×


Install Wireshark on Linux Mint 20 - Best Method ?

Wireshark is a very popular network monitoring tool and packet analyzer. With the help of this tool, you can easily visualize the entire network communications. Moreover, you can also use the information provided by this tool for network troubleshooting and avoiding security issues.

Here at Ibmi Media, as part of our Server Management Services, we regularly help our Customers to perform related Linux System Monitoring queries.

In this context, we will look into the installation procedure of Wireshark on Linux Mint 20.


Main features of Wireshark:

  • Deep inspection of protocols
  • Live capture and analyze offline
  • Runs on multi-platform (Windows, Linux, macOS, Solaris, FreeBSD, NetBSD etc.)
  • Capture packet can be browsed via a GUI
  • Captured packet can be saved to XML, CSV and Plain text.
  • Live data can be read from the interfaces like Ethernet , Bluetooth, USB, WiFi, Token Ring, Frame Relay etc.


How to Install Wireshark on Linux Mint 20 ?

To install Wireshark on your Linux Mint 20 machine, follow the steps outlined below.


1. Prepare your System for Wireshark Installation

To prepare your system for Wireshark installation, you will have to update it with the following command:

$ sudo apt update


2. Install Wireshark through the "apt" Package Manager 

Once your system is well prepared, you can install Wireshark on it by executing the command mentioned below:

$ sudo apt install wireshark

During the installation of Wireshark, a prompt will be presented on your system's terminal from which you will have to select the "No" option and proceed further by pressing the Enter button.


3. Verify Wireshark Installation by Checking its Version 

You can verify this whole installation process i.e. whether it has been carried out successfully or not by checking the Wireshark version with the following command:

$ apt policy wireshark


How to Uninstall Wireshark from Linux Mint 20 ?

If you want to remove Wireshark from your system, then you can do that by executing the following command:

$ sudo apt-get purge --autoremove wireshark 


[Need help in Installing Software on Linux Mint system ? We can help you. ]


Conclusion

This article covers how to install Wireshark on a Linux Mint 20 system. Wireshark is an open source GUI based packets capturing  in the network in real-time. It will intercepts traffic and converts that binary into human readable format. This helps to inspect network traffic to and fro on your network for troubleshooting network issues like dropped packets, latency issues, and malicious activity on your network. Majority of the packets are TCP, UDP and ICMP etc. Wireshark uses a pcap library for capturing the network packets.


To Install Wireshark on Linux:

1. Add official Wireshark package repositories:

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:wireshark-dev/stable

2. Update your system:

$ sudo apt-get update

3. Start Wireshark installation with below command:

$ sudo apt-get install wireshark