Aircrack-ng runs on many platforms, including Linux, Windows, and the Sharp Zaurus handheld. Before you install Aircrack-ng on a Linux or Sharp Zaurus platform, be sure to install the proper driver patches for your system. The Aircrack-ng web site at http://www.aircrack-ng.org/ has a handy chart that outlines the compatibility of various wireless network card chipsets. Table 8-2 provides an abbreviated version of that chart.
Table 8-2. Aircrack-ng compatibility
Chipset | Supported by airodump for Windows | Supported by airodump for Linux | Supported by aireplay for Linux |
|---|---|---|---|
Atheros | CardBus: Yes | ||
PCI: No | Yes | Yes | |
Atmel | Untested | Untested | Untested |
Broadcom | Old models only (BRCM driver) | Yes | In progress |
Centrino b | No | Partial (ipw2100 driver doesn't discard corrupted packets) | No |
Centrino b/g | No | Yes | No |
Centrino a/b/g | No | Yes | No |
Cisco Aironet | Yes | Yes | No |
Hermes I | Yes | Yes | No |
NdisWrapper | N/A | Never | Never |
Prism2/3 | No | Yes | Yes (PCI and CardBus only; driver patching required) |
PrismGT | Yes | FullMAC: Yes | |
SoftMAC: Not yet | Yes (driver patching recommended) | ||
Ralink | No | Yes (rt2500/rt2570/rt73 driver) | Yes |
RTL8180 | Yes | Yes | Unstable |
TI (ACX100/ACX111) | No | Untested (acx100 driver) | No |
ZyDAS 1201 | No | Yes | No |
Others (Marvel...) | No | Unknown | No |
Once you have patched your network card driver, you are ready to install Aircrack on your system.
It is actually very simple to run Aircrack on Windows. Just install the appropriate driver on your system, which you can find on the Aircrack-ng web site, as well as the Wildpackets driver available at http://www.wildpackets.com/support/downloads/drivers.
In the included INSTALL.txt file of Aircrack-ng for Windows, you may see that you need to download three separate DLLs and one SYS file: Cygwin1.dll, msvcr70.dll, peek.dll, and peek5.sys. Once you have installed the necessary files and unpacked Aircrack-ng for Windows, you are ready to use it from the command line.
If you are installing Aircrack-ng on Linux, the installation process is just as simple as the Windows one, and you have options for most distributions. To install from source, you simply need to download it and run the following as root (or use sudo, depending on your distribution):
tar xfz <name of source file> cd aircrack make make install
You also have the options to use both YUM and RPM installations of Aircrack-ng. For the Sharp Zaurus, there is a binary available from the Aircrack-ng web site, but note that only Sharp Zaurus model SL-5500 with a CF prism2 card is fully supported.