.PCAP2 File Extension
Packet Capture Data Part 2
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What is a PCAP2 file?
A PCAP2 file is the second part of a packet capture created by Wireshark, a free program used for network data analysis. It is always paired with a corresponding .PCAP file, which contains the packet capture's first part. Multipart packet captures may also include PCAP3, PCAP4, etc. files, depending on how many parts the data was split into.
More Information
Wireshark allows users to record and analyze data that travels over a network. Typically, network administrators and other IT-savvy users use Wireshark to:
- Analyze and diagnose network problems
- Detect malicious network activity
- Maintain compliance with certain IT regulations
The data Wireshark saves is commonly referred to as a packet capture, or PCAP. If a user records a large amount of PCAP data at once, they may choose to split that data into multiple PCAP files, to make the data easier to store and transfer. These multipart PCAPs are often saved in files that use the .pcap2, .pcap3, and so on extensions, which denote in what order Wireshark recorded the PCAP data the files contain.
How to open a PCAP2 file
You can open a PCAP2 file in Wireshark (multiplatform). You can also use Wireshark to merge a PCAP2 file with its associated PCAP file, as well as any other PCAP# files that are part of the same multipart packet capture. To merge PCAP# files, select all the files in Windows File Explorer, Apple Finder, or whatever file explorer you use. Then, drag all the files at once into Wireshark. Wireshark will combine all the PCAP# files into a single PCAP file.
You can also use Wireshark's included mergecap command-line tool to merge PCAP# files into a single file.