CAN to Ethernet Sniffer (With STM32H7 Nucleo)

Project Overview

This project was developed as part of a Master's subject in Computer Engineering and Networks (UPV, Valencia). It is based on the STM32H743ZI Nucleo microcontroller, which sniffs messages from a CAN (Controller Area Network) bus and transmits them over Ethernet. The captured data can be visualized in Wireshark using a custom plugin that has been written in C and compiled directly into the Wireshark source code.

Features

• CAN Bus Sniffing: Captures CAN messages from a CAN network using the STM32H743ZI microcontroller.
• Ethernet Transmission: Sends the captured CAN data over Ethernet using the STM32’s built-in Ethernet interface.
• Wireshark Integration: A custom plugin written in C allows Wireshark to parse and display CAN packets received over Ethernet.

Requirements

Hardware:

• STM32H743ZI Nucleo Board: Microcontroller board used for CAN sniffing and Ethernet transmission.
• CAN Transceiver: Connects the STM32H743ZI to the CAN bus network. Waveshare RS485 HAT has been used during development (https://www.waveshare.com/rs485-can-shield.htm).

Software:

• STM32CubeIDE: IDE for developing and flashing the firmware onto the STM32 board.
• STM32CubeMX: Tool for configuring the STM32 peripherals.
• Wireshark: Network protocol analyzer, with the custom C-based plugin for CAN packet decoding.

Setup and Installation

1. STM32 Firmware Setup

1. Clone this repository and open the project in STM32CubeIDE.
2. Connect the STM32H743ZI Nucleo board to your computer via USB.
3. In STM32CubeMX, configure the following:
   • CAN Peripheral: Ensure the CAN interface is set up to match your CAN network.
   • Ethernet Peripheral: Configure the LwIP settings for data transmission over your network, address, mask and gateway.
4. Build and flash the project to the STM32 board.

2. Wireshark Plugin Setup

1. Clone the Wireshark repository from Wireshark's official Git repository.
2. Create plugin directory: mkdir plugins/can
3. Copy the custom plugin code from this repository to the new one.
4. Add the new plugin entry in the Wireshark CMakeLists.txt file, located on the root of the wireshark directory. Look for the "set(PLUGIN_SRC_DIRS)" directive and add: plugins/can
5. You can now filter by can_udp type whenever you receive the packets from the board.