Open-source CAN bus analyzer for Linux 🐧 / Windows 🪟

🔩 Supported Interfaces & Hardware:

• Real-time CAN/CAN-FD/LIN Decoding: Support for standard CAN, high-speed CAN-FD, and LIN bus frames.
• Wide Hardware Compatibility: Works with SocketCAN (Linux), PEAK PCAN, Kvaser, Vector, TinyCAN, CANable, Candlelight, SLCAN, CANblaster (UDP) and ZsCanFd.
• DBC & LDF Database Support: Load multiple .dbc files for CAN signal decoding and .ldf files for LIN bus signal decoding.
• Powerful Data Visualization: Integrated Graphing tools supporting Time-series, Scatter charts, Text-based monitoring, and interactive Gauge views with zoom and live tooltips. Supports both CAN and LIN signals.
• Advanced Filtering & Logging: Isolate critical data with live filters and export captures for offline analysis.
• Network Rights Management: Per-network access control for bus interfaces.
• Python Scripting: Built-in script editor with an embedded Python interpreter (via pybind11). Send and receive CAN and LIN messages, decode signals using loaded DBC/LDF files, and automate tasks. Scripts can be started manually or automatically with the measurement. Ready-to-use example scripts are included in the examples/ directory.
• CAN Gateway: Forward messages between two CAN interfaces with configurable per-message filter rules. Active during a running measurement.
• LIN Control: Send LIN Sleep/Wakeup commands, switch schedule tables, and issue LIN diagnostic requests and responses (slave node) on LIN-capable interfaces directly from the UI.
• Trace Replay: Replay captured CAN logs (Vector ASC, candump, PCAP, and PCAPng formats) with adjustable speed, per-message RX/TX direction filtering, channel mapping to live interfaces, and optional autoplay with the measurement. Supports classic CAN, CAN-FD, RTR, and error frames.
• Multiple Export Formats: Save traces as Vector ASC, Vector MDF4, Linux candump, PCAP, or PCAPng (Wireshark-compatible).
• Modern Workspace: A clean, dockable userinterface optimized for multi-monitor setups.

• 🇩🇪 German
• 🇺🇸 English
• 🇪🇸 Spain
• 🇨🇳 Chinese

qmake6
make -j$(nproc)

The binary will be in bin/cangaroo.

CANgaroo uses ip link to configure SocketCAN interfaces (bitrate, sample point, CAN FD), which requires CAP_NET_ADMIN. The recommended way is a targeted sudoers rule so no password prompt appears:

sudo groupadd cangaroo
sudo usermod -aG cangaroo $USER

Create /etc/sudoers.d/cangaroo:

%cangaroo ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /sbin/ip link set * down, /sbin/ip link set * up type can *

Log out and back in for the group membership to take effect. If you prefer not to use a group, you can instead grant CAP_NET_ADMIN directly to the ip binary (applies to all users):

sudo setcap cap_net_admin+ep /sbin/ip

Note: If the interface is set to "Configured by OS" in the setup dialog, CANgaroo will not touch the interface configuration and no elevated privileges are needed.

• Install Qt 6 (Community / Open Source) including the Qt Serial Bus component.
• Install Python 3 and pybind11 (pip install pybind11).
• Open cangaroo.pro in Qt Creator and build.

Include the required Qt6 libraries or run windeployqt on the .exe:

windeployqt --release cangaroo.exe

PEAK PCAN (CONFIG+=peakcan) — Windows only:

1. Download PCAN-Basic SDK and extract to src/driver/PeakCanDriver/pcan-basic-api/.
2. Build with qmake CONFIG+=peakcan (or add peakcan to the Qt Creator qmake arguments).
3. Place PCANBasic.dll (from pcan-basic-api/x64/) next to the built .exe.

Kvaser (CONFIG+=kvaser) — Linux and Windows:

Linux:

1. Download and build linuxcan (V5.51.461 or newer):

   tar -xf linuxcan.tar.gz
   make -C linuxcan/canlib
   sudo make -C linuxcan/canlib install
   sudo ldconfig

2. Build with qmake6 CONFIG+=kvaser.

Windows:

1. Install the Kvaser CANlib SDK (V5.51.461 or newer).
2. Build with qmake CONFIG+=kvaser CANLIB_DIR="C:/path/to/Kvaser/Canlib".
3. Place canlib32.dll (from Canlib/Bin/) next to the built .exe.

Vector (always enabled) — Windows only:

• Install the Vector XL Driver Library on the target machine.
• No build-time SDK needed — Qt's serialbus module handles the integration.

TinyCAN (toggle in Measurement > Driver menu) — Linux and Windows:

• Install the TinyCAN driver/library on the target machine.
• No build-time SDK needed — Qt's serialbus module handles the integration.
• Enable the driver via Measurement > Driver > TinyCAN and restart the application.

ZsCanFd (CONFIG+=zscanfd) — Windows:

1. Download the [zscanfd.dll device driver](The download link has been added to the src.pro file) on the target machine.
2. Download the [qtzscanfdbus.dll Qt plugin](The download link has been added to the src.pro file) on the target machine.
3. Build with qmake CONFIG+=zscanfd (or add zscanfd to the Qt Creator qmake arguments).
4. Place the qtzscanfdbus.dll from plugin/canbus
5. Place the zscanfd.dll from bin/cangaroo

Cangaroo natively supports DBC. If you have ARXML files, you can convert them using canconvert:

# Install canconvert
pip install canconvert

# Convert ARXML to DBC
canconvert TCU.arxml TCU.dbc

Download the latest release from the Releases.

Written by Hubert Denkmair hubert@denkmair.de

Further development by:

• Ethan Zonca e@ethanzonca.com
• WeAct Studio
• Schildkroet (https://github.com/Schildkroet/CANgaroo)
• Wikilift (https://github.com/wikilift/CANgaroo)
• Jayachandran Dharuman (https://github.com/OpenAutoDiagLabs/cangaroo)

This software is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. In no event shall the authors, maintainers, contributors, or copyright holders be liable for any claim, damages, or other liability, whether in an action of contract, tort, or otherwise, arising from, out of, or in connection with the software or the use or other dealings in the software. Use of this software is entirely at your own risk. The authors and maintainers accept no responsibility for any harm, data loss, system damage, legal issues, or any other consequences resulting from the use, misuse, or inability to use this software. It is your sole responsibility to ensure that this software is suitable for your intended use case and complies with all applicable laws and regulations in your jurisdiction. This project is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or in any way officially connected to any third-party organizations, products, or services that may be referenced within it.