Lab 2 - Use Wireshark to View Network Traffic

Course: NWC204
Semester: SU24
Class: SE1961
Name: Nguyễn Trần Phương Tuấn
Roll number: SE192824

Objectives
Part 1: Capture and Analyze Local ICMP Data in Wireshark
Part 2: Capture and Analyze Remote ICMP Data in Wireshark

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. In this lab, you will use Wireshark to capture ICMP data packet
IP addresses and Ethernet frame MAC addresses.

Required Resources
 1 PC (Windows with internet access)
 Additional PCs on a local-area network (LAN) will be used to reply to ping requests.
Using a packet sniffer such as Wireshark may be considered a breach of the security policy of the school. It is
recommended that permission be obtained before running Wireshark for this lab. If using a packet sniffer such
as Wireshark is an issue, the instructor may wish to assign the lab as homework or perform a walk-through
demonstration.

Instructions

Part 1: Capture and Analyze Local ICMP Data in Wireshark

In Part 1 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 PC interface addresses.

For this lab, you will need to retrieve your PC IP address and its network interface card (NIC) physical
address, also called the MAC address.
Open a Windows command prompt.

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Lab 2 - Use Wireshark to View Network Traffic

a. In a command prompt window, enter ipconfig /all, to the IP address of your PC interface, its description,
and its MAC (physical) address.

C:\Users\YourName> ipconfig /all

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

Close a Windows Command Prompt.

Step 2: Start Wireshark and begin capturing data.

a. Navigate to Wireshark. Double-click the desired interface to start the packet capture. Make sure the
desired interface has traffic.

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Lab 2 - Use Wireshark to View Network Traffic

b. Information will start scrolling down the top section in Wireshark. The data lines will appear in different
colors based on protocol.
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 the Apply button (arrow sign) to view only ICMP (ping) PDUs.

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Lab 2 - Use Wireshark to View Network Traffic

c. This filter causes all data in the top window to disappear, but you are still capturing the traffic on the
interface. Navigate to a command prompt window and ping the IP address that you received from your
classmate.

C:\> ping {your.class.mate.ip}

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Lab 2 - Use Wireshark to View Network Traffic

Notice that you start seeing data appear in the top window of Wireshark again.

d. Stop capturing data by clicking the Stop Capture icon.

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Lab 2 - Use Wireshark to View Network Traffic

Step 3: Examine the captured data.

In Step 3, examine the data that was generated by the ping requests of your team member 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 PC IP address, and the Destination column contains the IP address of the teammate PC that
you pinged.

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.

c.
Questions:

Does the source MAC address match your PC interface?

answers
here.
Does the destination MAC address in Wireshark match your team member MAC address?
It doesn’t match because each one has it own MAC address.
How is the MAC address of the pinged PC obtained by your PC?

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Lab 2 - Use Wireshark to View Network Traffic

It is obtained by three processes:

ARP Cache: Once your PC receives the MAC address, it stores this information in its ARP cache for
future reference, reducing the need to repeat the ARP request for subsequent communications.
ARP Reply: The PC with the matching IP address responds to the ARP request with its MAC address.
ARP Cache: Once your PC receives the MAC address, it stores this information in its ARP cache for
future reference, reducing the need to repeat the ARP request for subsequent communications
Type your answers here.
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 2: Capture and Analyze Remote ICMP Data in Wireshark

In Part 2, 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 1.

Step 1: Start capturing data on the interface.

a. Start the data capture again.
b. A window prompts you to save the previously captured data before starting another capture. It is not
necessary to save this data. Click Continue without Saving.
c. With the capture active, ping the following three website URLs from a Windows command prompt:
Open a Windows command prompt

1) Fpt.edu.vn

2) www.cisco.com

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Lab 2 - Use Wireshark to View Network Traffic

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.
d. You can stop capturing data by clicking the Stop Capture icon.

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Lab 2 - Use Wireshark to View Network Traffic

Step 2: Examining and analyzing the data from the remote hosts.
Review the captured data in Wireshark and 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.
Questions:

IP address for fpt.edu.vn:

Type your answers here.

MAC address for fpt.edu.vn:
rs here.
IP address for www.cisco.com:

our answers here.

MAC address for www.cisco.com:

pe your answers here.

IP address for www.google.com:

swers here.
MAC address for www.google.com:

our ans ere.

What is significant about this information?

The MAC ip of all website are the same.
Type your answers here.
How does this information differ from the local ping information you received in Part 1?
The MAC ip from another device is different from the MAC ip of my pc, while the MAC ip of different
websites are the same.
Type your answers here.
Close the Windows command prompt

Reflection Question
Why does Wireshark show the actual MAC address of the local hosts, but not the actual MAC address for the
remote hosts?
The reason for this is that MAC addresses are specific to the local network segment. When a packet is sent
from a local host to a remote host, it goes through routers, which strip off the original MAC address and
replace it with their own MAC address. As a result, when the packet reaches the remote host, the original
MAC address is no longer visible. Therefore, Wireshark can only show the MAC addresses of the hosts within
the local network.

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