Wireshark · Ethereal-users: Re: [ethereal-users] Unable to set a capturing filter

[Guy Harris <gharris@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I was able to make a "post" filtering using the filter control at the
> bottom of the main window, but the same filters didn't worked as
> capturing filters. 

Correct.  For better or worse, Ethereal currently requires "libpcap"
syntax for capture filters; that's the same syntax that "tcpdump" uses. 
The man page mentions that:

       Packet capturing is performed with the pcap library. The
       capture filter syntax follows the rules of the pcap
       library. This syntax is different from the display filter
       syntax.

but perhaps not clearly enough, and it doesn't mention that this syntax
is documented in the "tcpdump" man page.

Here's the "tcpdump" man page description (from a previous message to
"ethereal-users"):

      expression
	  selects which	packets	will be	dumped.	 If no expression
	  is  given, all packets on the	net will be dumped.  Oth-
	  erwise, only packets for  which  expression  is  `true'
	  will be dumped.

	  The expression consists  of  one  or	more  primitives.
	  Primitives  usually  consist	of an id (name or number)
	  preceded by one or more qualifiers.	There  are  three
	  different kinds of qualifier:

	  type qualifiers say what kind	of thing the id	 name  or
	       number  refers  to.   Possible types are	host, net
	       and port.  E.g.,	`host foo',  `net  128.3',  `port
	       20'.   If  there	 is  no	 type  qualifier, host is
	       assumed.

	  dir  qualifiers specify a particular transfer	direction
	       to  and/or  from	 id. Possible directions are src,
	       dst, src	or dst and src and dst.	 E.g., `src foo',
	       `dst  net  128.3', `src or dst port ftp-data'.  If
	       there is	no dir qualifier, src or dst is	 assumed.
	       For `null' link layers (i.e. point to point proto-
	       cols such as slip) the inbound and outbound  qual-
	       ifiers can be used to specify a desired direction.

	  proto
	       qualifiers restrict the match to	a particular pro-
	       tocol.	Possible  protos  are:	 ether,	fddi, ip,
	       arp, rarp, decnet, lat, sca, moprc, mopdl, tcp and
	       udp.  E.g., `ether src foo', `arp net 128.3', `tcp
	       port 21'.  If there is  no  proto  qualifier,  all
	       protocols  consistent  with  the	type are assumed.
	       E.g., `src foo' means `(ip or  arp  or  rarp)  src
	       foo' (except the	latter is not legal syntax), `net
	       bar' means `(ip or arp or rarp) net bar'	and `port
	       53' means `(tcp or udp) port 53'.

	  [`fddi' is actually an alias for  `ether';  the  parser
	  treats  them	identically  as	 meaning  ``the	data link
	  level	used on	the specified network interface.''   FDDI
	  headers  contain  Ethernet-like  source and destination
	  addresses,  and  often  contain  Ethernet-like   packet
	  types,  so  you can filter on	these FDDI fields just as
	  with the analogous Ethernet fields.  FDDI headers  also
	  contain  other  fields, but you cannot name them expli-
	  citly	in a filter expression.]

	  In addition to the above, there are some special `prim-
	  itive'  keywords  that don't follow the pattern:  gate-
	  way, broadcast, less,	greater	 and  arithmetic  expres-
	  sions.  All of these are described below.

	  More complex filter expressions are built up	by  using
	  the words and, or and	not to combine primitives.  E.g.,
	  `host	foo and	not port ftp and not port ftp-data'.   To
	  save	typing,	identical qualifier lists can be omitted.
	  E.g.,	`tcp dst port  ftp  or	ftp-data  or  domain'  is
	  exactly  the	same as	`tcp dst port ftp or tcp dst port
	  ftp-data or tcp dst port domain'.

	  Allowable primitives are:

	  dst host host
	       True if the IP destination field	of the packet  is
	       host, which may be either an address or a name.

	  src host host
	       True if the IP source field of the packet is host.

	  host host
	       True if either the IP source or destination of the
	       packet is host.	Any of the above host expressions
	       can be prepended	with the keywords,  ip,	 arp,  or
	       rarp as in:
		    ip host host
	       which is	equivalent to:
		    ether proto	\ip and	host host
	       If host is a name with multiple IP addresses, each
	       address will be checked for a match.

	  ether	dst ehost
	       True if the ethernet destination	address	is ehost.
	       Ehost  may  be either a name from /etc/ethers or	a
	       number (see ethers(3N) for numeric format).

	  ether	src ehost
	       True if the ethernet source address is ehost.

	  ether	host ehost
	       True if either the ethernet source or  destination
	       address is ehost.

	  gateway host
	       True if the packet used host as a gateway.   I.e.,
	       the  ethernet  source  or  destination address was
	       host but	neither	the IP source nor the IP destina-
	       tion  was  host.	  Host must be a name and must be
	       found in	both  /etc/hosts  and  /etc/ethers.   (An
	       equivalent expression is
		    ether host ehost and not host host
	       which can be used with either names or numbers for
	       host / ehost.)

	  dst net net
	       True if the IP destination address of  the  packet
	       has  a  network number of net. Net may be either	a
	       name from /etc/networks or a network  number  (see
	       networks(4) for details).

	  src net net
	       True if the IP source address of	the packet has	a
	       network number of net.

	  net net
	       True  if	 either	 the  IP  source  or  destination
	       address of the packet has a network number of net.

	  net net mask mask
	       True if	the  IP	 address  matches  net	with  the
	       specific	 netmask.   May	 be qualified with src or
	       dst.

	  net net/len
	       True if the IP address matches net a  netmask  len
	       bits wide.  May be qualified with src or	dst.

	  dst port port
	       True if the packet is ip/tcp or ip/udp and  has	a
	       destination port	value of port.	The port can be	a
	       number  or  a  name  used  in  /etc/services  (see
	       tcp(4P) and udp(4P)).  If a name	is used, both the
	       port number and protocol	are checked.  If a number
	       or ambiguous name is used, only the port	number is
	       checked	(e.g.,	dst  port  513	will  print  both
	       tcp/login  traffic  and	udp/who	traffic, and port
	       domain will print both tcp/domain  and  udp/domain
	       traffic).

	  src port port
	       True if the packet has  a  source  port	value  of
	       port.

	  port port
	       True if either the source or destination	 port  of
	       the packet is port.  Any	of the above port expres-
	       sions can be prepended with the keywords,  tcp  or
	       udp, as in:
		    tcp	src port port
	       which matches only tcp packets whose  source  port
	       is port.

	  less length
	       True if the packet has a	length less than or equal
	       to length.  This	is equivalent to:
		    len	<= length.

	  greater length
	       True if the packet has a	length	greater	 than  or
	       equal to	length.	 This is equivalent to:
		    len	>= length.

	  ip proto protocol
	       True if the packet is an	ip packet (see ip(4P)) of
	       protocol	 type protocol.	 Protocol can be a number
	       or one of the names icmp, igrp, udp, nd,	 or  tcp.
	       Note  that  the identifiers tcp,	udp, and icmp are
	       also keywords and must be  escaped  via	backslash
	       (\), which is \\	in the C-shell.

	  ether	broadcast
	       True  if	 the  packet  is  an  ethernet	broadcast
	       packet.	The ether keyword is optional.

	  ip broadcast
	       True if the packet is an	IP broadcast packet.   It
	       checks for both the all-zeroes and all-ones broad-
	       cast conventions, and looks up  the  local  subnet
	       mask.

	  ether	multicast
	       True  if	 the  packet  is  an  ethernet	multicast
	       packet.	 The  ether keyword is optional.  This is
	       shorthand for `ether[0] & 1 != 0'.

	  ip multicast
	       True if the packet is an	IP multicast packet.

	  ether	proto protocol
	       True if the packet  is  of  ether  type	protocol.
	       Protocol	 can  be a number or a name like ip, arp,
	       or rarp.	 Note these identifiers	are also keywords
	       and  must  be  escaped via backslash (\).  [In the
	       case of FDDI (e.g., `fddi protocol arp'), the pro-
	       tocol  identification comes from	the 802.2 Logical
	       Link Control (LLC) header, which	is  usually  lay-
	       ered  on	top of the FDDI	header.	 Tcpdump assumes,
	       when filtering on the  protocol	identifier,  that
	       all  FDDI  packets include an LLC header, and that
	       the LLC header is in so-called SNAP format.]

	  decnet src host
	       True if the DECNET source address is  host,  which
	       may  be	an  address  of	the form ``10.123'', or	a
	       DECNET host name.  [DECNET host	name  support  is
	       only  available on Ultrix systems that are config-
	       ured to run DECNET.]

	  decnet dst host
	       True if the DECNET destination address is host.

	  decnet host host
	       True if either the DECNET  source  or  destination
	       address is host.

	  ip, arp, rarp, decnet
	       Abbreviations for:
		    ether proto	p
	       where p is one of the above protocols.

	  lat, moprc, mopdl
	       Abbreviations for:
		    ether proto	p
	       where p is one of the above protocols.  Note  that
	       tcpdump does not	currently know how to parse these
	       protocols.

	  tcp, udp, icmp
	       Abbreviations for:
		    ip proto p
	       where p is one of the above protocols.

	  expr relop expr
	       True if the relation holds, where relop is one  of
	       >,  <,  >=,  <=,	 =, !=,	and expr is an arithmetic
	       expression   composed   of    integer	constants
	       (expressed  in  standard	 C  syntax),  the  normal
	       binary operators	[+, -, *,  /,  &,  |],	a  length
	       operator,  and  special packet data accessors.  To
	       access data inside the packet, use  the	following
	       syntax:
		    proto [ expr : size	]
	       Proto is	one of ether, fddi, ip,	arp,  rarp,  tcp,
	       udp, or icmp, and indicates the protocol	layer for
	       the index operation.  The byte offset, relative to
	       the  indicated  protocol	 layer,	is given by expr.
	       Size is optional	and indicates the number of bytes
	       in  the	field  of interest; it can be either one,
	       two, or four, and defaults  to  one.   The  length
	       operator,  indicated by the keyword len,	gives the
	       length of the packet.

	       For example, `ether[0] &	1 != 0'	catches	all  mul-
	       ticast traffic.	The expression `ip[0] &	0xf != 5'
	       catches all IP packets with options.  The  expres-
	       sion  `ip[6:2]  & 0x1fff	= 0' catches only unfrag-
	       mented  datagrams  and  frag  zero  of  fragmented
	       datagrams.   This  check	 is implicitly applied to
	       the tcp and udp index operations.   For	instance,
	       tcp[0]  always  means  the  first  byte of the TCP
	       header, and never  means	 the  first  byte  of  an
	       intervening fragment.

	  Primitives may be combined using:

	       A parenthesized group of	primitives and	operators
	       (parentheses  are special to the	Shell and must be
	       escaped).

	       Negation	(`!' or	`not').

	       Concatenation (`&&' or `and').

	       Alternation (`||' or `or').

	  Negation has highest precedence.  Alternation	and  con-
	  catenation  have equal precedence and	associate left to
	  right.  Note that explicit and tokens,  not  juxtaposi-
	  tion,	are now	required for concatenation.

	  If an	identifier is given without a keyword,	the  most
	  recent keyword is assumed.  For example,
	       not host	vs and ace
	  is short for
	       not host	vs and host ace
	  which	should not be confused with
	       not ( host vs or	ace )

	  Expression arguments can be passed to	tcpdump	as either
	  a  single  argument or as multiple arguments,	whichever
	  is more convenient.  Generally, if the expression  con-
	  tains	 Shell metacharacters, it is easier to pass it as
	  a single, quoted argument.  Multiple arguments are con-
	  catenated with spaces	before being parsed.

EXAMPLES
     To	print all packets arriving at or departing from	sundown:
	  tcpdump host sundown

     To	print traffic between helios and either	hot or ace:
	  tcpdump host helios and \( hot or ace	\)

     To	print all IP packets between  ace  and	any  host  except
     helios:
	  tcpdump ip host ace and not helios

     To	print all traffic between local	hosts and hosts	at Berke-
     ley:
	  tcpdump net ucb-ether

     To	print all ftp  traffic	through	 internet  gateway  snup:
     (note  that  the  expression  is quoted to	prevent	the shell
     from (mis-)interpreting the parentheses):
	  tcpdump 'gateway snup	and (port ftp or ftp-data)'

     To	print traffic neither sourced from nor destined	for local
     hosts  (if	 you  gateway to one other net,	this stuff should
     never make	it onto	your local net).
	  tcpdump ip and not net localnet

     To	print the start	and end	packets	(the SYN and FIN packets)
     of	each TCP conversation that involves a non-local	host.
	  tcpdump 'tcp[13] & 3 != 0 and	not src	and dst	net localnet'

     To	print IP packets longer	than 576 bytes sent through gate-
     way snup:
	  tcpdump 'gateway snup	and ip[2:2] > 576'

     To	print IP broadcast or multicast	 packets  that	were  not
     sent via ethernet broadcast or multicast:
	  tcpdump 'ether[0] & 1	= 0 and	ip[16] >= 224'

     To	print all ICMP packets that are	not echo requests/replies
     (i.e., not	ping packets):
	  tcpdump 'icmp[0] != 8	and icmp[0] != 0"