How To Wireshark On Mac

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If you’re a network analyst, system administrator, or just a tech enthusiast, chances are you’ve had to monitor network traffic at some point. One tool that can make your life easier in this regard is Wireshark. Here, we’re going to guide you on how to use Wireshark on your Mac.

What is Wireshark?

Wireshark is a free and open-source packet analyzer. It allows you to see what’s happening on your network at a microscopic level. It is used for network troubleshooting, analysis, software and communications protocol development, and education.

Installing Wireshark on Mac

The first step to using Wireshark on Mac is, of course, installing it. Here’s how:

  1. Go to the Wireshark download page.
  2. Click on the macOS Intel 64-bit .dmg link under the ‘Stable Release’ section.
  3. Download the .dmg file and open it.
  4. Drag the Wireshark app into your Applications folder.

Now, you’ve installed Wireshark on your Mac.

Using Wireshark on Mac

Once you have Wireshark installed, open it from your Applications folder. You’ll see a list of available network interfaces. Select one to start capturing packets.

To start a new capture, click on the shark fin on the top left, then select your network interface and hit the blue shark fin button on the top left.

You’ll start seeing packets being captured and displayed in real-time. It’s quite a lot of data, but don’t worry, Wireshark provides a powerful filter feature to sift through the data.

Filtering Packets

The power of Wireshark lies in its filtering capabilities. You can filter packets based on IP address, protocol, port, or packet type among other things. To use a filter, type it into the filter bar at the top and hit Enter.

For example, if you want to see only HTTP traffic, you would type "http" into the filter bar.

Similarly, to see only traffic to or from a certain IP address, you’d type “ip.addr == x.x.x.x” where “x.x.x.x” is the IP address.

Conclusion

Wireshark is a powerful tool for anyone who needs to analyze network traffic. While it might seem intimidating at first, with a bit of practice, you’ll be able to quickly and easily filter through data to find exactly what you’re looking for. Happy analyzing!