Utility Commands
581
ProSafe M4100 and M7100 Managed Switches

packets are captured and capturing packets is stopped automatically.The packet capture

operates in three modes:

Capture file

Remote capture

Capture line

The command is not persistent across a reboot cycle.

Format capture {start|stop} {transmit|receive|all}
Mode
capture {file|remote|line}

Use this command to configure file capture options. The command is persistent across a

reboot cycle.

Default
Format capture {file|remote|line}
Mode
file
remote
line
Privileged EXEC
Remote
Global Config
Parameter Description
In capture file mode, the captured packets are stored in a file on NVRAM. The maximum file
size defaults to 524,288 bytes. The switch can transfer the file to a TFTP server via TFTP,
SFTP, SCP via CLI, web and SNMP. The file is formatted in pcap format, is named
cpuPktCapture.pcap, and can be examined using network analyzer tools such as
Wireshark® by Ethereal®. Starting a file capture automatically terminates any remote capture
sessions and line capturing. After the packet capture is activated, the capture proceeds until the
capture file reaches its maximum size, or until the capture is stopped manually using the CLI
command capture stop.
In remote capture mode, the captured packets are redirected in real time to an external
computer running the Wireshark tool for Microsoft® Windows®. A packet capture server runs on
the switch side and sends the captured packets via a TCP connection to the Wireshark tool.
The remote capture can be enabled or disabled using the CLI. There should be a Windows
computer with the Wireshark tool to display the captured file. When using the remote capture
mode, the switch does not store any captured data locally on its file system. You can configure
the IP port number for connecting Wireshark to the switch. The default port number is 2002. If a
firewall is installed between the Wireshark PC and the switch, these ports must be allowed to
pass through the firewall. You must configure the firewall to allow the Wireshark computer to
initiate TCP connections to the switch. If the socket connection to Wireshark has been
established, the captured CPU packets are written to the data socket. Wireshark receives the
packets and processes it to display. This continues until the session is terminated by either end.
Starting a remote capture session automatically terminates the file capture and line capturing.
In capture line mode, the captured packets are saved in real-time mode into the RAM and can
be displayed on the CLI. Starting a line capture automatically terminates any remote capture
session and capturing into a file.