Bluetooth scanner - Bluelog


Bluelog is a Linux Bluetooth scanner written to do a single task, log devices that are in discoverable mode. It is intended to be used as a site survey tool, determining how many discoverable Bluetooth devices there are in the area. It has also proven to be very well suited to Bluetooth traffic monitoring applications.

Bluetooth scanner

While there are many different Bluetooth scanners available, none I found did exactly what I wanted, most seemed focused on pulling down various bits of information from the target devices (like SDP records). I was also having trouble locating a scanner that didn’t have a UI of some sort, which was a problem since I wanted to scan continuously without user intervention. After trying out all of the Linux Bluetooth scanners I could find, I eventually decided to simply write my own.

Bluelog is a Linux Bluetooth scanner with optional daemon mode and web front-end, designed for site surveys and traffic monitoring. It’s intended to be run for long periods of time in a static location to determine how many discoverable Bluetooth devices there are in the area.


Since Bluelog is meant to be run unattended, it doesn’t have a user interface or require any interaction once started. It features a fully configurable log file format, as well as the ability to log to syslog for centralized logging over the network.


Bluelog was meant to be lean and portable (its only requirement is BlueZ), and runs well on x86, MIPS, and ARM architectures. Bluelog is included in Kali Linux (www.kali.org), and on the Pwn Pad and Pwn Plug penetration testing devices from Pwnie Express (www.pwnieexpress.com). It’s also available in the official OpenWRT repository and Arch Linux AUR community repository.