Monitoring NI-XNET Automotive Ethernet Traffic Using Wireshark

Updated Jul 31, 2023

Environment

Hardware

  • PXIe-8521
  • PXIe-8522
  • PXIe-8523
  • PXIe-8623

Driver

  • NI-XNET

NI-XNET provides support for developing applications for prototyping, simulating, and testing Automotive Ethernet, CAN, LIN, and FlexRay networks. This tutorial will show you how to monitor Ethernet frames in real-time using Wireshark for Automotive Ethernet modules.

Software Setup

  1. Install NI-XNET 19.6 or later. Use NI-XNET 21.5 or later if you want to monitor the Automotive Ethernet modules on the Linux RT target.
  2. Make sure to select NI-XNET Utilities when installing the driver.
image002.png
 
  1. If you installed the NI-XNET Utilities before installing Wireshark, copy the file extcap_xnet_plugin.exe from the Public Documents folder to your Wireshark Installation
    1. for 32-bit Wireshark: copy the file from C:\Users\Public\Documents\National Instruments\NI-XNET\Wireshark Plugins\x86 to C:\Program Files (x86)\Wireshark\extcap
    2. for 64-bit Wireshark: copy the file from C:\Users\Public\Documents\National Instruments\NI-XNET\Wireshark Plugins\x64 to C:\Program Files\Wireshark\extcap
 

Hardware Setup 

Refer to Configuring Network Settings of NI Automotive Ethernet Modules.

 

Monitoring XNET Frames Using Wireshark

Windows Target

  1. Open Wireshark software, make sure you can see all Automotive Ethernet modules ports. If you cannot find any Automotive Ethernet ports on Wireshark, uninstall the NI-XNET driver using NI Package Manager and install it again. Repairing the NI-XNET driver might not work.
  2. Select any Automotive Ethernet ports to monitor the frames then select Start Capturing Packets.

2021-12-06_10h12_00.png

Linux RT Target Remotely from Windows Host PC

  1. Open Wireshark software. Double click XNET RT Remote Capture.

extcap1.png

  1. Under the Config tab, fill in the interface name that you want to monitor.
extcap2.png
  1. Under the SSH Connection tab, fill in the IP Address, Username and Password of the Linux RT target.
extcap3.png
  1. Click Start to start capturing.

Once any ethernet communication has occurred on the NI-XNET Automotive Ethernet modules, the traffic will be captured by the Wireshark. Once you have stopped capturing packets, you can go to File >> Save As to save the capture.
image005.png
 
 

Related Links

Getting Started With NI-VCOM for VeriStand

Other Support Options

Ask the NI Community

Collaborate with other users in our discussion forums



Request Support from an Engineer

A valid service agreement or active software subscription may be required, and support options vary by country.