---
name: "pcap_lib_version"
section: "3pcap"
platform: "linux"
package: "libpcap"
version: "1.11.0-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux", "macos"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/pcap_lib_version/3pcap"
---

# pcap\_lib\_version(3pcap)

get the version information for libpcap

## NAME

pcap\_lib\_version - get the version information for libpcap

## SYNOPSIS

```
#include <pcap/pcap.h>
```

**const char \*pcap\_lib\_version(void);**

## DESCRIPTION

**pcap\_lib\_version**() returns a pointer to a string giving information about the version of the libpcap library being used.  The string begins with the words "libpcap version" and a space.  Then follows the version, which consists of three dot-separated numbers and the optional "-PRE-GIT" suffix to indicate a development snapshot, same as in the output of **pcap-config --version** in sufficiently recent libpcap releases.  After the version often follow a space and additional text in an arbitrary human-readable form to indicate particular features.  For example:

- an old release, on any OS

  ```
  libpcap version 1.5.3
  ```

- a newer release on a Linux host

  ```
  libpcap version 1.10.4 (with TPACKET_V3)
  ```

- the same, built with DAG support only

  ```
  libpcap version 1.10.4 (DAG-only)
  ```

- a development snapshot on a FreeBSD host

  ```
  libpcap version 1.11.0-PRE-GIT (64-bit time_t, with zerocopy and netmap support)
  ```

## SEE ALSO

[**pcap-config**(1)](/pcap-config/1.md), **pcap**(3PCAP)