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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-16T09:00:52+00:00

How do I receive layer 2 packets in POSIXy C++? The packets only have

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How do I receive layer 2 packets in POSIXy C++? The packets only have src and dst MAC address, type/length, and custom formatted data. They’re not TCP or UDP or IP or IGMP or ARP or whatever – they’re a home-brewed format given unto me by the Hardware guys.

My socket(AF_PACKET, SOCK_RAW, IPPROTO_RAW) never returns from its recvfrom().

I can send fine, I just can’t receive no matter what options I fling at the network stack.

(Platform is VxWorks, but I can translate POSIX or Linux or whatever…)

receive code (current incarnation):

 int s;

 if ((s = socket(AF_PACKET, SOCK_RAW, IPPROTO_RAW)) < 0) {
  printf("socket create error.");
      return -1;
 }

   struct ifreq          _ifr;   
   strncpy(_ifr.ifr_name, "lltemac0", strlen("lltemac0"));
   ioctl(s, IP_SIOCGIFINDEX, &_ifr);

   struct sockaddr_ll _sockAttrib;
   memset(&_sockAttrib, 0, sizeof(_sockAttrib));
   _sockAttrib.sll_len      = sizeof(_sockAttrib);
   _sockAttrib.sll_family   = AF_PACKET;
   _sockAttrib.sll_protocol = IFT_ETHER;
   _sockAttrib.sll_ifindex  = _ifr.ifr_ifindex;
   _sockAttrib.sll_hatype   = 0xFFFF;
   _sockAttrib.sll_pkttype  = PACKET_HOST;
   _sockAttrib.sll_halen    = 6;
   _sockAttrib.sll_addr[0]  = 0x00;
   _sockAttrib.sll_addr[1]  = 0x02;
   _sockAttrib.sll_addr[2]  = 0x03;
   _sockAttrib.sll_addr[3]  = 0x12;
   _sockAttrib.sll_addr[4]  = 0x34;
   _sockAttrib.sll_addr[5]  = 0x56;
   int _sockAttribLen = sizeof(_sockAttrib);


 char packet[64];
 memset(packet, 0, sizeof(packet));

   if (recvfrom(s, (char *)packet, sizeof(packet), 0,
                (struct sockaddr *)&_sockAttrib, &_sockAttribLen) < 0)
   {
      printf("packet receive error.");
   }

   // code never reaches here
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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    I think the way to do this is to write your own Network Service that binds to the MUX layer in the VxWorks network stack. This is reasonably well documented in the VxWorks Network Programmer’s Guide and something I have done a number of times.

    A custom Network Service can be configured to see all layer 2 packets received on a network interface using the MUX_PROTO_SNARF service type, which is how Wind River’s own WDB protocol works, or packets with a specific protocol type.

    It is also possible to add a socket interface to your custom Network Service by writing a custom socket back-end that sits between the Network Service and the socket API. This is not required if you are happy to do the application processing in the Network Service.

    You haven’t said which version of VxWorks you are using but I think the above holds for VxWorks 5.5.x and 6.x

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