8.2.8 Lab - Using Wireshark To Examine Ethernet Frames (Done)
8.2.8 Lab - Using Wireshark To Examine Ethernet Frames (Done)
Mininet Topology
Objectives
Part 1: Examine the Header Fields in an Ethernet II Frame
Part 2: Use Wireshark to Capture and Analyze Ethernet Frames
Background / Scenario
When upper layer protocols communicate with each other, data flows down the Open Systems
Interconnection (OSI) layers and is encapsulated into a Layer 2 frame. The frame composition is dependent
on the media access type. For example, if the upper layer protocols are TCP and IP and the media access is
Ethernet, then the Layer 2 frame encapsulation will be Ethernet II. This is typical for a LAN environment.
When learning about Layer 2 concepts, it is helpful to analyze frame header information. In the first part of this
lab, you will review the fields contained in an Ethernet II frame. In Part 2, you will use Wireshark to capture
and analyze Ethernet II frame header fields for local and remote traffic.
Required Resources
CyberOps Workstation virtual machine
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Lab - Using Wireshark to Examine Ethernet Frames
Instructions
Preamble Not shown in capture This field contains synchronizing bits, processed by the NIC
hardware.
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Lab - Using Wireshark to Examine Ethernet Frames
Destination Address Broadcast Layer 2 addresses for the frame. Each address is 48 bits
(ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff) long, or 6 octets, expressed as 12 hexadecimal digits, 0-
9,A-F.
IntelCor_62:62:6d A common format is 12:34:56:78:9A:BC.
Source Address
(f4:8c:50:62:62:6d) The first six hex numbers indicate the manufacturer of the
network interface card (NIC), the last six hex numbers are
the serial number of the NIC.
The destination address may be a broadcast, which contains
all ones, or a unicast. The source address is always unicast.
Frame Type 0x0806 For Ethernet II frames, this field contains a hexadecimal
value that is used to indicate the type of upper-layer protocol
in the data field. There are numerous upper-layer protocols
supported by Ethernet II. Two common frame types are:
Value Description
0x0800 IPv4 Protocol
0x0806 Address resolution protocol (ARP)
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Lab - Using Wireshark to Examine Ethernet Frames
e. At the prompt on Node: H3, enter netstat -r to display the default gateway information.
[root@secOps ~]# netstat -r
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags MSS Window irtt Iface
default 10.0.0.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 H3-eth0
10.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 H3-eth0
Question:
What is the IP address of the default gateway for the host H3?
- 10.0.0.1
c. In the terminal window for Node: H3, open Wireshark and start a packet capture for H3-eth0 interface.
[root@secOps analyst]# wireshark-gtk &
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Lab - Using Wireshark to Examine Ethernet Frames
a. In the Packet List pane (top section), click the first frame listed. You should see Echo (ping) request
under the Info heading. This should highlight the line blue.
b. Examine the first line in the Packet Details pane (middle section). This line displays the length of the
frame; 98 bytes in this example.
c. The second line in the Packet Details pane shows that it is an Ethernet II frame. The source and
destination MAC addresses are also displayed.
Questions:
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Lab - Using Wireshark to Examine Ethernet Frames
g. Click the next frame in the top section and examine an Echo reply frame. Notice that the source and
destination MAC addresses have reversed, because this frame was sent from the default gateway router
as a reply to the first ping.
Question:
In the first echo (ping) request frame, what are the source and destination MAC addresses?
Source:
- This should be the MAC address of the PC.
Destination:
- This should be the MAC address of the Default Gateway.
What are the source and destination IP addresses contained in the data field of the frame?
Source:
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Lab - Using Wireshark to Examine Ethernet Frames
Why has the destination IP address changed, while the destination MAC address remained the same?
- Layer 2 frames never leave the LAN. When a ping is issued to a remote host, the source will use the
Default Gateway’s MAC address for the frame destination. The Default Gateway receives the packet,
strips the Layer 2 frame information from the packet and then creates a new frame header with the next
hop’s MAC address. This process continues from router to router until the packet reaches its destination
IP address.
Reflection
Wireshark does not display the preamble field of a frame header. What does the preamble contain?
- The preamble field contains seven octets of alternating 1010 sequences, and one octet that signals the
beginning of the frame, 10101011.
End of document
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