How To Install Wireshark On Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
On this short tutorial, we will discuss how to install Wireshark 3.4.2 (the lastes stable version so far) on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Linux Operating system and test to use it in reading the data stream which is coming to the system.
Introduction
Wireshark is a free and open-source network protocol analyzer. Previously known as Ethereal, Wireshark is used for network troubleshooting, analysis, software and communications protocol development, and education. Wireshark is cross-platform, using the Qt widget toolkit in current releases to implement its user interface, and using pcap to capture packets; it runs on Linux, macOS, BSD, Solaris, some other Unix-like operating systems, and Microsoft Windows. There is also a terminal-based (non-GUI) version called TShark.
What’s New in Wireshark 3.4.2?
Wireshark 3.4.2 focuses on performance optimization and bug fixes. Here are some notable improvements:
- Enhanced Protocol Support: Wireshark 3.4.2 adds and improves support for several protocols, including HTTP/3, QUIC, and TLS, enabling deeper inspection and analysis of modern web traffic.
- Improved Filtering System: Updates to the display filter syntax make it easier to filter network traffic, especially for complex, multi-layered protocols.
- Bug Fixes and Stability Improvements: Numerous bug fixes improve stability, such as better handling of malformed packets and increased reliability during high-traffic captures.
WireShark Installation On Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
The WireShark installation on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS operating system will be consist of several steps as mentioned below :
The installation process will be discussed in more detail in the sub-chapter below.
Step 1 : Add The Wireshark Stable Repository
On this stage, we will add Wireshark stable repository to our Ubuntu System. For this purpose we will submit the following command line :
$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:wireshark-dev/stable
The output will be :
ramans@diginet-app02:~$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:wireshark-dev/stable [sudo] password for ramans: Latest stable Wireshark releases back-ported from Debian package versions. Back-porting script is available at https://github.com/rbalint/pkg-wireshark-ubuntu-ppa From Ubuntu 16.04 you also need to enable "universe" repository, see: http://askubuntu.com/questions/148638/how-do-i-enable-the-universe-repository The packaging repository for Debian and Ubuntu is at: https://salsa.debian.org/debian/wireshark More info: https://launchpad.net/~wireshark-dev/+archive/ubuntu/stable Press [ENTER] to continue or Ctrl-c to cancel adding it. . . . Fetched 6,630 kB in 12s (576 kB/s) Reading package lists... Done
Then we will update our repository, by submitting command line :
$ sudo apt update
Step 2 : Install Wireshark
After all are set, then we will install Wireshark on our Ubuntu 20.04 system by submitting command line :
$ sudo apt -y install wireshark
Output :
ramans@diginet-app02:~$ sudo apt -y install wireshark Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required: libeclipse-jdt-core-java libfprint-2-tod1 libllvm9 libtcnative-1 Package configuration
On this installation, we will be prompted to enable root privilege to other user. By default the status is disable, by pressing ‘Yes’ we will confirm to give other user account to have root privilege.
After installation was completed done, then we will check Wireshark version by submitting command line :
$ wireshark --version
Output :
ramans@diginet-app02:~$ wireshark --version Wireshark 3.4.2 (Git v3.4.2 packaged as 3.4.2-1~ubuntu20.04.0+wiresharkdevstable1) Copyright 1998-2020 Gerald Combs <gerald@wireshark.org> and contributors. License GPLv2+: GNU GPL version 2 or later <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html> This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Compiled (64-bit) with Qt 5.12.8, with libpcap, with POSIX capabilities (Linux), with libnl 3, with GLib 2.64.3, with zlib 1.2.11, with SMI 0.4.8, with c-ares 1.15.0, with Lua 5.2.4, with GnuTLS 3.6.13 and PKCS #11 support, with Gcrypt 1.8.5, with MIT Kerberos, with MaxMind DB resolver, with nghttp2 1.40.0, with brotli, with LZ4, with Zstandard, with Snappy, with libxml2 2.9.10, with QtMultimedia, without automatic updates, with SpeexDSP (using system library). Running on Linux 5.8.0-36-generic, with Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8550U CPU @ 1.80GHz (with SSE4.2), with 7933 MB of physical memory, with locale en_US.UTF-8, with libpcap version 1.9.1 (with TPACKET_V3), with GnuTLS 3.6.13, with Gcrypt 1.8.5, with brotli 1.0.7, with zlib 1.2.11, binary plugins supported (0 loaded). Built using gcc 9.3.0. On this section, we will configure accounts who could use Wireshark. For this purpose, we have to add account(s) to the Wireshark group so that these users can use Wireshark. As our example we will add all user to be able to user Wireshark. To do this, we will submit the command line : You must add a username to the Wireshark group so that this user can use Wireshark. To do this, execute the following command, adding your required username after “wireshark” in the command.
Step 3 : Configure Wireshark
On this stage, we will configure a new non root user system to be able to use Wireshark. For this purpose we will create a new user and give him a privilege to be able to run Wireshark.
ramans@diginet-app02:~$ sudo usermod -a -G wireshark $USER [sudo] password for ramans: ramans@diginet-app02:~$ sudo chgrp wireshark /usr/bin/dumpcap ramans@diginet-app02:~$ sudo chmod 750 /usr/bin/dumpcap ramans@diginet-app02:~$ sudo setcap cap_net_raw,cap_net_admin=eip /usr/bin/dumpcap ramans@diginet-app02:~$ sudo getcap /usr/bin/dumpcap /usr/bin/dumpcap = cap_net_admin,cap_net_raw+eip
Step 4 : Launch Wireshark Monitoring Tools
There are two options for running the Wireshark application on Ubuntu, namely: via the terminal/konsole or through the Graphical User Interface (GUI). By using terminal or console, we will submit the command line :
$ wireshark
By using the GUI desktop, we just search Wireshark application, and double click it to launch. The application can be seen as shown below.
Conclusion
On this short tutorial, we have learn how to install Wireshark, a Network Analyzer tools on Ubuntu 20.04 operating system. I hope this article could be helpful.