VITA 49.2 Wireshark Dissector

Note: You should clone this repository recursively as it contains submodules.

Wireshark plugin for dissecting V49.2 packets. The vrtgen data model is used to create the packet field accessors. Using this plugin in place of Wireshark's built-in dissector allows viewing the contents of context and command packets.

Building this project creates a v49d2.so loadable module that can be installed to the Wireshark plugins directory.

Dependencies

The v49d2.so module requires Wireshark and Wireshark development packages >= 2.6.

Building the module from source requires CMake 3.14 or newer and Python 3.6 or newer with vrtgen installed.

Installation

The vrtgen Python module must be available to generate the source code used in the module. The source is included as a Git submodule, but must be installed first. The easiest way to install it is with the use of a Python virtual environment:

python3 -m venv venv
. venv/bin/activate
pushd vrtgen
pip install .
popd

As long as the vrtgen module can be imported by the Python 3 interpreter, CMake will detect it and generate the necessary files.

python3 -c "import vrtgen; print('vrtgen installed')"

To build the project:

cmake3 -B build
cd build
sudo make install

Usage

When the v49d2.so module is installed, Wireshark shows "VITA 49.2" in the protocol list. Right-click on a captured packet and select "Decode As..." to bring up the protocol selection dialog, then select "VITA 49.2" and click "OK".

Testing

The pcaps directory includes some sample Wireshark captures that exercise the dissector for common data, context and command packets.