pcap_create(3PCAP) man page

pcap_create(3PCAP) man page

Updated: 6 September 2026 • View in plain text • Return to Main Contents

NAME

pcap_create - create a live capture handle

SYNOPSIS

#include <pcap/pcap.h>

char errbuf[PCAP_ERRBUF_SIZE];

pcap_t *pcap_create(const char *source, char *errbuf);

DESCRIPTION

pcap_create() is used to create a packet capture handle to capture packets on a device (typically a network interface, see pcap_findalldevs(3PCAP) for a more detailed explanation). source is a string that specifies the capture device to open; in this function, a null pointer means the same as the string “any”. errbuf is a buffer large enough to hold at least PCAP_ERRBUF_SIZE chars.

The returned handle must be activated with pcap_activate(3PCAP) before packets can be captured with it; options for the capture, such as promiscuous mode, can be set on the handle before activating it.

RETURN VALUE

pcap_create() returns a pcap_t * on success and a null pointer on failure. If a null pointer is returned, errbuf is filled in with an appropriate error message.

SEE ALSO

pcap(3PCAP)

COLOPHON

This HTML man page was generated at 15:15:19 GMT, September 13, 2026 from a source man page in “The Tcpdump Group” git repositories using man2html and other tools.