How to install Wireshark on Debian 11 Bullseye
Do you need to get Wireshark working on Debian 11 Bullseye? If so, this is the guide for you. Follow along as we go over several ways to install the Wireshark app on Debian 11.
Installing Wireshark with GUI
The GUI tool is one of the best ways to get Wireshark working on Debian 11 Bullseye. The GUI tool is relatively easy to use, especially if you’re new to Debian.
To get started, open up the GUI tool. The GUI tool is called “Synaptic.” Open up this tool by searching for “Synaptic” in the app menu. Then, with the Synaptic app up and running, follow the step-by-step instructions below to install Wireshark on Debian 11.
Step 1: First, find the “Search” button inside the Synaptic app and click on it with the mouse. Then, type in “wireshark” in the search box.
Step 2: Scroll through the search results inside of Synaptic and find the “wireshark” package. Right-click on it and select the “Mark for installation” button when you’ve located it.
Step 3: After marking the “wireshark” package for installation, select the “Apply” button. Selecting this button will tell Synaptic to install all packages marked (Wireshark) onto your system.
Step 4: Upon selecting the “Apply” button, the Synaptic package manager will install the Wireshark application on your computer. When the process is complete, the Wireshark configuration window will appear.
Use the Wireshark configuration window to set up Wireshark on Debian 11 Bullseye. When the configuration is complete, you’ll be able to use Wireshark.
Installing Wireshark via terminal
Another way to get Wireshark working on Debian 11 Bullseye is through the terminal, with the Debian package manager. To install Wireshark on your system, start by opening up a terminal window on the desktop.
Unsure about how to open up a terminal window on the Debian desktop? Press Ctrl + Alt + T on the keyboard. Or, search for “Terminal” in the app menu and launch it that way.
With the terminal window open and ready to use, run the apt install command to set up the “wireshark” package.
sudo apt install wireshark
With the command entered, Debian will ask you for your password. Assuming you’ve set up your user account to use sudo, enter your password. Otherwise, log into root and run the command above.
After entering your password, Debian will collect the packages and get them ready to install. You’ll then be asked to press the Y button to confirm you wish to install the software. Do so to install Wireshark on your system.
Once the Wireshark app is installed on your Debian system, open it up and use the configuration tool to set everything up. When Wireshark is configured, you’ll be able to use the app.
Installing Wireshark via Flatpak
Through the traditional Debian package manager, Wireshark is available for Debian 11 Bullseye Linux. However, it isn’t the only way to get it working. It is also possible to install Wireshark via Flatpak.
Why would you want to install Wireshark via Flatpak when it’s available on the Debian repos? Easy! Flatpak is much more up-to-date than the version available in the repositories.
So, if you need a more up-to-date version of Wireshark on your Debian 11 Bullseye system, Flatpak is an option. Here’s how to get it working.
You’ll need to open up a terminal window on the desktop to start. You can open up a terminal window on the Linux desktop by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T on the keyboard. Alternatively, search for “Terminal” in the app menu and launch it that way.
Use the apt install command to install the “flatpak” package with the terminal window open. You must install this package to interact with Flatpak apps on Debian 11 Bullseye.
sudo apt install flatpak
With the Flatpak runtime installed on your computer, you can install the latest version of Wireshark on your computer via the two flatpak commands down below.
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo flatpak install flathub org.wireshark.Wireshark
Installing Wireshark via PPA
While Flatpak is one way to get the latest version of Wireshark on Debian 11 Bullseye, it’s not the only way. Another way you can get Wireshark on Debian is with the Ubuntu PPA.
If you’d like to set up Wireshark via the Ubuntu PPA, you must open up a terminal window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T on the keyboard (or via the app menu).
With the terminal window open, use the apt install command and install the “snapd” package on your computer. Then, use the commands below to enable the Wireshark ppa.
Note: you will also need to enable the Ubuntu “focal” sources repository to handle any packages that the PPA needs which can’t be provided by Debian.
sudo add-apt-repository "deb https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/wireshark-dev/stable/ubuntu focal main" sudo apt-add-repository "deb http://01.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal main universe"
Next, you’ll need to add in the repo keys. The easiest way to do this is with the apt-key command.
sudo apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv-keys 3B4FE6ACC0B21F32 871920D1991BC93C D875551314ECA0F0
With the keys recovered, run the apt update command. Then, install the latest release of Wireshark on Debian 11 Bullseye with the command below.
sudo apt install -t focal wireshark-common wireshark
