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Packet capture for mobile debugging

Packet capture for mobile debugging is the process of intercepting and analyzing network traffic between a mobile device and the internet to diagnose issues or inspect data.^[600-developer-tools-mobile-fiddler-classic.md]

On Windows, a common tool for this task is Fiddler Classic, which acts as a proxy to capture and inspect HTTP(S) traffic.^[600-developer-tools-mobile-fiddler-classic.md] To successfully capture traffic from a mobile device, several configuration steps are required to route the traffic through the debugging tool.^[600-developer-tools-mobile-fiddler-classic.md]

Configuration Steps

1. Tool Setup

The packet capture software (e.g., Fiddler) must be installed and running on the host machine.^[600-developer-tools-mobile-fiddler-classic.md]

2. Proxy Configuration

The mobile device must be configured to use the host machine's IP address as its HTTP proxy.^[600-developer-tools-mobile-fiddler-classic.md] This routes the mobile traffic through the debugging tool.

3. HTTPS Decryption

To inspect encrypted HTTPS traffic, the capture tool must be configured to decrypt traffic, which typically involves generating a Root CA certificate.^[600-developer-tools-mobile-fiddler-classic.md]

4. Certificate Installation

The mobile device must trust the debugging tool's certificate.^[600-developer-tools-mobile-fiddler-classic.md] This is achieved by: * Downloading the CA Root Certificate from the tool to the mobile device.^[600-developer-tools-mobile-fiddler-classic.md] * Installing the certificate in the device's trusted credential store (often referred to as installing a CA-ROOT certificate).^[600-developer-tools-mobile-fiddler-classic.md]

Sources

^[600-developer-tools-mobile-fiddler-classic.md]