In my Python project, there is a main.py which is the entrance of the application and uses Tkinter to design UI. There are some other .py files which will be called and run from main.py. One of the .py files is process_pcap.py which imports Pyshark API to call tshark to process a .pcap log. For convenience to distribute the application, I use Pyinstaller to convert the main.py to main.exe.

When I run main.exe to open the application UI and then select to execute process_pcap (via calling class PCAP defined in the process_pcap.py), it pops up a ‘tshark’ console window. This is not what I want. I want to prevent the tshark console window from popping up.

But when I directly run python main.py to execute process_pcap, the tshark console window will not pop up.

I have tried some ways to suppress the tshark console window, but none of them works.

1. I tried the commands below to convert main.py to main.exe. But it could not suppress the tshark console window.

pyinstaller --onefile --windowed main.py
pyinstaller --onefile --noconsole main.py

2. I also tried modifying the subprocess.Popen and subprocess.check_output in the process_pcap.py, but it couldn’t suppress the tshark console window either.

import pyshark
import subprocess
import sys

class PCAP:
    def __init__(self, pcap_file, redirector_stdout):
        self.pcap_file = pcap_file
        self.redirector_stdout = redirector_stdout
        self.suppress_console_window()

    def suppress_console_window(self):
        if sys.platform.startswith('win'):
            # Save the original subprocess.Popen and subprocess.check_output
            original_popen = subprocess.Popen
            original_check_output = subprocess.check_output

            # Define a new Popen that suppresses the console window
            def new_popen(*args, **kwargs):
                if 'startupinfo' not in kwargs:
                    startupinfo = subprocess.STARTUPINFO()
                    startupinfo.dwFlags |= subprocess.STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW
                    kwargs['startupinfo'] = startupinfo

                # Add CREATE_NO_WINDOW as well for extra suppression
                if 'creationflags' not in kwargs:
                    kwargs['creationflags'] = subprocess.CREATE_NO_WINDOW

                kwargs['shell'] = True  # Ensure shell execution
                return original_popen(*args, **kwargs)

            # Define a new check_output that suppresses the console window
            def new_check_output(*args, **kwargs):
                if 'startupinfo' not in kwargs:
                    startupinfo = subprocess.STARTUPINFO()
                    startupinfo.dwFlags |= subprocess.STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW
                    kwargs['startupinfo'] = startupinfo

                if 'creationflags' not in kwargs:
                    kwargs['creationflags'] = subprocess.CREATE_NO_WINDOW

                kwargs['shell'] = True
                return original_check_output(*args, **kwargs)

            # Override subprocess.Popen and subprocess.check_output with the new versions
            subprocess.Popen = new_popen
            subprocess.check_output = new_check_output

    def execute_code(self):
        # Process the pcap file using Pyshark without showing the tshark console
        cap = pyshark.FileCapture(self.pcap_file, display_filter='sip')

        for packet in cap:
            self.redirector_stdout.write(f"packet = {packet}n")
            if 'sip' in packet:
                sip_layer = packet['sip']
                self.redirector_stdout.write(f"sip_layer = {sip_layer}n")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    # Example usage when running this script directly
    pcap = PCAP('sample.pcap', sys.stdout) 
    pcap.execute_code()

Does anyone have a solution to suppress the tshark console window for my case above? Thanks.