Assignment6 PDF
Assignment6 PDF
Assignment6 PDF
Assignment #6
I. Due
II. Objectives
III. References
1. Wireshark Packet Sniffer and Packet Capture Library (see section V below).
2. Microsoft Word.
3. Win Zip as necessary.
V. Assignment
The basic tool for observing the messages exchanged between executing protocol
entities is called a packet sniffer. As the name suggests, a packet sniffer captures
(“sniffs”) messages being sent/received from/by your computer; it will also typically
store and/or display the contents of the various protocol fields in these captured
messages. A packet sniffer itself is passive. It observes messages being sent and
received by applications and protocols running on your computer, but never sends
packets itself. Similarly, received packets are never explicitly addressed to the packet
sniffer. Instead, a packet sniffer receives a copy of packets that are sent/received
from/by application and protocols executing on your machine.
Figure 1 shows the structure of a packet sniffer. At the right of Figure 1 are the
protocols (in this case, Internet protocols) and applications (such as a web browser or
ftp client) that normally run on your computer. The packet sniffer, shown within the
dashed rectangle in Figure 1 is an addition to the usual software in your computer,
and consists of two parts. The packet capture library receives a copy of every link-
layer frame that is sent from or received by your computer. Recall from the class
discussions (and corresponding material covered in the textbook used for the class)
that messages exchanged by higher layer protocols such as HTTP, FTP, TCP, UDP,
DNS, or IP all are eventually encapsulated in link-layer frames that are transmitted
over physical media such as an Ethernet cable. In Figure 1, the assumed physical
media is an Ethernet, and so all upper layer protocols are eventually encapsulated
within an Ethernet frame. Capturing all link-layer frames thus gives you all messages
sent/received from/by all protocols and applications executing in your computer.
packet sniffer
operating
system Transport (TCP/UDP)
packet Network (IP)
capture copy of all Ethernet
Link (Ethernet)
frames sent/received
(pcap)
Physical
The second component of a packet sniffer is the packet analyzer, which displays the
contents of all fields within a protocol message. In order to do so, the packet analyzer
must “understand” the structure of all messages exchanged by protocols. For
example, suppose we are interested in displaying the various fields in messages
exchanged by the HTTP protocol in Figure 1. The packet analyzer understands the
format of Ethernet frames, and so can identify the IP datagram within an Ethernet
frame. It also understands the IP datagram format, so that it can extract the TCP
segment within the IP datagram. Finally, it understands the TCP segment structure,
so it can extract the HTTP message contained in the TCP segment. Finally, it
understands the HTTP protocol and so, for example, knows that the first bytes of an
HTTP message will contain the string “GET,” “POST,” or “HEAD”.
We will be using the Wireshark packet sniffer (i.e., www.wireshark.org) for this lab,
allowing us to display the contents of messages being sent/received from/by protocols
at different levels of the protocol stack. (Technically speaking, Wireshark is a packet
analyzer that uses a packet capture library on your computer). Wireshark is a free
network protocol analyzer that runs on Windows, Linux/Unix, and Mac computers.
It’s an ideal packet analyzer for our labs – it is stable, has a large user base and well-
documented support that includes:
The Wireshark packet sniffer operates in computers using Ethernet to connect to the
Internet, as well as so-called point-to-point protocols such as PPP.
Download and install the Wireshark and (if needed) the libpcap software:
If needed, download and install the libpcap software. Pointers to the libpcap
software are provided from the Wireshark download pages.
For Windows machines, the libpcap software is known as WinPCap, and can
be found at http://www.winpcap.org/install/default.htm.
Go to www.wireshark.org and download and install the Wireshark binary for
your computer.
It is recommended to download from
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=255 which includes a
WinPCap bundle option.
Download the Wireshark user guide. You will most likely only need
Chapters 1 and 3.
The Wireshark FAQ has a number of helpful hints and interesting tidbits of
information, particularly if you have trouble installing or running Wireshark.
When you run the Wireshark program, the Wireshark graphical user interface shown
in Figure 2a will be displayed. Initially, no data will be displayed in the various
windows.
Figure 2a: Wireshark Capture Options Window
Figure 2 below shows the original Ethereal graphical user interface along with an
explanation of the various areas which applies to both Ethereal and Wireshark.
command
menus
display filter
specification
listing of
captured
packets
details of
selected
packet
header
packet content
in hexadecimal
and ASCII
The command menus are standard pulldown menus located at the top of the
window. Of interest to us now are the File and Capture menus. The File
menu allows you to save captured packet data or open a file containing
previously captured packet data, and exit the Wireshark application. The
Capture menu allows you to begin packet capture.
The packet-listing window displays a one-line summary for each packet
captured, including the packet number (assigned by Wireshark; this is not a
packet number contained in any protocol’s header), the time at which the
packet was captured, the packet’s source and destination addresses, the
protocol type, and protocol-specific information contained in the packet. The
packet listing can be sorted according to any of these categories by clicking
on a column name. The protocol type field lists the highest level protocol
that sent or received this packet, i.e., the protocol that is the source or
ultimate sink for this packet.
The packet-header details window provides details about the packet
selected (highlighted) in the packet listing window. (To select a packet in the
packet listing window, place the cursor over the packet’s one-line summary in
the packet listing window and click with the left mouse button.). These
details include information about the Ethernet frame and IP datagram that
contains this packet. The amount of Ethernet and IP-layer detail displayed can
be expanded or minimized by clicking on the right-pointing or down-pointing
arrowhead to the left of the Ethernet frame or IP datagram line in the packet
details window. If the packet has been carried over TCP or UDP, TCP or
UDP details will also be displayed, which can similarly be expanded or
minimized. Finally, details about the highest level protocol that sent or
received this packet are also provided.
The packet-contents window displays the entire contents of the captured
frame, in both ASCII and hexadecimal format.
Towards the top of the Wireshark graphical user interface, is the packet
display filter field, into which a protocol name or other information can be
entered in order to filter the information displayed in the packet-listing
window (and hence the packet-header and packet-contents windows). In the
example below, we’ll use the packet-display filter field to have Wireshark
hide (not display) packets except those that correspond to HTTP messages.
The best way to learn about any new piece of software is to try it out! Do the
following
1. Start up your favorite web browser, which will display your selected
homepage.
2. Start up the Wireshark software. You will initially see a window similar to
that shown in Figure 2, except that no packet data will be displayed in the
packet-listing, packet-header, or packet-contents window, since Wireshark
has not yet begun capturing packets.
3. To begin packet capture, select the Capture pull down menu and select
Options. This will cause the “Wireshark: Capture Options” window to be
displayed, as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3: Wireshark Capture Options Window
4. You can use all of the default values in this window. The network interfaces
(i.e., the physical connections) that your computer has to the network will be
shown in the Interface pull down menu at the top of the Capture Options
window. In case your computer has more than one active network interface
(e.g., if you have both a wireless and a wired Ethernet connection), you will
need to select an interface that is being used to send and receive packets
(mostly likely the wired interface). After selecting the network interface (or
using the default interface chosen by Wireshark), click Start. Packet capture
will now begin - all packets being sent/received from/by your computer are
now being captured by Wireshark!
5. After you begin packet capture, you can select Statistics > Protocol Hierarchy
from the command menus to obtain a summary of the number of packets of
various types that are being captured as shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4: Wireshark Protocol Hierarchy Statistics
8. Type in “http” (without the quotes, and in lower case – all protocol names are
in lower case in Wireshark) into the display filter specification window at the
top of the main Wireshark window. Then select Apply (to the right of where
you entered “http”). This will cause only HTTP message to be displayed in
the packet-listing window.
9. The HTTP GET message that was sent from your computer to the
gaia.cs.umass.edu HTTP server should be shown among the first few http
message shown in the packet-listing window. When you select the HTTP
GET message, the Ethernet frame, IP datagram, TCP segment, and HTTP
message header information will be displayed in the packet-header window.
Recall that the HTTP GET message that is sent to the gaia.cs.umass.edu web
server is contained within a TCP segment, which is contained (encapsulated)
in an IP datagram, which is encapsulated in an Ethernet frame. If this process
of encapsulation isn’t quite clear yet, review the material covered in class and
the corresponding material covered in the textbook. By clicking on the
expansion buttons (+ or -) to the left side of the packet details window, you
can minimize or maximize the amount of Frame, Ethernet, Internet Protocol,
and Transmission Control Protocol information displayed. Maximize the
amount information displayed about the HTTP protocol. Your Wireshark
display should now look roughly as shown in Figure 5 (Note, in particular,
the minimized amount of protocol information for all protocols except HTTP,
and the maximized amount of protocol information for HTTP in the packet-
header window).
The goal of this first lab was primarily to introduce you to Wireshark. The following
questions will demonstrate that you’ve been able to get Wireshark up and running,
and have explored some of its capabilities. Answer the following questions, based on
your Wireshark experimentation.
1. What is the MAC address of your Host? You can find this in the frame level
information.
2. List the different protocols that appear in the protocol column in the
unfiltered packet-listing window in step 4.7 above.
3. How long did it take from when the HTTP GET message was sent until the
HTTP OK reply was received? (By default, the value of the Time column in
the packet-listing window is the amount of time, in seconds, since Wireshark
tracing began. To display the Time field in time-of-day format, select the
Wireshark View pull down menu, then select Time Display Format, then
select Time-of-day.)
4. What is the Internet address of the gaia.cs.umass.edu (also known as www-
net.cs.umass.edu)? What is the Internet address of your computer?
5. Print the two HTTP messages displayed in step 4.9 above. To do so, select
Print from the Wireshark File command menu, and select “Selected Packet
Only” under Packet Range and “As displayed” under Packet Format and then
click OK.
Save your capture in a capture file named Nxxx.cap where Nxxx is your student ID.
Submit this capture file and the answers to the questions above in a separate report
(word document.
Email your assignment (archive) file to your grader.
Name the report “firstname_lastname_hw_6.doc” (e.g., “john_doe_hw_6.doc”).
Name the archive “firstname_lastname_hw_6.zip” (e.g., “john_doe_hw_6.zip”).
Email your assignment files to the course grader, and submit a hard copy of the report
to the professor by the due date.
Use the following naming convention in the subject line of the eMail:
“DCN - firstname lastname - homework 6”
(e.g.: "DCN – John Doe - homework 6").
(Note: all files submitted should include your name).
VI. Deliverables
1. Electronic:
Your assignment archive must be emailed to the course grader. The file must be created and
sent by the beginning of class. After the class period, the homework is late. The email clock
is the official clock.
The cover page supplied on the next page must be the first page of your report file.
NOTE:
Assignment 6
Professor’s Comments: