Packet Creation With Python

May 26, 2009 by Isaac

I work at a company that designs and builds network routers, so you can imagine that on occasion I need to create custom Ethernet packets for testing.  For hardcore traffic testing we've got some really expensive packet generator hardware that can send packets at full line rate.  For my tests I don't need raw data throughput, but I do need the ability to customize packets.

Just today I found a really great package for Python called Scapy.  With Scapy I can create arbitrary packets with arbitrary values and fire away.  It also supports packet capturing and has all kinds of features.  As I get more comfortable with Scapy I'll post some examples.  In the mean time, those of you who need to inject custom packets for testing into equipment go check it out.

Posted in Programming, Python