Jake Ramisch - 18646030

Lab 3 - Using Wireshark to View Network Traffic

Topology

Objectives
Part 1: (Optional) Download and Install Wireshark Part 2:
Capture and Analyze Local ICMP Data in Wireshark

Start and stop data capture of ping traffic to local hosts.

Locate the IP and MAC address information in captured PDUs.

Part 3: Capture and Analyze Remote ICMP Data in Wireshark

Start and stop data capture of ping traffic to remote hosts.

Locate the IP and MAC address information in captured PDUs.

Explain why MAC addresses for remote hosts are different than the MAC addresses of local hosts.
Part 4: Clean-Up

Background / Scenario
Wireshark is a software protocol analyzer, or "packet sniffer" application, used for network troubleshooting,
analysis, software and protocol development, and education. As data streams travel back and forth over
the network, the sniffer "captures" each protocol data unit (PDU) and can decode and analyze its content
according to the appropriate RFC or other specifications.
Wireshark is a useful tool for anyone working with networks and can be used with most labs in the CCNA
courses for data analysis and troubleshooting. This lab provides instructions for downloading and installing
Wireshark, although it may already be installed. In this lab, you will use Wireshark to capture ICMP data
packet IP addresses and Ethernet frame MAC addresses.

Required Resources

1 PC (Windows 7, Vista, or XP with Internet access)

Additional PC(s) on a local-area network (LAN) will be used to reply to ping requests.

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Part 1: (Optional) Download and Install Wireshark

Wireshark has become the industry standard packet-sniffer program used by network engineers. This open
source software is available for many different operating systems, including Windows, Mac, and Linux. In
Part 1 of this lab, you will download and install the Wireshark software program on your PC.
Note: If Wireshark is already installed on your PC, you can skip Part 1 and go directly to Part 2. If
Wireshark is not installed on your PC, check with your instructor about your academys software download
policy.

Step 1: Download Wireshark.

a. Wireshark can be downloaded from www.wireshark.org.
b. Click Download Wireshark.

c.

Choose the software version you need based on your PCs architecture and operating system. For
instance, if you have a 64-bit PC running Windows, choose Windows Installer (64-bit).

After making a selection, the download should start. The location of the downloaded file depends on
the browser and operating system that you use. For Windows users, the default location is the
Downloads folder.

Step 2: Install Wireshark.

a. The downloaded file is named Wireshark-win64-x.x.x.exe, where x represents the version number.
Double-click the file to start the installation process.

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Lab 3 Using Wireshark to View Network Traffic

b. Respond to any security messages that may display on your screen. If you already have a copy of
Wireshark on your PC, you will be prompted to uninstall the old version before installing the new
version. It is recommended that you remove the old version of Wireshark prior to installing another
version. Click Yes to uninstall the previous version of Wireshark.

c.

If this is the first time to install Wireshark, or after you have completed the uninstall process, you will
navigate to the Wireshark Setup wizard. Click Next.

d. Continue advancing through the installation process. Click I Agree when the License Agreement
window displays.

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e. Keep the default settings on the Choose Components window and click Next.

f.

Choose your desired shortcut options and click Next.

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g. You can change the installation location of Wireshark, but unless you have limited disk space, it is
recommended that you keep the default location.

h. To capture live network data, WinPcap must be installed on your PC. If WinPcap is already installed on
your PC, the Install check box will be unchecked. If your installed version of WinPcap is older than the
version that comes with Wireshark, it is recommend that you allow the newer version to be installed by
clicking the Install WinPcap x.x.x (version number) check box.
i.

Finish the WinPcap Setup Wizard if installing WinPcap.

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j.

Wireshark starts installing its files and a separate window displays with the status of the installation.
Click Next when the installation is complete.

k.

Click Finish to complete the Wireshark install process.

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Lab 3 Using Wireshark to View Network Traffic

Part 2: Capture and Analyze Local ICMP Data in Wireshark

In Part 2 of this lab, you will ping another PC on the LAN and capture ICMP requests and replies in
Wireshark. You will also look inside the frames captured for specific information. This analysis should help
to clarify how packet headers are used to transport data to their destination.

Step 1: Retrieve your PCs interface addresses.

For this lab, you will need to retrieve your PCs IP address and its network interface card (NIC) physical
address, also called the MAC address.
a. Open a command window, type ipconfig /all, and then press Enter.
b. Note your PC interfaces IP address and MAC (physical) address.

c.

Ask a team member for their PCs IP address and provide your PCs IP address to them. Do not
provide them with your MAC address at this time.

Step 2: Start Wireshark and begin capturing data.

a. On your PC, click the Windows Start button to see Wireshark listed as one of the programs on the
pop-up menu. Double-click Wireshark.
b. After Wireshark starts, click Interface List.

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Note: Clicking the first interface icon in the row of icons also opens the Interface List.
c.

On the Wireshark: Capture Interfaces window, click the check box next to the interface connected to
your LAN.

Note: If multiple interfaces are listed and you are unsure which interface to check, click the Details
button, and then click the 802.3 (Ethernet) tab. Verify that the MAC address matches what you noted
in Step 1b. Close the Interface Details window after verifying the correct interface.

d. After you have checked the correct interface, click Start to start the data capture.

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Information will start scrolling down the top section in Wireshark. The data lines will appear in different
colors based on protocol.

e. This information can scroll by very quickly depending on what communication is taking place between
your PC and the LAN. We can apply a filter to make it easier to view and work with the data that is
being captured by Wireshark. For this lab, we are only interested in displaying ICMP (ping) PDUs.
Type icmp in the Filter box at the top of Wireshark and press Enter or click on the Apply button to
view only ICMP (ping) PDUs.

f.

This filter causes all data in the top window to disappear, but you are still capturing the traffic on the
interface.

g. Bring up the command prompt window that you opened earlier and ping the IP address that you
received from your team member by typing ping A.B.C.D and then pressing Enter, where A.B.C.D is
your team members IP address. Notice that you should start seeing data appear in the top window of
Wireshark again.

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Note: If your team members PC does not reply to your pings, this may be because their PC firewall
blocking these requests. Please see

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Appendix A: Allowing ICMP Traffic Through a Firewall for information on how to allow ICMP traffic
through the firewall using Windows 7.
h. Stop capturing data by clicking the Stop Capture icon.

Step 3: Examine the captured data.

In Step 3, examine the data that was generated by the ping requests of your team members PC.
Wireshark data is displayed in three sections: 1) The top section displays the list of PDU frames captured
with a summary of the IP packet information listed, 2) the middle section lists PDU information for the
frame selected in the top part of the screen and separates a captured PDU frame by its protocol layers,
and 3) the bottom section displays the raw data of each layer. The raw data is displayed in both
hexadecimal and decimal form.

a. Click the first ICMP request PDU frames in the top section of Wireshark. Notice that the Source
column has your PCs IP address, and the Destination contains the IP address of the teammates PC
you pinged.

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b. With this PDU frame still selected in the top section, navigate to the middle section. Click the plus sign
to the left of the Ethernet II row to view the Destination and Source MAC addresses.

Does the Source MAC address match your PCs interface? Yes; 00-D0-B7-A7-4B
Does the Destination MAC address in Wireshark match the MAC address that of your team
members? Yes; 00-01-B3-9C-39-45
How is the MAC address of the pinged PC obtained by your PC?

The MAC address of any device never changes and is unique to every device. It
is then encoded in all data packets sent by the PC.
Note: In the preceding example of a captured ICMP request, ICMP data is encapsulated inside an
IPv4 packet PDU (IPv4 header) which is then encapsulated in an Ethernet II frame PDU (Ethernet II
header) for transmission on the LAN.

Part 3: Capture and Analyze Remote ICMP Data in Wireshark

In Part 3, you will ping remote hosts (hosts not on the LAN) and examine the generated data from those
pings. You will then determine what is different about this data from the data examined in Part 2.

Step 1: Start capturing data on interface.

a. Click the Interface List icon to bring up the list PC interfaces again.

b. Make sure the check box next to the LAN interface is checked, and then click Start.

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c.

A window prompts to save the previously captured data before starting another capture. It is not
necessary to save this data. Click Continue without Saving.

d. With the capture active, ping the following three website URLs:
1) www.yahoo.com
2) www.cisco.com
3) www.google.com

Note: When you ping the URLs listed, notice that the Domain Name Server (DNS) translates the URL
to an IP address. Note the IP address received for each URL.
e. You can stop capturing data by clicking the Stop Capture icon.

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Step 2: Examining and analyzing the data from the remote hosts.
a. Review the captured data in Wireshark, examine the IP and MAC addresses of the three locations
that you pinged. List the destination IP and MAC addresses for all three locations in the space
provided.
1st Location:

IP: 137.154.224.207 MAC: BC:EA:FA:B1:6A:AC

2nd Location:

IP: 98.138.253.109 MAC: BC:EA:FA:B1:6A:AC

3rd Location:

IP: 72.163.4.161 MAC: BC:EA:FA:B1:6A:AC

b. What is significant about this information?

We are getting the same MAC address for every destination we try to ping, as
they are all going through the same first hop (local router, i.e. LAN connecting to
a WAN)
c.

How does this information differ from the local ping information you received in Part 2?

There would be different MAC addresses and IP's as there is no need to try to
connect to a WAN, it would just ping the PC that is already found on the LAN.

Reflection
Why does Wireshark show the actual MAC address of the local hosts, but not the actual MAC address for
the remote hosts?

Wireshark shows the MAC addresses for the local hosts as this is information
regarding the PC that is in direct use, whereas it does not show the MAC addresses
for remote hosts as this information is kept secret, to prevent confidential
information about the PC being let out onto the internet.

Part 4: Clean-Up
Before you leave you must ensure that lab and equipment is left in order and ready for the next class to use.
You must:

Initialize and reload any and all devices you have used in the lab.

Disconnect all the cables you connected and return them to their appropriate place.

Note: The total mark you achieve in the lab will be halved if the clean-up is not carried out correctly.

Appendix A: Allowing ICMP Traffic Through a Firewall

If the members of your team are unable to ping your PC, the firewall may be blocking those requests. This
appendix describes how to create a rule in the firewall to allow ping requests. It also describes how to
disable the new ICMP rule after you have completed the lab.

Step 1: Create a new inbound rule allowing ICMP traffic through the firewall.
a. From the Control Panel, click the System and Security option.

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b. From the System and Security window, click Windows Firewall.

c.

In the left pane of the Windows Firewall window, click Advanced settings.

d. On the Advanced Security window, choose the Inbound Rules option on the left sidebar and then
click New Rule on the right sidebar.

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e. This launches the New Inbound Rule wizard. On the Rule Type screen, click the Custom radio button
and click Next

f.

In the left pane, click the Protocol and Ports option and using the Protocol type drop-down menu,
select ICMPv4, and then click Next.

g. In the left pane, click the Name option and in the Name field, type Allow ICMP Requests. Click
Finish.

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This new rule should allow your team members to receive ping replies from your PC.

Step 2: Disabling or deleting the new ICMP rule.

After the lab is complete, you may want to disable or even delete the new rule you created in Step 1.
Using the Disable Rule option allows you to enable the rule again at a later date. Deleting the rule
permanently deletes it from the list of Inbound Rules.
a. On the Advanced Security window, in the left pane, click Inbound Rules and then locate the rule you
created in Step 1.

b. To disable the rule, click the Disable Rule option. When you choose this option, you will see this
option change to Enable Rule. You can toggle back and forth between Disable Rule and Enable Rule;
the status of the rule also shows in the Enabled column of the Inbound Rules list.

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c.

To permanently delete the ICMP rule, click Delete. If you choose this option, you must re-create the rule
again to allow ICMP replies.

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