lack of promiscuity (in network interface)

[Fragger]

i'm sitting here with EtherPeek and ethereal, wondering how to set myself into promiscuous mode. Curiously this procedure is absent from the built in man pages, so I applied the standard procedure to no result.

ifconfig en0 promisc
ifconfig en0 192.168.1.x promisc
both return:
ifconfig: promisc: bad value

any help is well appreciated, thankyou

[howardm4]

you dont.

First off, only root can put the interface
into promis. mode.

Second, as I recall, you can only do it
via the C API which ethereal will do.

So, su to root and launch the tool.

Or, if you like to live dangerously and you're
the only user of the machine, suid the binary.

[Fragger]

i kind of wanted to know what the actual call in the C API or wherever is... looks like i have a bit of source code digging to do! thankyou

[howardm4]

well, try examining the source code for
your favorite packet sniffer or check
the Steven's book.

you essentially need the IFF_PROMISC
flag sent to the interface via ioctl.

see 'man netintro'

[Fragger]

thanks again, time to get reading!