InetDaemon.Com

PING is used to discover whether a remote host is able to respond to network traffic across the path between the source and destination of the ping.

All Platforms

ping <ip address>	PINGs a remote host by IP address. This will always succeed if the network path and the remote host are working and the PINGs are not being blocked.
ping <host name>	PINGs a host by name. If DNS is working, this will succeed.

 

BSD

This is the operating system for which ping was originally developed and all other versions of ping and traceroute are derived from it.

Usage

usage: ping [-AaDdfnoQqRrv] [-c count] [-i wait] [-l preload] [-M mask | time]
            [-m ttl] [-P policy] [-p pattern] [-S src_addr] [-s packetsize]
            [-t timeout] [-z tos] host
       ping [-AaDdfLnoQqRrv] [-c count] [-I iface] [-i wait] [-l preload]
            [-M mask | time] [-m ttl] [-P policy] [-p pattern] [-S src_addr]
            [-s packetsize] [-T ttl] [-t timeout] [-z tos] mcast-group

Results

% ping www.google.com
PING www.google.akadns.net (216.239.41.104): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 216.239.41.104: icmp_seq=0 ttl=248 time=18.952 ms
64 bytes from 216.239.41.104: icmp_seq=1 ttl=248 time=16.094 ms
64 bytes from 216.239.41.104: icmp_seq=2 ttl=248 time=15.321 ms
64 bytes from 216.239.41.104: icmp_seq=3 ttl=248 time=15.190 ms
64 bytes from 216.239.41.104: icmp_seq=4 ttl=248 time=28.476 ms
64 bytes from 216.239.41.104: icmp_seq=5 ttl=248 time=14.374 ms
^C
--- www.google.akadns.net ping statistics ---
6 packets transmitted, 6 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 14.374/18.068/28.476/4.873 ms

On a BSD system, the default operation of ping is to send 1 ping per second until it is stopped by pressing control-c.

Windows

USAGE

Usage: ping [-t] [-a] [-n count] [-l size] [-f] [-i TTL] [-v TOS]
            [-r count] [-s count] [[-j host-list] | [-k host-list]]
            [-w timeout] target_name

Options:
    -t             Ping the specified host until stopped.
                   To see statistics and continue - type Control-Break;
                   To stop - type Control-C.
    -a             Resolve addresses to hostnames.
    -n count       Number of echo requests to send.
    -l size        Send buffer size.
    -f             Set Don't Fragment flag in packet.
    -i TTL         Time To Live.
    -v TOS         Type Of Service.
    -r count       Record route for count hops.
    -s count       Timestamp for count hops.
    -j host-list   Loose source route along host-list.
    -k host-list   Strict source route along host-list.
    -w timeout     Timeout in milliseconds to wait for each reply.

A significant difference between Windows ping and ping on other platforms is that Windows does not offer the option to select the interface from which to ping other hosts, in other words, Windows choses which interface to use for a ping, not the user. This makes troubleshooting network problems on a Windows device with multiple interfaces difficult. You must shut down the interface you do not wish to use before performing the ping.

Windows also uses ping -a to perform reverse resolution of an address to a name. This utilizes WINS first, then DNS. Windows also defaults to a time to live of 255.

Ping Results

Pinging www.google.akadns.net [216.239.41.104] with 32 bytes of data: 

Reply from 216.239.41.104: bytes=32 time=17ms TTL=248
   Reply from 216.239.41.104: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=248
   Reply from 216.239.41.104: bytes=32 time=26ms TTL=248
   Reply from 216.239.41.104: bytes=32 time=17ms TTL=248

Ping statistics for 216.239.41.104:
   Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
   Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
   Minimum = 14ms, Maximum = 26ms, Average = 18m

Solaris

Usage

usage: ping host [timeout]
usage: ping -s [-l | U] [adLnRrv] [-A addr_family] [-c traffic_class]
        [-g gateway [-g gateway ...]] [-F flow_label] [-I interval]
        [-i interface] [-P tos] [-p port] [-t ttl] host [data_size] [npackets]

Results

% ping www.google.com
     www.google.com is alive

Note that ping on Solaris returns only one result with no data. It differs significantly from the original version developed by Mike Muss for BSD.

Red Hat

Usage

Usage: ping [-LRUbdfnqrvV] [-c count] [-i interval] [-w wait]
        [-p pattern] [-s packetsize] [-t ttl] [-I interface address]
        [ -T timestamp option ] [ -Q tos ] host

Results

PING www.google.akadns.net (64.233.161.104) from 10.80.2.25 : 56(84) bytes of data.
     64 bytes from 64.233.161.104: icmp_seq=0 ttl=243 time=7.683 msec
     64 bytes from 64.233.161.104: icmp_seq=1 ttl=243 time=24.886 msec
     64 bytes from 64.233.161.104: icmp_seq=2 ttl=243 time=7.705 msec
     64 bytes from 64.233.161.104: icmp_seq=3 ttl=243 time=7.578 msec

--- www.google.akadns.net ping statistics ---
     4 packets transmitted, 4 packets received, 0% packet loss
     round-trip min/avg/max/mdev = 7.578/11.963/24.886/7.461 ms

---