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##What is Pcapy?##

Pcapy is a Python extension module that enables software written in Python to access the routines from the pcap packet capture library.

From libpcap's documentation: "Libpcap is a system-independent interface for user-level packet capture. Libpcap provides a portable framework for low-level network monitoring. Applications include network statistics collection, security monitoring, network debugging, etc."

##What makes pcapy different from the others?##

• works with Python threads.
• works both in UNIX with libpcap and Windows with WinPcap.
• provides a simpler Object Oriented API.

##Getting Pcapy##

Current and past releases are available from https://github.com/CoreSecurity/pcapy.

##Setup##

###Quick start###

Grab the latest stable release, unpack it and run 'python setup.py install' from the directory where you placed it. Isn't that easy?

###Requirements###

• A Python interpreter. Versions 2.1.3 and newer are known to work.
• A C++ compiler. GCC G++ 2.95, as well as Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0, are known to work.
• Libpcap 0.7.2 or newer. Windows user are best to check WinPcap 3.0 or newer.
• A recent release of Pcapy.

###Compiling the source and installing###

As this extension is written in C++ it needs to be compiled for the host system before it can be accessed from Python. Fortunately this process has been made easy by the setup.py script. In order to compile and install the source execute the following command from the directory where the pcapy's distribution has been unpacked: 'python setup.py install'. This will install the extension into the default Python's modules path; note that you might need special permissions to write there. For more information on what commands and options are available from setup.py, run 'python setup.py --help-commands'.

This extension has been tested under Linux and Windows systems and is known to work there, but it ought to work out-of-the-box on any system where Python and libpcap are available.

##Licensing##

This software is provided under under a slightly modified version of the Apache Software License. See the accompanying LICENSE file for more information.

##Contact Us##

Whether you want to report a bug, send a patch or give some suggestions on this package, drop us a few lines at [email protected].