdump-4.9.2-4.el7.x86_64.rpm                                                                                                                                         | 421 kB  00:00:03
 Total                                                                                                                                                                147 kB/s | 559 kB  00:00:03
 Retrieving key from file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-CentOS-7
 Importing GPG key 0xF4A80EB5:
  Userid     : "CentOS-7 Key (CentOS 7 Official Signing Key) security@centos.org"
  Fingerprint: 6341 ab27 53d7 8a78 a7c2 7bb1 24c6 a8a7 f4a8 0eb5
  Package    : centos-release-7-5.1804.el7.centos.x86_64 (@anaconda)
  From       : /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-CentOS-7
 Is this ok [y/N]: y
 Running transaction check
 Running transaction test
 Transaction test succeeded
 Running transaction
   Installing : 14:libpcap-1.5.3-11.el7.x86_64                                                                                                                                                    1/2
   Installing : 14:tcpdump-4.9.2-4.el7.x86_64                                                                                                                                                     2/2
   Verifying  : 14:libpcap-1.5.3-11.el7.x86_64                                                                                                                                                    1/2
   Verifying  : 14:tcpdump-4.9.2-4.el7.x86_64                                                                                                                                                     2/2
 Installed:
   tcpdump.x86_64 14:4.9.2-4.el7
 Dependency Installed:
   libpcap.x86_64 14:1.5.3-11.el7
 Complete!
 [root@urclouds ~]#

You can see in above screen output we have successfully installed tcpdump package in CentOS 7. Now we can use tcpdump command in CentOS 7.

How to use tcpdump command in CentOS 7

Now I am going to show you tcpdump command with example so that you can understand better uses of tcpdump command in CentOS 7. So let’s start and see lot’s of tcpdump commands example step by steps.

Packets capturing with a specific interface

If we run the tcpdump command without any options then it will capture packets on all the interfaces, but if you want to capture packets with specific interface then you must use -i option. Like below: –

Tcpdump commands will be this ” tcpdump -i <interface-name>

[root@urclouds ~]# tcpdump -i enp0s3
tcpdump: verbose output suppressed, use -v or -vv for full protocol decode
listening on enp0s3, link-type EN10MB (Ethernet), capture size 262144 bytes
 21:27:03.845404 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.56279: Flags [P.], seq 3239135489:3239135697, ack 1570297340, win 269, length 208
 21:27:03.846147 IP N-CNU4219HCM.56279 > urclouds.ssh: Flags [.], ack 208, win 547, length 0
 21:27:03.846214 IP urclouds.44618 > gateway.domain: 7356+ PTR? 139.43.168.192.in-addr.arpa. (45)
 21:27:04.001337 ARP, Reply gateway is-at 72:3a:51:45:0e:d0 (oui Unknown), length 46
 21:27:04.032719 IP gateway.domain > urclouds.44618: 7356* 1/0/0 PTR N-CNU4219HCM. (71)
 21:27:04.033069 IP urclouds.57052 > gateway.domain: 37750+ PTR? 205.43.168.192.in-addr.arpa. (45)
 21:27:04.035828 IP gateway.domain > urclouds.57052: 37750* 1/0/0 PTR urclouds. (67)
 21:27:04.036149 IP urclouds.50642 > gateway.domain: 18719+ PTR? 1.43.168.192.in-addr.arpa. (43)
 21:27:04.036280 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.56279: Flags [P.], seq 208:496, ack 1, win 269, length 288
 21:27:04.038536 IP gateway.domain > urclouds.50642: 18719 NXDomain 0/0/0 (43)
 21:27:04.040249 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.56279: Flags [P.], seq 496:1296, ack 1, win 269, length 800
 21:27:04.040255 IP N-CNU4219HCM.56279 > urclouds.ssh: Flags [.], ack 1296, win 543, length 0
 21:27:04.040404 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.56279: Flags [P.], seq 1296:1552, ack 1, win 269, length 256
 21:27:04.040561 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.56279: Flags [P.], seq 1552:1712, ack 1, win 269, length 160
 21:27:04.040627 IP N-CNU4219HCM.56279 > urclouds.ssh: Flags [P.], seq 1:97, ack 1552, win 542, length 96
 21:27:04.040725 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.56279: Flags [P.], seq 1712:1760, ack 97, win 269, length 48
 21:27:04.040821 IP N-CNU4219HCM.56279 > urclouds.ssh: Flags [P.], seq 97:161, ack 1712, win 547, length 64
 21:27:04.040995 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.56279: Flags [P.], seq 1760:2256, ack 161, win 269, length 496
 21:27:04.041836 IP N-CNU4219HCM.56279 > urclouds.ssh: Flags [.], ack 2256, win 545, length 0
 21:27:04.041985 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.56279: Flags [P.], seq 2256:2512, ack 161, win 269, length 256
 21:27:04.042166 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.56279: Flags [P.], seq 2512:2688, ack 161, win 269, length 176
 21:27:04.042186 IP N-CNU4219HCM.56279 > urclouds.ssh: Flags [.], ack 2688, win 543, length 0 
21:27:04.428161 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.56279: Flags [P.], seq 299952:300224, ack 2241, win 269, length 272
 21:27:04.429942 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.56279: Flags [P.], seq 300224:300400, ack 2241, win 269, length 176
 21:27:04.430182 IP N-CNU4219HCM.56279 > urclouds.ssh: Flags [P.], seq 2241:2305, ack 300400, win 545, length 64
 ^C
 2028 packets captured
 2029 packets received by filter
 0 packets dropped by kernel
 [root@urclouds ~]#

Capturing specific number of packets with specific interface

Suppose we want to capture 15 packets with specific interface then we can use below command.

Tcpdump commands will be this ” tcpdump -c 15 -i <interface-name>. You can see in below output we have successfully capture 15 packets.

[root@urclouds ~]# tcpdump -c 15 -i enp0s3
 tcpdump: verbose output suppressed, use -v or -vv for full protocol decode
 listening on enp0s3, link-type EN10MB (Ethernet), capture size 262144 bytes
 01:01:12.276512 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.57521: Flags [P.], seq 1638550981:1638551189, ack 4218645468, win 269, length 208
 01:01:12.277626 IP urclouds.39228 > gateway.domain: 6094+ PTR? 139.43.168.192.in-addr.arpa. (45)
 01:01:12.282627 IP gateway.domain > urclouds.39228: 6094* 1/0/0 PTR N-CNU4219HCM. (71)
 01:01:12.283041 IP urclouds.50596 > gateway.domain: 62398+ PTR? 205.43.168.192.in-addr.arpa. (45)
 01:01:12.289423 IP gateway.domain > urclouds.50596: 62398* 1/0/0 PTR urclouds. (67)
 01:01:12.289881 IP urclouds.36334 > gateway.domain: 44220+ PTR? 1.43.168.192.in-addr.arpa. (43)
 01:01:12.290163 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.57521: Flags [P.], seq 208:400, ack 1, win 269, length 192
 01:01:12.290454 IP N-CNU4219HCM.57521 > urclouds.ssh: Flags [.], ack 400, win 547, length 0
 01:01:12.353640 IP gateway.domain > urclouds.36334: 44220 NXDomain* 0/1/0 (102)
 01:01:12.365928 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.57521: Flags [P.], seq 400:1200, ack 1, win 269, length 800
 01:01:12.366875 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.57521: Flags [P.], seq 1200:1360, ack 1, win 269, length 160
 01:01:12.366882 IP N-CNU4219HCM.57521 > urclouds.ssh: Flags [.], ack 1360, win 543, length 0
 01:01:12.367229 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.57521: Flags [P.], seq 1360:1616, ack 1, win 269, length 256
 01:01:12.367467 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.57521: Flags [P.], seq 1616:1776, ack 1, win 269, length 160
 01:01:12.367703 IP N-CNU4219HCM.57521 > urclouds.ssh: Flags [.], ack 1776, win 542, length 0
 15 packets captured
 15 packets received by filter
 0 packets dropped by kernel
 [root@urclouds ~]#

How to display all the available Interfaces for tcpdump

We can use “tcpdump -D” command to display all the available interfaces for tcpdump command. You can see in below output available interfaces on our server.

[root@urclouds ~]# tcpdump -D
 1.enp0s3
 2.nflog (Linux netfilter log (NFLOG) interface)
 3.nfqueue (Linux netfilter queue (NFQUEUE) interface)
 4.usbmon1 (USB bus number 1)
 5.any (Pseudo-device that captures on all interfaces)
 6.lo [Loopback]
 [root@urclouds ~]#

Packets capturing with human readable timestamp <-tttt option>

By default in tcpdump command output, there is no proper human readable timestamp, if we want to associate human readable timestamp to each captured packet then we can use tcpdump commands with “-tttt” option. Like below.

[root@urclouds ~]# tcpdump -c 10 -tttt -i enp0s3
 tcpdump: verbose output suppressed, use -v or -vv for full protocol decode
 listening on enp0s3, link-type EN10MB (Ethernet), capture size 262144 bytes
 2019-10-07 01:29:02.184846 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.57521: Flags [P.], seq 1638558757:1638558965, ack 4218648940, win 269, length 208
 2019-10-07 01:29:02.185175 IP N-CNU4219HCM.57521 > urclouds.ssh: Flags [.], ack 208, win 544, length 0
 2019-10-07 01:29:02.186027 IP urclouds.58817 > gateway.domain: 35292+ PTR? 139.43.168.192.in-addr.arpa. (45)
 2019-10-07 01:29:02.268752 IP gateway.domain > urclouds.58817: 35292* 1/0/0 PTR N-CNU4219HCM. (71)
 2019-10-07 01:29:02.269140 IP urclouds.54149 > gateway.domain: 21487+ PTR? 205.43.168.192.in-addr.arpa. (45)
 2019-10-07 01:29:02.275184 IP gateway.domain > urclouds.54149: 21487* 1/0/0 PTR urclouds. (67)
 2019-10-07 01:29:02.275753 IP urclouds.49766 > gateway.domain: 30335+ PTR? 1.43.168.192.in-addr.arpa. (43)
 2019-10-07 01:29:02.275986 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.57521: Flags [P.], seq 208:512, ack 1, win 269, length 304
 2019-10-07 01:29:02.278320 IP gateway.domain > urclouds.49766: 30335 NXDomain 0/0/0 (43)
 2019-10-07 01:29:02.280326 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.57521: Flags [P.], seq 512:1296, ack 1, win 269, length 784
 10 packets captured
 11 packets received by filter
 0 packets dropped by kernel
 [root@urclouds ~]#

How to capture and save the packets to a file with <-w option>

We can use tcpdump command with “-w” option to capture and save the file, so that we can analyze those packets in future for further analysis. Like below.

Tcpdump command will be this :- tcpdump -w <file_name.pcap> -i <interface-name>

[root@urclouds ~]# tcpdump -w test.pcap -i enp0s3
 tcpdump: listening on enp0s3, link-type EN10MB (Ethernet), capture size 262144 bytes
 ^C7 packets captured
 8 packets received by filter
 0 packets dropped by kernel
 [root@urclouds ~]#

You can see in above output we have successfully capture packets in test.pcap. We can verify our test.pcap file is created or not on that path where we have created.

 [root@urclouds ~]# ls -l
 total 8
 -rw-------. 1 root    root    1408 Oct  5 03:37 anaconda-ks.cfg
 -rw-r--r--. 1 tcpdump tcpdump  734 Oct  7 01:38 test.pcap
 [root@urclouds ~]#

You can see in above output we have successfully created test.pcap file on that path.

Read the packets from the saved file with <-r option>

Now we can read our save packets pcap file test.pcap with -r option like below.

[root@urclouds ~]# tcpdump -r test.pcap
 reading from file test.pcap, link-type EN10MB (Ethernet)
 01:38:09.273613 IP N-CNU4219HCM.57521 > urclouds.ssh: Flags [.], ack 1638563621, win 545, length 0
 01:38:09.274556 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.57521: Flags [P.], seq 1:145, ack 0, win 269, length 144
 01:38:09.316082 IP N-CNU4219HCM.57521 > urclouds.ssh: Flags [.], ack 145, win 544, length 0
 01:38:13.993981 ARP, Request who-has urclouds (08:00:27:67:18:99 (oui Unknown)) tell N-CNU4219HCM, length 46
 01:38:13.994003 ARP, Reply urclouds is-at 08:00:27:67:18:99 (oui Unknown), length 28
 01:38:18.179449 ARP, Request who-has N-CNU4219HCM tell gateway, length 46
 01:38:21.040565 IP N-CNU4219HCM.57521 > urclouds.ssh: Flags [P.], seq 0:64, ack 145, win 544, length 64
 [root@urclouds ~]#

You can see in above output we can read our saved test.pcap file with -r option.

Read the packets with human readable timestamp.

 [root@urclouds ~]# tcpdump -tttt -r test.pcap
 reading from file test.pcap, link-type EN10MB (Ethernet)
 2019-10-07 01:38:09.273613 IP N-CNU4219HCM.57521 > urclouds.ssh: Flags [.], ack 1638563621, win 545, length 0
 2019-10-07 01:38:09.274556 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.57521: Flags [P.], seq 1:145, ack 0, win 269, length 144
 2019-10-07 01:38:09.316082 IP N-CNU4219HCM.57521 > urclouds.ssh: Flags [.], ack 145, win 544, length 0
 2019-10-07 01:38:13.993981 ARP, Request who-has urclouds (08:00:27:67:18:99 (oui Unknown)) tell N-CNU4219HCM, length 46
 2019-10-07 01:38:13.994003 ARP, Reply urclouds is-at 08:00:27:67:18:99 (oui Unknown), length 28
 2019-10-07 01:38:18.179449 ARP, Request who-has N-CNU4219HCM tell gateway, length 46
 2019-10-07 01:38:21.040565 IP N-CNU4219HCM.57521 > urclouds.ssh: Flags [P.], seq 0:64, ack 145, win 544, length 64
 [root@urclouds ~]#

Try to capture only IP address packets on a specific Interface with <-n option>

We can use -n option in tcpdum command to capture only IP address packets on specific interface. Like below: –

[root@urclouds ~]# tcpdump -n -i enp0s3
 tcpdump: verbose output suppressed, use -v or -vv for full protocol decode
 listening on enp0s3, link-type EN10MB (Ethernet), capture size 262144 bytes
 02:01:48.755603 IP 192.168.43.139.57521 > 192.168.43.205.ssh: Flags [.], ack 1639587365, win 545, length 0
 02:01:48.760908 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57521: Flags [P.], seq 1:129, ack 0, win 291, length 128
 02:01:48.761258 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57521: Flags [P.], seq 129:481, ack 0, win 291, length 352
 02:01:48.761514 IP 192.168.43.139.57521 > 192.168.43.205.ssh: Flags [.], ack 481, win 543, length 0
 02:01:48.761658 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57521: Flags [P.], seq 481:657, ack 0, win 291, length 176
 02:01:48.761945 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57521: Flags [P.], seq 657:929, ack 0, win 291, length 272
 02:01:48.762208 IP 192.168.43.139.57521 > 192.168.43.205.ssh: Flags [.], ack 929, win 542, length 0
 02:01:48.762339 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57521: Flags [P.], seq 929:1105, ack 0, win 291, length 176
 02:01:48.762600 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57521: Flags [P.], seq 1105:1377, ack 0, win 291, length 272
 02:01:48.763287 IP 192.168.43.139.57521 > 192.168.43.205.ssh: Flags [.], ack 1377, win 547, length 0
 02:01:48.763844 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57521: Flags [P.], seq 1377:1649, ack 0, win 291, length 272
 02:01:48.764041 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57521: Flags [P.], seq 1649:1825, ack 0, win 291, length 176
 02:01:48.764250 IP 192.168.43.139.57521 > 192.168.43.205.ssh: Flags [.], ack 1825, win 545, length 0
02:01:49.043513 IP 192.168.43.139.57521 > 192.168.43.205.ssh: Flags [P.], seq 1120:1184, ack 167297, win 542, length 64
 02:01:49.043616 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57521: Flags [P.], seq 167297:167585, ack 1184, win 291, length 288
 ^C
 1094 packets captured
 1094 packets received by filter
 0 packets dropped by kernel
 [root@urclouds ~]#

We can also capture N number of IP address packets using -c and -n option in tcpdump command. Like below: –

[root@urclouds ~]# tcpdump -c 25 -n -i enp0s3
 tcpdump: verbose output suppressed, use -v or -vv for full protocol decode
 listening on enp0s3, link-type EN10MB (Ethernet), capture size 262144 bytes
 02:05:04.293051 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57521: Flags [P.], seq 1639757013:1639757221, ack 4218671404, win 291, length 208
 02:05:04.293343 IP 192.168.43.139.57521 > 192.168.43.205.ssh: Flags [.], ack 208, win 546, length 0
 02:05:04.293727 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57521: Flags [P.], seq 208:512, ack 1, win 291, length 304
 02:05:04.294003 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57521: Flags [P.], seq 512:688, ack 1, win 291, length 176
 02:05:04.294215 IP 192.168.43.139.57521 > 192.168.43.205.ssh: Flags [.], ack 688, win 544, length 0
 02:05:04.294460 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57521: Flags [P.], seq 688:960, ack 1, win 291, length 272
 02:05:04.294719 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57521: Flags [P.], seq 960:1136, ack 1, win 291, length 176
 02:05:04.294826 IP 192.168.43.139.57521 > 192.168.43.205.ssh: Flags [.], ack 1136, win 542, length 0
 02:05:04.295144 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57521: Flags [P.], seq 1136:1408, ack 1, win 291, length 272
 02:05:04.295390 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57521: Flags [P.], seq 1408:1584, ack 1, win 291, length 176
 02:05:04.295609 IP 192.168.43.139.57521 > 192.168.43.205.ssh: Flags [.], ack 1584, win 547, length 0
 02:05:04.295789 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57521: Flags [P.], seq 1584:1856, ack 1, win 291, length 272
 02:05:04.296843 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57521: Flags [P.], seq 1856:2032, ack 1, win 291, length 176
 02:05:04.297044 IP 192.168.43.139.57521 > 192.168.43.205.ssh: Flags [.], ack 2032, win 545, length 0
 02:05:04.297243 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57521: Flags [P.], seq 2032:2304, ack 1, win 291, length 272
 02:05:04.297463 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57521: Flags [P.], seq 2304:2480, ack 1, win 291, length 176
 02:05:04.297655 IP 192.168.43.139.57521 > 192.168.43.205.ssh: Flags [.], ack 2480, win 544, length 0
 02:05:04.297831 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57521: Flags [P.], seq 2480:2752, ack 1, win 291, length 272
 02:05:04.298043 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57521: Flags [P.], seq 2752:2928, ack 1, win 291, length 176
 02:05:04.298324 IP 192.168.43.139.57521 > 192.168.43.205.ssh: Flags [.], ack 2928, win 542, length 0
 02:05:04.298606 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57521: Flags [P.], seq 2928:3200, ack 1, win 291, length 272
 02:05:04.298920 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57521: Flags [P.], seq 3200:3376, ack 1, win 291, length 176
 02:05:04.299217 IP 192.168.43.139.57521 > 192.168.43.205.ssh: Flags [.], ack 3376, win 547, length 0
 02:05:04.299488 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57521: Flags [P.], seq 3376:3648, ack 1, win 291, length 272
 02:05:04.300349 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57521: Flags [P.], seq 3648:3824, ack 1, win 291, length 176
 25 packets captured
 26 packets received by filter
 0 packets dropped by kernel
 [root@urclouds ~]#

Capture only TCP packets on a specific interface

We can also capture TCP packets using tcpdump commands with “tcp” option like below.

[root@urclouds ~]# tcpdump -i enp0s3 tcp
 tcpdump: verbose output suppressed, use -v or -vv for full protocol decode
 listening on enp0s3, link-type EN10MB (Ethernet), capture size 262144 bytes
 02:15:54.656376 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.57521: Flags [P.], seq 1640660485:1640660693, ack 4218678972, win 291, length 208
 02:15:54.656849 IP N-CNU4219HCM.57521 > urclouds.ssh: Flags [.], ack 208, win 542, length 0
 02:15:54.663873 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.57521: Flags [P.], seq 208:496, ack 1, win 291, length 288
 02:15:54.664159 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.57521: Flags [P.], seq 496:656, ack 1, win 291, length 160
 02:15:54.664374 IP N-CNU4219HCM.57521 > urclouds.ssh: Flags [.], ack 656, win 547, length 0
 02:15:54.665141 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.57521: Flags [P.], seq 656:912, ack 1, win 291, length 256
 02:15:54.665563 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.57521: Flags [P.], seq 912:1072, ack 1, win 291, length 160
 02:15:54.665813 IP N-CNU4219HCM.57521 > urclouds.ssh: Flags [.], ack 1072, win 545, length 0
 02:15:54.666087 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.57521: Flags [P.], seq 1072:1328, ack 1, win 291, length 256
 02:15:54.666377 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.57521: Flags [P.], seq 1328:1488, ack 1, win 291, length 160
02:15:54.975276 IP N-CNU4219HCM.57521 > urclouds.ssh: Flags [.], ack 170656, win 545, length 0
 02:15:54.975991 IP N-CNU4219HCM.57521 > urclouds.ssh: Flags [P.], seq 1121:1185, ack 170656, win 545, length 64
 02:15:54.976360 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.57521: Flags [P.], seq 170656:170928, ack 1185, win 291, length 272
 ^C
 1157 packets captured
 1157 packets received by filter
 0 packets dropped by kernel
 [root@urclouds ~]#

Capture packets with a specific port on a specific interface

We can capture packet from a specific port like 22 on a specific interface enp0s3 using tcpdump command.

[root@urclouds ~]# tcpdump -i enp0s3 port 22
 tcpdump: verbose output suppressed, use -v or -vv for full protocol decode
 listening on enp0s3, link-type EN10MB (Ethernet), capture size 262144 bytes
 02:22:26.431961 IP N-CNU4219HCM.57521 > urclouds.ssh: Flags [.], ack 1641384293, win 543, length 0
 02:22:26.435958 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.57521: Flags [P.], seq 1:209, ack 0, win 291, length 208
 02:22:26.442241 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.57521: Flags [P.], seq 209:465, ack 0, win 291, length 256
 02:22:26.442456 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.57521: Flags [P.], seq 465:625, ack 0, win 291, length 160
 02:22:26.442588 IP N-CNU4219HCM.57521 > urclouds.ssh: Flags [.], ack 465, win 547, length 0
 02:22:26.442815 IP urclouds.ssh > N-CNU4219HCM.57521: Flags [P.], seq 625:881, ack 0, win 291, length 256
 02:22:26.442858 IP N-CNU4219HCM.57521 > urclouds.ssh: Flags [.], ack 881, win 545, length 0
02:22:26.707145 IP N-CNU4219HCM.57521 > urclouds.ssh: Flags [.], ack 145761, win 542, length 0
 02:22:26.707324 IP N-CNU4219HCM.57521 > urclouds.ssh: Flags [P.], seq 960:1024, ack 145761, win 542, length 64
 ^C
 987 packets captured
 988 packets received by filter
 0 packets dropped by kernel
 [root@urclouds ~]# ^C
 [root@urclouds ~]#

Packets capturing from Specific Source IP on Specific Interface

We can capture the packets from a specific Source IP using “src” keyword followed by <IP-address> like below.

[root@urclouds ~]# tcpdump -n -i enp0s3 src 192.168.43.205
 tcpdump: verbose output suppressed, use -v or -vv for full protocol decode
 listening on enp0s3, link-type EN10MB (Ethernet), capture size 262144 bytes
 17:48:23.978034 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57397: Flags [P.], seq 2274614043:2274614251, ack 1492538122, win 269, length 208
 17:48:23.978322 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57397: Flags [P.], seq 208:400, ack 1, win 269, length 192
 17:48:23.978423 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57397: Flags [P.], seq 400:576, ack 1, win 269, length 176
 17:48:23.978606 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57397: Flags [P.], seq 576:752, ack 1, win 269, length 176
 17:48:23.978885 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57397: Flags [P.], seq 752:928, ack 1, win 269, length 176
 17:48:23.979066 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57397: Flags [P.], seq 928:1104, ack 1, win 269, length 176
 17:48:23.980115 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57397: Flags [P.], seq 1104:1280, ack 1, win 269, length 176
 17:48:23.980391 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57397: Flags [P.], seq 1280:1456, ack 1, win 269, length 176
 17:48:23.980567 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57397: Flags [P.], seq 1456:1632, ack 1, win 269, length 176
 17:48:23.980826 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57397: Flags [P.], seq 1632:1808, ack 1, win 269, length 176
 17:48:23.980993 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57397: Flags [P.], seq 1808:1984, ack 1, win 269, length 176
 17:48:23.981160 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57397: Flags [P.], seq 1984:2160, ack 1, win 269, length 176
 17:48:23.981655 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57397: Flags [.], ack 161, win 269, length 0
17:48:24.280169 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57397: Flags [P.], seq 197024:197200, ack 1281, win 269, length 176
 ^C
 1122 packets captured
 1123 packets received by filter
 0 packets dropped by kernel
[root@urclouds ~]#

Packets capturing from specific destination IP on specific interface

We can also capture tcpdump on destination IP using specific interface like below.

[root@urclouds ~]# tcpdump -n -i enp0s3 dst 192.168.43.139
 tcpdump: verbose output suppressed, use -v or -vv for full protocol decode
 listening on enp0s3, link-type EN10MB (Ethernet), capture size 262144 bytes
 18:00:22.613295 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57786: Flags [P.], seq 454893203:454893411, ack 1516199003, win 269, length 208
 18:00:22.613562 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57786: Flags [P.], seq 208:400, ack 1, win 269, length 192
 18:00:22.613810 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57786: Flags [P.], seq 400:576, ack 1, win 269, length 176
 18:00:22.614142 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57786: Flags [P.], seq 576:752, ack 1, win 269, length 176
18:00:23.104178 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57786: Flags [P.], seq 332032:332208, ack 3521, win 269, length 176
 18:00:23.104354 IP 192.168.43.205.ssh > 192.168.43.139.57786: Flags [P.], seq 332208:332384, ack 3521, win 269, length 176
 ^C
 1895 packets captured
 1896 packets received by filter
 0 packets dropped by kernel
 [root@urclouds ~]#

TCP packet communication capturing between two Hosts

Here we will capture TCP packets communication between two hosts. Our first host IP will be 192.168.43.139 and second host IP will be 192.168.43.205 like below.

[root@urclouds ~]# tcpdump -w Two-hosts-tcp-commnunication.pcap -i enp0s3 tcp and (host 192.168.43.139 or host 192.168.43.205)
 tcpdump: listening on enp0s3, link-type EN10MB (Ethernet), capture size 262144 bytes
 ^C3 packets captured
 4 packets received by filter
 0 packets dropped by kernel
 [root@urclouds ~]# ls -l Two-hosts-tcp-commnunication.pcap
 -rw-r--r--. 1 tcpdump tcpdump 448 Oct  8 18:14 Two-hosts-tcp-commnunication.pcap
[root@urclouds ~]#
tcpdump commands

Capture only SSH packet flow between two hosts using tcpdump command.

[root@urclouds ~]# tcpdump -w ssh-communication-two-hosts.pcap -i enp0s3 src 192.168.43.139 and port 22 and dst 192.168.43.205 and port 22
 tcpdump: listening on enp0s3, link-type EN10MB (Ethernet), capture size 262144 bytes
 ^C21 packets captured
 21 packets received by filter
 0 packets dropped by kernel
 [root@urclouds ~]# ls -l ssh-communication-two-hosts.pcap
 -rw-r--r--. 1 tcpdump tcpdump 3630 Oct  8 18:22 ssh-communication-two-hosts.pcap
[root@urclouds ~]#
tcpdump commands

Capture the udp network packets between two hosts

Now I am going to capture udp network packets between two hosts.

[root@urclouds ~]# tcpdump -w two-host-communication.pcap -s 1000 -i enp0s3 udp and (host 192.168.43.139 and host 192.168.43.205)
 tcpdump: listening on enp0s3, link-type EN10MB (Ethernet), capture size 1000 bytes
 ^C0 packets captured
 0 packets received by filter
 0 packets dropped by kernel
[root@urclouds ~]#

That’s all we have competed this tcpdump command tutorial.

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