The bits for Network Monitor 3.2 went live in mid-September 2008, and following the release of the latest version, Microsoft has also overhauled the parser management. Paul Long from the NetMon team indicated that the parsers were revamped in order to support upgrades and, in this context, a new project was launched on CodePlex, Microsoft's open source repository. The Network Monitor Open Source Parsers, courtesy of the Network Monitor Open Protocol CodePlex Project, is designed to offer the latest parser updates for NetMon. The Redmond company informed that the CodePlex project would be the nucleus of all NetMon parser development starting with November 2008.

“Our plan is to release a new set parsers every month. It may take us a bit of time to completely convert our development over to CodePlex. In the meantime there may be fixes for bugs that have been filed internally. But soon you’ll see the parser files updated live along with a matching MSI installer each month. We have already released a new MSI with the current parser changes,” Long stated. “Eventually, we will document and expose the code for MSI creation so that you can create packages for your own parser sets.”

By placing the Network Monitor parsers on CodePlex, Microsoft is essentially extending an invitation to the open source community, not only to provide feedback on the releases, but also to get involved in the typical manner of an open source project. Long informed that the parsers served via CodePlex are labeled as version 3.3 instead of 3.2 as the latest release of NetMon. This because the open source parsers are synchronized with Microsoft's own internal releases. However, Long pointed out that the v3.3 parsers are fully compatible with version 3.2 of Network Monitor.

“Network Monitor is a free protocol analyzer and network sniffer. It allows you to capture and view network traffic in a format that is easier for humans to read. It is often used as a troubleshooting/development tool or to validate that a protocol is behaving as you expect,” Long explained. “For historic background, Network Monitor 3 was a complete re-write of the Network Monitor program that previously shipped in Windows Server and SMS. One of the major design changes is that the parsers - code that describes how network packets are decoded - are written in a custom language and included with the product.”

Microsoft Network Monitor Parsers 3.3.1382 can be downloaded from here.

Microsoft Network Monitor 3.2 RTM is available for download here.