Build From Source on Linux

Prerequisites

In order to compile PcapPlusPlus on Linux please make sure you have the following components installed:

1. libpcap developers pack - contains the libpcap library PcapPlusPlus is linking with and relevant the header files. You can download it from http://www.tcpdump.org/#latest-release or through the standard Linux package managers such as apt-get or yum:

   sudo apt-get install libpcap-dev

   or:

   sudo yum install libpcap-devel

2. OPTIONAL - download and install Zstd if you wish to enable PCAPNG streaming compression support

Build

Assuming you want to build PcapPlusPlus into a build directory:

cmake -S . -B build

And then initiate the build in one of two ways:

• Using CMake:

  cmake --build build
• Using make:

  cd build
  make

This process will build the following artifacts:

• PcapPlusPlus libs:
  • build/Common++/libCommon++.a
  • build/Packet++/libPacket++.a
  • build/Pcap++/libPcap++.a
• PcapPlusPlus examples binaries under build/examples_bin
• PcapPlusPlus tests:
  • <PcapPlusPlus_Dir>/Tests/Packet++Test/Bin/Packet++Test
  • <PcapPlusPlus_Dir>/Tests/Pcap++Test/Bin/Pcap++Test

The following configuration options are available (on top of CMake's built-in options):

Option	Description
-DPCAPPP_BUILD_EXAMPLES=<ON/OFF>	Build PcapPlusPlus examples (default value is ON if building the project itself, otherwise OFF)
-DPCAPPP_BUILD_TESTS=<ON/OFF>	Build PcapPlusPlus tests (default value is ON if building the project itself, otherwise OFF)
-DPCAPPP_BUILD_TUTORIALS=<ON/OFF>	Build PcapPlusPlus tutorials. This option is only available if DPCAPPP_BUILD_EXAMPLES=ON. The tutorials binaries will be under build/tutorials_bin (default value is OFF)
-DPCAPPP_INSTALL=<ON/OFF>	Install PcapPlusPlus (default value is ON if building the project itself, otherwise OFF)
-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=<ON/OFF>	Build shared libs (default value is OFF)
-DLIGHT_PCAPNG_ZSTD=<ON/OFF>	Build with Zstd to enable PCAPNG streaming compression support (default value is OFF)
-DPCAPPP_ENABLE_PCAP_IMMEDIATE_MODE=<ON/OFF>	Enable pcap immediate mode (default value is OFF)
-DPCAPPP_ENABLE_PCAP_SET_DIRECTION=<ON/OFF>	Enable set direction for capturing incoming or outgoing packets (default value is OFF)
-DPCAPPP_USE_DPDK=<ON/OFF>	Setup PcapPlusPlus with DPDK (default value is OFF). When this option is used CMake will look for an installed version of DPDK on the build machine (usually under /usr/local). If DPDK is installed in a different directory please use -DDPDK_ROOT
-DDPDK_ROOT=<DIR>	When setting up PcapPlusPlus with DPDK and DPDK is not installed in the defualt directory (usually under /usr/local) use this option to indicate DPDK installation directory
-DPCAPPP_USE_PF_RING=<ON/OFF>	Setup PcapPlusplus with PF_RING (default value is OFF). When this option is used CMake will look for an installed version of PF_RING on the build machine (usually under /usr/local). If PF_RING is not installed please use -DPF_RING_ROOT
-DPF_RING_ROOT=<DIR>	When setting up PcapPlusPlus with PF_RING and PF_RING is not installed on the machine use this option to indicate the PF_RING directory (for example /PF_RING)

Installation

After the build is complete you can run the installation script which will copy the libraries, header files and examples into the installation directories:

sudo cmake --install .

If you want to install on a non-default directory you can use this command:

DESTDIR=<DIR> cmake --install build --prefix "/"

Running tests

PcapPlusPlus contains a set of test-cases you can run to make sure that everything works correctly on your system. This guide contains detailed instructions on how to run them.

Cross-compilation or build for different architectures

CMake supports cross compilation out-of-the-box so there is no need for any additional support in PcapPlusPlus.

Please refer to this page that provides information on how to cross compile with CMake: https://cmake.org/cmake/help/book/mastering-cmake/chapter/Cross%20Compiling%20With%20CMake.html