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This message appears:

No interface can be used for capturing in this system with the current configuration.

(couldn't run /usr/bin/dumpcap in child process: permission denied)

Tell me how to avoid it.

Zanna
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Ashish
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  • you could run it temporary as root - this would be a workaround regarding the missing interfaces. Wireshark should display a dialog/warning regarding root usage in that case – dufte Mar 22 '16 at 12:16

1 Answers1

86

As @Tim already mentioned - this problem was discussed before already. This post gives the proper solution - just tested it in 14.04 and it is still valid & working

The following is a 100% quote from here.

Open a terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T and type the following commands:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure wireshark-common

press the right arrow and enter for yes

sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/dumpcap

you should now be able to run it without root and you will be able to capture.

dufte
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    For me its enough sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/dumpcap – EsmaeelE Mar 13 '20 at 15:55
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    Works on Ubuntu 20.04 only with the chmod... – RicHincapie Mar 09 '22 at 20:47
  • sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/dumpcap was the only missing step.

    I granted root privileges to all users during wireshark installation so no need to run dpkg-reconfigure.

    – Sandoval0992 Jul 02 '22 at 13:56
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    Rather than chmod the binary to allow unprivileged access, add your account to the wireshark group that the reconfiguration creates, then log out & in again or reboot for the membership to take effect. – Walf Mar 26 '24 at 06:32
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    Instead of sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/dumpcap use: sudo usermod -a -G wireshark "$USER". Reboot to apply changes (for me on Ubuntu 20.04 logging out and logging in was not enough) – Anton Samokat May 24 '24 at 10:28
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    To explain @AntonSamokat comment sudo usermod -a -G wireshark "$USER" adds your user to the wireshark group, which should have access to dumpcap. This is better than giving all users access to dumpcap. See https://superuser.com/a/1004897 – E.M. Nov 21 '24 at 22:40