SYNOPSIS

androiddump [ --help ] [ --version ] [ --extcap-version ] [ --debug ] [ --extcap-interfaces ] [ --extcap-dlts ] [ --extcap-interface=<interface> ] [ --extcap-config ] [ --extcap-capture-filter=<capture filter> ] [ --capture ] [ --fifo=<path to file or pipe> ] [ --adb-server-ip=<IP address> ] [ --adb-server-tcp-port=<TCP port> ] [ --logcat-text=<TRUE or FALSE> ] [ --bt-server-tcp-port=<TCP port> ] [ --bt-forward-socket=<TRUE or FALSE> ] [ --bt-local-ip=<IP address> ] [ --bt-local-tcp-port=<TCP port> ]

androiddump --extcap-interfaces [ --adb-server-ip=<IP address> ] [ --adb-server-tcp-port=<TCP port> ]

androiddump --extcap-interface=<interface> [ --extcap-dlts ]

androiddump --extcap-interface=<interface> [ --extcap-config ]

androiddump --extcap-interface=<interface> --fifo=<path to file or pipe> --capture

DESCRIPTION

Androiddump is a extcap tool that provide interfaces to capture from an Android device. There are only two requirements:

  1. You must have the Android SDK and add it to your PATH environment variable. PATH should contain directory with tools like "adb" and "android". Android SDK for various platform are available on: https://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html#Other

  2. You must have permission to capture from the Android device. Some Android devices require on-screen authentication.

Supported interfaces:

  1. Logcat Main (binary [<=Jelly Bean] or text)

  2. Logcat System (binary [<=Jelly Bean] or text)

  3. Logcat Events (binary [<=Jelly Bean] or text)

  4. Logcat Radio (binary [<=Jelly Bean] or text)

  5. Logcat Crash (text; from Lollipop)

  6. Bluetooth Hcidump [<=Jelly Bean]

  7. Bluetooth Bluedroid External Parser [Kitkat]

  8. Bluetooth BtsnoopNet [>=Lollipop]

  9. WiFi/Ethernet tcpdump [needs tcpdump on phone]

Please note that Androiddump will work also for FirefoxOS or other Android-based operating systems.

OPTIONS

--help

Print program arguments.

--version

Print program version.

--extcap-version

Print extcapized version.

--debug

Print additional messages.

--extcap-interfaces

List available interfaces.

--extcap-interface=<interface>

Use specified interfaces.

--extcap-dlts

List DLTs of specified interface.

--extcap-config

List configuration options of specified interface.

--extcap-capture-filter=<capture filter>

The capture filter. It corresponds to the value provided via the tshark -f option, and the Capture Filter field next to the interfaces list in the Wireshark interface.

Note
 This is only respected for Wifi/Ethernet (tcpdump) capturing, not for Bluetooth or logcat.
--capture

Start capturing from the specified interface and save it in the location specified with --fifo.

--fifo=<path to file or pipe>

Save captured packet to file or send it through pipe.

--adb-server-ip=<IP address>

Use other than default (127.0.0.1) ADB daemon’s IP address.

--adb-server-tcp-port=<TCP port>

Use other than default (5037) ADB daemon’s TCP port.

--logcat-text=<TRUE or FALSE>

If TRUE then use text logcat rather then binary. This option only has an effect on Logcat interfaces. This have no effect from Lollipop where is no binary Logcat available.

Defaults to FALSE.

--bt-server-tcp-port=<TCP port>

Use other than default Bluetooth server TCP port on Android side. On Lollipop defaults is 8872, earlier 4330.

--bt-forward-socket=<TRUE or FALSE>

If TRUE then socket from Android side is forwarded to host side.

Defaults to FALSE.

--bt-local-ip=<IP address>

Use other than default (127.0.0.1) IP address on host side for forwarded socket.

--bt-local-tcp-port=<TCP port>

Specify port to be used on host side for forwarded socket.

EXAMPLES

To see program arguments:

androiddump --help

To see program version:

androiddump --version

To see interfaces:

androiddump --extcap-interfaces
Example output
interface {display=Android Logcat Main unknown MSM7627A}{value=android-logcat-main-MSM7627A}
interface {display=Android Logcat System unknown MSM7627A}{value=android-logcat-system-MSM7627A}
interface {display=Android Logcat Radio unknown MSM7627A}{value=android-logcat-radio-MSM7627A}
interface {display=Android Logcat Events unknown MSM7627A}{value=android-logcat-events-MSM7627A}
interface {display=Android Bluetooth Hcidump unknown MSM7627A}{value=android-bluetooth-hcidump-MSM7627A}

Human-readable display name of interfaces contains interface type, one of:

android-logcat-main (Android Logcat Main)
android-logcat-system (Android Logcat System)
android-logcat-radio (Android Logcat Radio)
android-logcat-events (Android Logcat Events)
android-logcat-text-main (Android Logcat Main)
android-logcat-text-system (Android Logcat System)
android-logcat-text-radio (Android Logcat Radio)
android-logcat-text-events (Android Logcat Events)
android-logcat-text-crash (Android Logcat Crash)
android-bluetooth-hcidump (Android Bluetooth Hcidump)
android-bluetooth-external-parser (Android Bluetooth External Parser)
android-bluetooth-btsnoop-net (Android Bluetooth Btsnoop Net)
android-tcpdump (Android tcpdump)

For tcpdump this is followed by target network device name (like eth0).

Then Android Device’s name if available, otherwise unknown.

Last part of it is DeviceID - the identificator of the device provided by Android SDK (see adb devices).

For example: Android Logcat Main unknown MSM7627A

  • Android Logcat Main - user-friendly type of interface

  • unknown - name of Android Device

  • MSM7627A - device ID

To see interface DLTs:

androiddump --extcap-interface=android-bluetooth-hcidump-MSM7627A --extcap-dlts
Example output
dlt {number=99}{name=BluetoothH4}{display=Bluetooth HCI UART transport layer plus pseudo-header}

To see interface configuration options:

androiddump --extcap-interface=android-bluetooth-hcidump-MSM7627A --extcap-config
Example output
arg {number=0}{call=--adb-server-ip}{display=ADB Server IP Address}{type=string}{default=127.0.0.1}
arg {number=1}{call=--adb-server-tcp-port}{display=ADB Server TCP Port}{type=integer}{range=0,65535}{default=5037}

To capture:

androiddump --extcap-interface=android-bluetooth-hcidump-MSM7627A --fifo=/tmp/bluetooth.pcapng --capture
Note
 To stop capturing CTRL+C/kill/terminate the application.

SEE ALSO

wireshark(1), tshark(1), dumpcap(1), extcap(4)

NOTES

Androiddump is part of the Wireshark distribution. The latest version of Wireshark can be found at https://www.wireshark.org.

HTML versions of the Wireshark project man pages are available at https://www.wireshark.org/docs/man-pages.

AUTHORS

Original Author

Michal Labedzki <michal.labedzki[AT]tieto.com>

Contributors

Roland Knall <rknall[AT]gmail.com>