Ping Command

I'm sure you recognize that ping is a common and relatively simple command. And, like many basic commands, there are some great options and techniques that make the tool even better. This article explores various tricks and tips to level up your ping knowledge.

By way of quick review, you can simply enter the following two commands to test basic network connectivity to a remote machine with a hostname of server01 or an IP address of 192.168.2.200:

Ping Command

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By default, Linux sends continuous pings. Windows, by default, only sends four. One of my favorite uses of ping is to inform me when a remote server or network device has restarted. For example, imagine I'm remotely connected to a Windows server from my Linux laptop. The server needs to be rebooted before I can continue with its configurations. I can issue the reboot command and then set up a continuous ping from my laptop to the server. When the ping results show success, I know the reboot process on the remote machine has been completed. In the meantime, I can work on other projects.

I've already uncovered some good uses for ping with the above options. I particularly like the ability do a quick name resolution query. I've used the continuous ping during reboots trick more than any other, however.

You can use the ping command to test name resolution services, too. If you ping a destination by IP address, and the ping succeeds, you know you have basic connectivity. If you ping the same destination by hostname, and it fails, you know name resolution is not working. This is because ping could not resolve the given hostname to an IP address in the second test.

The timeout message indicates that your machine believes it successfully sent ping queries to the destination. However, it did not receive replies within a specified time, so it "timed out." The misconfiguration is likely on the destination end or on the network between your machine and the destination. Your machine sent the queries, but the destination failed to reply. Start by checking that the destination device is on, physically connected to the network, and has a valid IP address. Verify router and firewall configurations after that.

For example, what if you don't have Nmap installed but need to see what hosts are up? Add the -b option to run a ping broadcast to an entire subnet. This displays the hosts that are currently up, thought it's not as effective as a simple Nmap scan.

You can also change the size of the ping packet payload. The header is always 28 bytes, so add on the amount you want plus 28 bytes to get the total size. The default is 64 bytes. To send a ping with 128 bytes, type the following:

There is a GUI for ping - gping. Using a GUI could be handy for tasks like monitoring rebooting servers, as mentioned above. From across the room, you could view the status of a continuous ping result. Sometimes a graphical view is just easier to work with or useful for demonstrations. You can find gping at its official Git page. It's available for various Linux distributions, macOS, and Windows. There are several different package types available for several other installers.

Finally, a reminder: Many routers are set to drop ICMP-based packets, such as those used by ping (and traceroute). ICMP, in general, can be used for various attacks, and so routers may be configured neither pass nor respond to ping requests. This is something to keep in mind while troubleshooting network connectivity.

Sure, ping is a simple tool that you've all worked with a lot, but there are some great options to modify its behavior and some good techniques to use when troubleshooting. Did you discover at least one useful thing you didn't know from the above list? And how about gping? Can you think of any good uses for a graphical version of ping?

Verifies IP-level connectivity to another TCP/IP computer by sending Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echo Request messages. The receipt of the corresponding echo Reply messages is displayed, along with round-trip times. ping is the primary TCP/IP command used to troubleshoot connectivity, reachability, and name resolution. Used without parameters, this command displays Help content.

You can also use this command to test both the computer name and the IP address of the computer. If pinging the IP address is successful, but pinging the computer name isn't, you might have a name resolution problem. In this case, make sure the computer name you're specifying can be resolved through the local Hosts file, by using Domain Name System (DNS) queries, or through NetBIOS name resolution techniques.

Is there any more universal networking tool than ping? It's been part of troubleshooting, information gathering and even cyberattacks since its initial release in 1983. One of the secrets to success in troubleshooting is to keep it simple, and it doesn't get much simpler than ping.

The ping utility relies on the Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) at the internet layer of TCP/IP. Its most basic use is to confirm network connectivity between two hosts. Ping sends out an ICMP echo request to which it expects an ICMP echo reply response.

If either of these commands returns ICMP echo reply messages, network connectivity exists between the two devices. However, when these commands fail, ping can tell us a lot about what might be wrong.

This information helps determine the next step in troubleshooting. If the ping by name succeeds, you probably don't need to check the physical network or the DNS configurations, and you can move on to other areas, such as service or OS misconfigurations.

There are a couple of different strategies for using ping to troubleshoot connectivity. I've seen plenty of classroom advice recommending an inward-out approach, but I prefer the outward-in method. Let's consider these two strategies.

With this approach, you ping your local device to confirm its configuration and then ping outward toward the router and remote destination. At each step, begin with the IP address and then continue with the hostname. Notice that it requires seven steps to confirm connectivity to the remote destination.

I prefer the opposite approach, as do many other experienced troubleshooters. I ping the remote destination by hostname. If that succeeds, I'm done using ping, because I already know every other step in the process will succeed. This saves time because I can move on to other troubleshooting tools higher in the TCP/IP stack. Furthermore, pinging the loopback address or your local adapter will rarely illuminate any problems. Chances are the issue is further on the network somewhere.

I think one of the best ways to use continuous ping is when rebooting remote devices. I've used this simple trick many times over the years. Just set up a continuous ping to a remote device and then restart it. When it starts responding to the pings again, you know the reboot process is complete. You can then reconnect and continue whatever administrative tasks you were working on.

The word "ping" is also used online to refer to a brief message, usually over text or email. For example, you can "ping your boss" or send them a message about a project, but the ping command has nothing to do with it.

The -f, -v, -r, -s, -j, and -k options work when pinging IPv4 addresses only. The -R and -S options only work with IPv6.

The number after the % in the replies generated in this ping command example is the IPv6 Zone ID, which most often indicates the network interface used. You can generate a table of Zone IDs matched with your network interface names by executing netsh interface ipv6 show interface. The IPv6 Zone ID is the number in the Idx column.

To resolve ping spikes that slow down your network, restart your router and modem, scan your computer for malware, run Window troubleshooter, flush DNS, clear the Windows cache, and repair the Windows registry.

To ping a port, use the telnet command. In the command prompt, enter telnet followed by the IP address (or the domain name) and the port number (for example, telnet 192.168.2.1 10).

According to the author, the name Ping comes from sonar terminology. In sonar, a ping is an audible sound wave sent out to find an object. If the sound hits the object, the sound waves will reflect, or echo, back to the source. The distance and location of the object can be determined by measuring the time and direction of the returning sound wave.

Similarly, the ping command sends out an echo request. If it finds the target system, the remote host sends back an echo reply. The distance (number of hops) to the remote system can be determined from the reply, as well as the conditions in-between (packet loss and time to respond). While the author of the ping utility said the name of the program was simply based on the sound of sonar, others sometimes say that Ping is an acronym for Packet InterNet Groper.

The Ping utility uses the echo request, and echo reply messages within the Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP), an integral part of any IP network. When a ping command is issued, an echo request packet is sent to the address specified. When the remote host receives the echo request, it responds with an echo reply packet.

By default, the ping command sends several echo requests, typically four or five. The result of each echo request is displayed, showing whether the request received a successful response, how many bytes were received in response, the Time to Live (TTL), and how long the response took to receive, along with statistics about packet loss and round trip times.

The ping utility has been incorporated into virtually every operating system with network support. While echo request and echo reply are ICMP messages, the exact implementation of the Ping utility varies slightly among manufacturers. 006ab0faaa