README.md

NetSentry - Real-time Packet Capture and Streaming

Overview:

• NetSentry is a real-time packet capturing and streaming web application that allows you to capture network traffic using tcpdump and stream it live to a web interface.
• The application supports starting and stopping packet capture, displaying live packet data, and downloading the captured packets in .pcap format.
• It uses Flask for the backend and provides a frontend interface built with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (TailwindCSS).

Features:

• Live Packet Capture: Capture network packets on a specified interface (e.g., eth0 by default) and stream them to a web interface.
• Real-time Streaming: The application streams live packet data to the web interface using Server-Sent Events (SSE).
• Download .pcap File: After capturing packets, users can download the captured traffic as a .pcap file.
• Control Buttons: Buttons to start/stop capturing packets and display relevant status updates.

Technologies Used:

• Backend: Python with Flask
• Packet Capture: tcpdump
• Frontend: HTML, CSS (TailwindCSS), JavaScript
• Real-time Streaming: Server-Sent Events (SSE)
• Cross-Origin Resource Sharing: Flask-Cors

Installation Instructions:

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/iqlipx/NetSentry.git
   cd NetSentry

2. Install the dependencies:

   pip3 install -r requirements.txt

3. Run the application:

   python app.py

4. Open your web browser and navigate to http://localhost:5000.

Configuration:

• Change the interface_name variable in app.py to specify the network interface to capture traffic from (e.g., eth0, wlan0).
• The captured packet data is saved in captured_traffic.pcap file.

Usage:

• Click the Start Capture button to begin capturing network traffic.
• Click the Stop Capture button to stop capturing and save the traffic.
• Click Get PCAP File to download the captured packets as a .pcap file.

Screenshots: