pcap_create(3pcap)

pcap_create3pcap

Create a live capture handle

Usage

#include <pcap/pcap.h>
char errbuf[PCAP_ERRBUF_SIZE];

pcap_t *pcap_create(const char *source, char *errbuf);

Overview

pcap_create() is used to create a packet capture handle to capture packets on a device (typically a network interface, see pcap_findalldevs(3PCAP) for a more detailed explanation). source is a string that specifies the capture device to open; in this function, a null pointer means the same as the string "any". errbuf is a buffer large enough to hold at least PCAP_ERRBUF_SIZE chars.

The returned handle must be activated with pcap_activate(3PCAP) before packets can be captured with it; options for the capture, such as promiscuous mode, can be set on the handle before activating it.

Return value

pcap_create() returns a pcap_t * on success and a null pointer on failure. If a null pointer is returned, errbuf is filled in with an appropriate error message.

Releases

9 releases since Debian 6.0 (Squeeze); the text changed 5 times.

  1. 6.0–7
  2. 8
  3. 9–10
  4. 11–12
  5. 13
  6. Arch

From libpcap 1.11.0-1 in Arch Linux 2026-11-01. Parsed by carta from the page's man source.