sharppcap
A fully managed, cross-platform .NET library for capturing network packets from live devices and files.
What is sharppcap?
SharpPcap is a fully managed .NET library for capturing and analyzing network packets from live interfaces and capture files. It solves the problem of cross-platform packet capture by providing a unified API that works on Windows, Linux, and macOS, abstracting away platform-specific details like libpcap and Npcap.
.NET developers building network monitoring tools, security applications, protocol analyzers, or any software requiring low-level network packet inspection.
Developers choose SharpPcap for its clean, modern API, cross-platform compatibility, and performance optimizations like ReadOnlySpan<> support, which avoids unnecessary memory allocations during packet capture.
Overview
Official repository - Fully managed, cross platform (Windows, Mac, Linux) .NET library for capturing packets
Use Cases
Best For
- Building network traffic analyzers in .NET
- Creating custom intrusion detection systems
- Developing protocol debugging and reverse engineering tools
- Capturing packets for security monitoring applications
- Reading and writing pcap files programmatically
- Implementing cross-platform network diagnostics utilities
Not Ideal For
- Projects requiring detailed packet dissection or creation without integrating additional libraries like Packet.Net
- Environments where installing native capture libraries (libpcap, Npcap) is restricted or infeasible
- Applications needing real-time packet statistics on non-Windows platforms, as statistics mode is currently only supported by Npcap on Windows
- Teams seeking a GUI-based network analysis tool out-of-the-box, as SharpPcap is a programmatic library
Pros & Cons
Pros
Provides a unified API for Windows, Linux, and macOS, abstracting platform-specific details like libpcap and Npcap, as highlighted in the README's feature list.
Uses ReadOnlySpan<> to minimize memory allocation and copying, improving capture speed by up to 30% according to migration notes, ideal for efficient packet handling.
Compatible with .NET Core 3+ and .NET Framework, leveraging modern language features for robust development in contemporary .NET ecosystems.
Automatically resolves and loads platform-specific libraries like libpcap or Npcap, ensuring smooth operation across different systems without manual configuration.
Cons
Relies on external libraries such as libpcap or Npcap, which must be installed separately, adding deployment complexity and potential compatibility issues.
Some features like statistics mode are only fully supported on Windows with Npcap, limiting functionality on Linux and macOS, as noted in the migration section.
The migration from 5.x to 6.0 involved significant API changes, which can be disruptive for existing projects and require code updates.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Projects
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pmacctpmacct is a small set of multi-purpose passive network monitoring tools [NetFlow IPFIX sFlow libpcap BGP BMP RPKI IGP Streaming Telemetry].
Netis Packet AgentA Software Probe for network packet capturing and forwarding in Cloud/Kubernetes and Virtualized environment.
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