pcap-config(1) man page

Updated: 22 December 2024 • View in plain text • Return to Main Contents

NAME

pcap-config - write libpcap compiler and linker flags to standard output

SYNOPSIS

pcap-config [ --help ] [ --version ] [ --cflags ]

[ --libs | --additional-libs ]

[ --static | --static-pcap-only ]

DESCRIPTION

pcap-config writes to the standard output various compiler and linker flags required to build a user program with libpcap. By default, it writes flags appropriate for building with a dynamically-linked version of libpcap; see below for static linking. Depending on the manner of libpcap installation, some options or their combinations may produce empty output - this is by design.

OPTIONS

--help: Produce a help message and exit. --version: Produce libpcap version and exit. The version is the contents of VERSION file in libpcap source tree rather than the result of pcap_lib_version(3PCAP). --cflags: Produce the -I compiler flag required to include libpcap's header files. --libs: Produce the -L and -l linker flags required to link with libpcap, including -l flags for libraries required by libpcap. --additional-libs: Produce the -L and -l linker flags for libraries required by libpcap, but not the -l flag to link with libpcap itself. --static: This option causes --libs and --additional-libs to produce linker flags appropriate for static linking with libpcap. --static-pcap-only: This option causes --libs and --additional-libs to produce linker flags appropriate for static linking with libpcap and dynamic linking with all other libraries, including libraries required by libpcap.

EXIT STATUS

pcap-config exits with a non-zero status when invoked with an invalid command-line option, and with status 0 otherwise.

BACKWARD COMPATIBILITY

The --version flag became available in libpcap release 1.10.3.

Before libpcap release 1.10.2 pcap-config did not treat invalid command-line options as an error. The --static-pcap-only flag became available in libpcap release 1.10.2.

The --static flag became available in libpcap release 1.1.0.

SEE ALSO

pkg-config(1), 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.