How to Use Wireshark to Analyze Network Performance

Using Wireshark to analyze slow network traffic to the Perforce server.

DETAILS

Wireshark is useful in determining the cause of slow network connections. The following steps show you how to configure Wireshark: 1. Install Wireshark: On the PC workstation showing variable network traffic speeds, download Wireshark. Install all defaults, including WinPcap. 2. Configure the interface to be analyzed: Start Wireshark and select Capture | Interfaces. Choose the suspect network interface and click Start. 3. Configure a filter to focus on Perforce network traffic: Click Expression next to Filter. To capture P4V client access to a Perforce server on port 1666, configure the filter with these details: Field Name: TCP - Transmission Control Protocol expanded to tcp.dstport Destination Port Relation: == Value: 1666 Note: If you are using another port for your Perforce server, use that value instead of 1666. 4. Click OK and Apply. 5. Start capture of network traffic:
o o o

Select Capture | Stop (if needed). Select Capture | Start. Select Continue without Saving.

Note: The bottom pane will be empty.

6. Launch the application you want to analyze (such as the P4V client). You can choose Capture | Restart at times such as just before you reproduce a slowdown. Select Capture | Stop when you have completed reproducing the issue. 7. Save results Select File | Save as... to save the output as a .pcap file. This file can be sent to Perforce for analysis. Or if you would like a file to print, run File -> Print with the options: Plain text, Output to file (choose from Browse or create file), Packet Range -- All packets, Packet Range -- Displayed, Packet Format -- Packet details -- As displayed, then click Print. What to Look For Look output for particularly slow timing, such as when accessing a network drive. Note:

Unfiltered Wireshark output might show other network activity during the slow periods. Set View | Time Display Format | Seconds Since Previous Captured Packet to look for time-consuming packets. Check for network errors in red, or check for commands that are unnecessarily run repeatedly. It is helpful (when possible) to compare Wireshark output on a machine that has fast network access against a similar machine that runs slowly while accessing the network. If you are looking for a specific string, change the filter option using the syntax: data contains string Example: To filter for access to file A.txt, modify the filter: Filter: data contains A.txt

To filter for commands such as p4 changes, modify the filter: Filter: data contains user-changes Note: All Perforce user commands are prefaced with user-. For example, a p4 sync is user-sync, a p4 submit is user-submit, and so forth.