Packet capture via packet tagging

Techniques are disclosed for capturing network traffic in a virtualized computing environment. A packet to be captured in the virtualized environment is identified. The packet is tagged using a pattern of one or more bits in a header of the packet. The pattern indicates that the packet is to be traced. The pattern is propagated to an outer layer during encapsulation of the packet. A header of the encapsulated packet includes the pattern of one or more bits. At least one network device is caused to mirror identified packets based on the reserved bit.