6.5.1

Table Of Contents
c Use options to save the contents of each packet or the contents of a limited number of packets to
a .pcap or .pcapng file.
n
To save packets to a .pcap file, use the --outfile option.
n
To save packets to a .pcapng file, use the --ng and --outfile options.
You can open the file in a network analyzer tool such as Wireshark.
By default, the pktcap-uw utility saves the packet files to the root folder of the ESXi file system.
d Use the--count option to monitor only a number of packets.
3 If you have not limited the number of packets by using the --count option, press Ctrl+C to stop
capturing or tracing packets.
Example: Capture Packets That Are Received at vmnic0 from an IP Address 192.168.25.113
To capture the first 60 packets from a source system that is assigned the IP address 192.168.25.113 at
vmnic0 and save them to a file called vmnic0_rcv_srcip.pcap, run the following pktcap-uw command:
pktcap-uw --uplink vmnic0 --capture UplinkRcv --srcip 192.168.25.113 --outfile vmnic0_rcv_srcip.pcap
--count 60
What to do next
If the contents of the packet are saved to a file, copy the file from the ESXi host to the system that runs a
graphical analyzer tool, such as Wireshark, and open it in the tool to examine the packet details.
Capture Packets for a VMXNET3 Virtual Machine Adapter
Monitor traffic that flows between a virtual switch and a VMXNET3 virtual machine adapter by using the
pktcap-uw utility.
You can specify a certain capture point in the data path between a virtual switch and a virtual machine
adapter. You can also determine a capture point by traffic direction with regard to the switch and proximity
to the packet source or destination. For information about supported capture points, see Capture Points
of the pktcap-uw Utility.
Prerequisites
Verify that the virtual machine adapter is of type VMXNET3.
Procedure
1 On the host, learn the port ID of the virtual machine adapter by using the esxtop utility.
a In the ESXi Shell to the host, to start the utility, run esxtop.
b To switch to the network panel of the utility, press N.
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