Packet Sender

{{Primary sources|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox software

| logo = Packet Sender Logo.png

| logo size = 200px

| screenshot = Packetsender_windows_screenshot.png

| caption = Packet Sender GUI

| name = Packet Sender

| author = Dan Nagle

| programming language = C++

| operating system = Cross-platform

| genre = Packet generator

| license = GPL v2

| website = {{URL|https://packetsender.com/}}

| latest release version = v8.3.5

| latest release date = {{Start date and age|2023|03|19}}

}}

{{lang|en|Packet Sender}} is an open source utility to allow sending and receiving TCP and UDP packets. It also supports TCP connections using SSL, intense traffic generation, HTTP(S) GET/POST requests, and panel generation. It is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It is licensed GNU General Public License v2 and is free software.{{cite web|url=http://packetsender.com/LICENSE.txt|title=Packet Sender License|accessdate=15 February 2015}} Packet Sender's web site says "It's designed to be very easy to use while still providing enough features for power users to do what they need.".{{cite web|url=http://packetsender.com/|title=Packet Sender Main Site|accessdate=22 February 2014}}

Uses

Typical applications of Packet Sender include:

  • Troubleshooting network devices that use network servers (send a packet and then analyze the response)
  • Troubleshooting network devices that use network clients (devices that "phone home" via UDP, TCP, or SSL—Packet Sender can capture these requests)
  • Testing and development of new network protocols (send a packet, see if device behaves appropriately)
  • Reverse-engineering network protocols for security analysis (such as malware)
  • Troubleshooting secure connections (using the SSL server and client).
  • Automation (via Packet Sender's command line interface or resend feature)
  • Stress-testing a device (using intense network generator tool)
  • Sharing/Saving/Collaboration using the Packet Sender Cloud service

Packet Sender comes with a built-in TCP, UDP, and SSL server on multiple ports a user specifies. This remains running listening for packets while sending other packets.

Features

As of version v8.1.1 Packet Sender supports the following features:{{cite web|url=http://packetsender.com/documentation|title=Packet Sender Documentation|accessdate=4 March 2022}}

  • Live traffic log (Time / From IP / From Port / To IP / Method / Error / ASCII / HEX)
  • Persistent TCP and SSL Connections
  • HTTP Requests with Auth headers
  • Portable Mode
  • IPv6 Client / Server
  • IPv4 Subnet Calculator
  • Saved packets (with sending directly from saved list)
  • Mixed ASCII packet notation (ASCII with embedded syntax to allow hex)
  • Multiple TCP servers
  • Multiple UDP servers
  • Multiple SSL servers
  • Multicast send and receive
  • Packet resending at n intervals (where n is seconds)
  • Multi-threaded TCP/SSL connections
  • Command-line interface
  • Packet responses
  • Smart Packet responses
  • Macros inside packet responses for TIME, DATE, UNIXTIME, RANDOM, UNIQUE
  • Packet search (for saved packets)
  • Packet export/import
  • Intense Traffic Generator (UDP Flooding) via GUI or CLI
  • Quick-send from traffic log
  • Save traffic log
  • Panel Generation for scripting buttons
  • Packet Sender Cloud

Platforms

  • Windows (64-bit)
  • OS X (Intel-based x86-64 or M1 Macs with Rosetta 2)
  • Linux (Source Distribution with Qt or x86-64 AppImage or Snap)

Packet Sender Mobile is available on iOS. It only has the core features of desktop Packet Sender (send, receive, TCP, UDP, and Cloud).

See also

{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}

References

{{reflist}}