Updated: 2022/Sep/29

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PCAP_OPEN_LIVE(3)          Library Functions Manual          PCAP_OPEN_LIVE(3)



NAME
       pcap_open_live - open a device for capturing

SYNOPSIS
       #include <pcap/pcap.h>

       char errbuf[PCAP_ERRBUF_SIZE];

       pcap_t *pcap_open_live(const char *device, int snaplen,
               int promisc, int to_ms, char *errbuf);

DESCRIPTION
       pcap_open_live() is used to obtain a packet capture handle to look at
       packets on the network.  device is a string that specifies the network
       device to open; on Linux systems with 2.2 or later kernels, a device
       argument of "any" or NULL can be used to capture packets from all
       interfaces.

       snaplen specifies the snapshot length to be set on the handle.

       promisc specifies whether the interface is to be put into promiscuous
       mode.  If promisc is non-zero, promiscuous mode will be set, otherwise
       it will not be set.

       to_ms specifies the packet buffer timeout, as a non-negative value, in
       milliseconds.  (See pcap(3) for an explanation of the packet buffer
       timeout.)

RETURN VALUE
       pcap_open_live() returns a pcap_t * on success and NULL on failure.  If
       NULL is returned, errbuf is filled in with an appropriate error
       message.  errbuf may also be set to warning text when pcap_open_live()
       succeeds; to detect this case the caller should store a zero-length
       string in errbuf before calling pcap_open_live() and display the
       warning to the user if errbuf is no longer a zero-length string.
       errbuf is assumed to be able to hold at least PCAP_ERRBUF_SIZE chars.

SEE ALSO
       pcap_create(3), pcap_activate(3)



                                6 December 2017              PCAP_OPEN_LIVE(3)