From license to first capture

After you buy, we email your license: the file frame-bench-license.lic is attached and the same text is in the message, together with what it covers and how to start. Open the customer downloads page, load that file and the Windows and Linux installers appear, each with its SHA-256 checksum. Then open Frame Bench, choose About, then License, and load the same file.

Yes, you do not need to buy another license. Write to support@framebench.ca and quote the License ID from your original email, and we send the file again.

The customer downloads page checks your license when you load it. It refuses a license that has expired or been revoked, one that was changed when it was copied (load the .lic file itself instead of pasting the text), and one for another product. The download links expire after a short time, so ask again from the page if one has expired. If you think the license should work, write to support@framebench.ca.

Analyst if you read, fix and analyze captures; it also lets you build frames by hand, layer by layer, and edit every byte. The Craft lab opens at every tier: building one frame at a time with a live preview, are included. Crafting if you make traffic often or in bulk: the five guided packet builders, Craft lab series, mutate and fuzz and Stream expressions, and sending to a network. Complete if you also want the ready-made Craft lab scenarios and shareable packs, save decrypted TLS, DTLS and QUIC traffic as a pcap, or write and share custom Expert findings rules. Each tier contains the one before it, and the table on the home page lists every feature by tier.

The Craft lab scenarios (SMTP, FTP, HTTP/2, TLS, page load, scans) and packs of conversations you share as files, saving decrypted TLS, DTLS, QUIC and HTTP/3 traffic as a pcap or loading it into the frame table, custom Expert findings rules that you can write, share as files or read from a shared folder, a plain-words explanation of how every built-in Expert rule decides, and priority support.

Once. Frame Bench asks our server for the key that unlocks a standard license the first time you activate it, sending only the license ID and a random identifier for the installation. After that it checks today's date online each time the app starts and keeps working offline for 3 days between checks. For machines that are never online, Netomize can issue an offline license at its discretion, which needs no connection at all.

Yes, with an offline license. Netomize issues these at its discretion, so contact us to ask. An offline license never makes any network request. A standard license needs to reach our server to activate, and for its date check.

One request to framebench.ca, and nothing about you or your files: no license key, name, email, capture or device information. The reply is just the current time. See the privacy statement.

Analyst, Crafting and Complete licenses cover one user on one machine and are not transferable without our approval. A license is issued with a number of computers (seats): each computer using it takes one seat, and Remove license frees it. All copies of Frame Bench on one computer and user account (installed, portable or unpacked) share that one seat. For several users, contact us about multi-user and volume licenses.

Frame Bench works to the end of the day your license expires, in the license's own time zone. A subscription or full license then has a grace period (7 more days unless your license says otherwise) with everything working and a reminder to renew; an evaluation ends on its date. After that it asks for a renewed license. An expired license cannot download the installers from the customer downloads page. The minimum term is one year. During the term you get support, updates and new releases.

Yes. If the old computer still works, choose Remove license in the license window. The app gives the seat back to our server (it sends only the license ID and the random installation ID), and you can activate on the new computer right away. If the old computer is lost or wiped, contact us and ask for a reactivation. We may ask for proof of purchase and an explanation, and the number of reactivations per license is limited.

No. Frame Bench encrypts its saved activation with your operating system's protection for the signed-in user (Windows DPAPI, the macOS keychain, the Linux secret service). A copy on another computer or user account cannot read it, so it starts as a new installation and counts toward the license's computer limit. On a Linux desktop without a keyring the activation stays in a plain file.

A time-boxed license for trying Frame Bench. It is for evaluation only, not commercial or production use, and it does not include updates. Netomize grants evaluations at its sole discretion. Request one.

The pricing section lists them. Analyst covers viewing, editing and analysis, batch apply and address rewriting, and building one frame at a time in the Craft lab. Crafting adds the guided packet builders, the Craft lab series, mutate and Stream expressions, and sending frames onto a network. Complete adds the Craft lab scenarios and packs, decrypted TLS and QUIC pcap export, and custom Expert findings rules.

No. Nothing you load is ever sent anywhere, and the app has no telemetry. See the privacy statement.

It does not check for updates or send usage data. The only request it makes is the signed date check at startup (offline licenses make none). New releases are announced in the release notes and sent to licensed users.

Frame Bench runs on 64-bit Windows 10 or 11, and on a recent 64-bit Linux desktop distribution such as Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or later. Plan on 4 GB of memory (8 GB or more for large captures; a low-memory setting is in Preferences) and about 300 MB of free disk space. A standard license needs one internet connection to activate, and a small date check at each start; an offline license needs none. On Linux the AppImage runs on most distributions (some need libfuse2) and the .deb is for Debian and Ubuntu. Sending frames onto a network also needs Npcap on Windows or libpcap on Linux; everything else works without them. There is no 32-bit or ARM build yet.

Not yet. macOS support is coming soon. If you want it, tell us so we know how many people are waiting.

Classic pcap and PcapNG captures, and raw-frames JSON exports. Fiddler SAZ and browser HAR files import as real, editable TCP and HTTP frames.

It does not capture live traffic, on purpose. It opens captures you have and builds new ones from nothing, then edits and saves them. Record with Wireshark or tcpdump, then open the file here. The desktop app can also send frames you built onto a network, off by default, behind a warning, a low rate limit and a confirmation (Crafting and Complete).

By default it does not. Auto-fix recomputes lengths and checksums after each edit, including the Ethernet padding case on short frames. You can turn it off in Preferences, and Health check scans the whole capture on demand.

Yes. Undo and redo cover single edits and whole batch operations, and Revert all changed frames puts everything back the way it was loaded.

Large-capture mode indexes the file instead of reading it whole, and loads only the frame range or filter you choose. Filtered exports stream straight to disk.

Save a session file to restore frames, templates, rules and filters later. Autosave also keeps a recovery copy in case of a crash.

Licensed users get support by email. Write to support@framebench.ca or use the inquiry form.

Check the protocol coverage list, then tell us. You can also describe your own layouts as custom templates.