Ethereal is an open-source network protocol analyzer that enables users to delve into the various events and errors that occur during the transmission of network packets.
It can capture data from network connections in real-time.
Additionally, it can read data from previously captured files for analysis.
Ethereal supports reading live data from a variety of network interfaces, including Ethernet, FDDI, PPP, Token Ring, IEEE 802.11, ATM on IP, and loopback interfaces.
Software Features
Through a graphical user interface (GUI) or the TTY mode (command-line interface) using the tethereal program (which is essentially the command-line version of Wireshark called tshark), users can access the captured network data.
Editing Capture Files:
With the editcap program, users can edit or modify captured files from the command line, such as deleting unnecessary packets or merging multiple capture files.
Protocol Decoding:
Ethereal supports decoding over a thousand network protocols, including TCP/IP, HTTP, FTP, and more.
Output Formats:
Captured data can be saved or printed in plain text or PostScript format.
This allows users to view the data without Wireshark, or to integrate it into documents and reports.
Display Filters:
Users can employ display filters to precisely show the packets of interest.
This helps reduce display noise, enabling users to focus more on the information they are seeking.
Installation Steps
Download and double-click to extract the file, then open the installation page.
Double-click the exe file and follow the on-screen instructions to install.
Be patient and wait for the installation to complete before you start using Ethereal.