Utilize TCPDump for Packet Capture

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Utilize TCPDump for Packet Capture

In this hands-on lab, we will learn how to capture network traffic using the `tcpdump` command line tool. We will install and configure `tcpdump` on `Server1` to capture web traffic coming from `Client1`. **Note**: In the lab, you now must specify the capture interface now that the instance has ens5 instead of eth0. By default, tcpdump captures packets on eth0. ``` sudo tcpdump tcp port 80 -i ens5 -w capture.pcap ```

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Lab Info

Level

Intermediate

Last updated

Sep 15, 2025

Duration

1h 0m

Challenge

Install Tcpdump
Your first task is to install tcpdump. In the video, I ran the command as root — your command will be slightly different.
1. Run the following command:
```
sudo yum install tcpdump
```
1. When prompted, enter the password for cloud_user.
Challenge

Begin the Packet Capture
Begin the packet capture process. You will want to apply a capture filter to limit tcpdump to capture only web requests.
```
sudo tcpdump tcp port 80 -i ens5 -w capture.pcap
```
Challenge

Generate Traffic
Because this isn't a public web server, you need to generate traffic from Client1 (10.0.1.11) to Server1 (10.0.1.10). This should be completed while the capture is running. I just ran curl on the headers of Server1 in the Solution video, which can be completed by running the following command from Client1 a few times:
```
curl -I 10.0.1.10
```
Challenge

Cancel the Capture and View the Results
1. After some traffic has been generated, cancel the running capture and view the file.
```
#tcpdump -r capture.pcap
```
1. Move the file to /root/ if it's not there already.
```
sudo mv capture.pcap /root/capture.pcap
```

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