Run with Docker

The image builds wpg and its web UI inside the container, so the host needs Docker and nothing else: no Rust toolchain, no trunk. Use a Linux host: Docker Desktop on macOS and Windows runs containers in a VM, and frames sent there never reach your physical NIC.

This page is the short path. Build options, proxies, every setting and the limits are in Docker.

1. Get the repository and start

git clone https://github.com/SeiyaFunaokaJP/web-packet-generator.git
cd web-packet-generator
WPG_PASSWORD='change me' WPG_ALLOWED_IFACES='["eth1"]' docker compose up -d --build

• WPG_PASSWORD is required: the server listens on every address of the host, so it refuses to start without a password. Pick your own; it is the administrator password of the web UI.
• WPG_ALLOWED_IFACES lists the interfaces jobs may send on. Use the name of your lab interface (ip -br link lists them); leave it out to allow all.
• The first build compiles everything and takes a while. Later starts reuse the image.

The container uses the host network and gets only CAP_NET_RAW and CAP_NET_ADMIN, so it can send on the host’s interfaces without running wpg as root on the host.

2. Check it

docker compose ps                         # STATUS shows "healthy" once the server answers
docker compose exec wpg wpg doctor        # raw sockets and interfaces, as the container sees them

Open http://127.0.0.1:8080 on the host (or http://<host>:8080 from another machine) and log in with the password. First login walks through the screens.

3. Try a template

The bundled templates are in /usr/share/wpg/templates inside the container and appear in the Templates screen. From the command line, render one to a file first (nothing is sent), then send it:

docker compose exec wpg wpg render /usr/share/wpg/templates/examples/arp-sweep.wpg.yaml -o /var/lib/wpg/arp.pcapng
docker compose exec wpg wpg send /usr/share/wpg/templates/examples/arp-sweep.wpg.yaml -i eth1 --rate 1000pps

/var/lib/wpg is the wpg-data volume: the database, your own templates and files such as the pcapng above survive restarts and image upgrades. Only send on networks you own or are authorised to test. Continue with the ARP sweep tutorial, using docker compose exec wpg wpg ... where the tutorial runs wpg ....

Stop, upgrade, remove

docker compose logs -f wpg                # follow the log
docker compose down                       # stop; the wpg-data volume is kept
git pull && WPG_PASSWORD='change me' docker compose up -d --build   # upgrade
docker compose down -v                    # stop and delete the wpg-data volume

To keep the settings out of your shell history, put them in a .env file next to docker-compose.yml (WPG_PASSWORD=..., WPG_ALLOWED_IFACES=..., WPG_BIND=...). The repository ignores .env in both git and the Docker build context, so the password is neither committed nor copied into the image.