This quick‑start guide walks you through installing Wireshark on Fedora 36 so that you can begin packet analysis without wrestling with broken repositories. First, run a system update to ensure all dependencies are current, then use dnf to install the wireshark, wireshark-qt, and tshark packages directly from Fedora’s official repos. After installation, add your user to the wireshark group with ‘sudo usermod -aG wireshark $(whoami)’ so that you can capture packets without root privileges, optionally tweaking /etc/wireshark/wireshark.conf if you want a system‑wide permission setting. Finally, start the GUI, select an interface like eth0 or wlan0, and verify packet flow, checking that the interface is up and that no firewall rules interfere.

How to Install Wireshark on Fedora 36 Linux

If you’re looking to start sniffing packets without wrestling with a broken repo or an endless list of dependencies, this is the quick‑start guide for Fedora 36. I’ve seen users hit snags after a kernel update that left the wireshark package out of sync; these steps should keep you clear of that mess.

Step 1: Keep the System Fresh

sudo dnf update

Running the update first guarantees that you’re pulling the latest compatible versions of all underlying libraries. An outdated dependency can silently break Wireshark’s GUI or even make it crash when you try to capture.

Step 2: Grab Wireshark from Fedora’s Repositories

sudo dnf install wireshark wireshark-qt tshark

Fedora ships a fully‑baked package with the Qt frontend, the command‑line tool tshark, and all necessary plugins. No need for EPEL or compiling from source—just one line.

Step 3: Let Non‑Root Users Capture Packets

By default, only root can read network interfaces. If you’re not a sysadmin, you’ll hit “Permission denied” every time you launch Wireshark.

sudo usermod -aG wireshark $(whoami)

Adding yourself to the wireshark group unlocks raw packet capture for your account. Log out and back in so the group change takes effect; otherwise, a fresh session is required.

Real‑world note: I once had a teammate who could’t see any traffic after an automated update that removed the wireshark group membership. Re‑adding it fixed everything instantly—no reboot of networking services needed.

Step 4: (Optional) Enable “Capturing Without Root” for All Users

If you’re on a shared machine, the default group approach is still fine. But if you prefer a system‑wide setting:

sudo vi /etc/wireshark/wireshark.conf

Add or uncomment the line enable_capture=no. This tells Wireshark to rely on the OS for permissions instead of trying to run as root itself.

Step 5: Test It Out

Launch the GUI:

wireshark

Open any interface (e.g., eth0 or wlan0) and start capturing. If you see packets, you’re golden. If not, double‑check that the interface is up (ip link show) and that no firewall rules are blocking traffic.

That’s it—no extra repos, no fiddly compile steps, just a clean install that lets you dive into packet analysis straight away.