
To do so, run the command: $ sudo usermod -aG wireshark $ ( whoami )įinally, reboot the system. If you selected the ‘Yes’ option in the pop-up screen, you need to add the regular non-root user to the WireShark group.

Thereafter, the Wireshark installation will be completed. In the pop-up, select ‘ Yes‘ and hit ENTER. However, you can include a regular user to have the ability to run and capture packets of data using Wireshark. By default, Wireshark is set to be run by the root user. Thereafter, a pop-up screen will be displayed as shown. This will install Wireshark alongside other dependencies. This can be achieved by running the command: $ sudo apt updateĪfter the system packages have been updated, install Wireshark on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS by running the command: $ sudo apt install wireshark To install the network protocol analyzer, it’s always a good idea to first update the system. In this topic, we examine how you can install Wireshark on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. When you're back in it should let you start sniffing without any fuss about being root.Wireshark is a free and open-source network protocol analyzer used mostly by network engineers and cybersecurity experts to analyze packets of data. Run this: sudo adduser $USER wiresharkĪnd restart or log out. Then you just need to add the user to that group. Technically any person with access to a computer logged in with a wireshark account will be able to sniff. This is obviously more secure than just letting anybody sniff but does mean there's no password checking. Anybody in that group will be able to sniff without being root. That's what we're aiming for, so select Yes and hit return. This will ask you if you want to allow non-root user to be able to sniff. In a terminal (very important that you're in a terminal, not just the Alt+F2 dialogue) run this: sudo dpkg-reconfigure wireshark-common

The bit that normally needs root is the packet collection application and this can be configured to allow certain people to use it without sudo, gksu, etc.
