ping

The ping command test network connectivity.
Command Format
ping [-fqv][-c n][-s sz][-i sec][-l n] host
where:

-f
flood ping. Send packages as fast as possible

-q
?

-c n
send n packages and stop

-s sz
size of packet expressed in bytes

-i sec
wait sec seconds before sending next packet

-l cnt
presend cnt packages before falling back to interval sending

host
target to where packets are sent

Functional description
The ping command sends ICMP_ECHO_REQUEST packages to the given remote host and monitors any ICMP_ECHO_RESPONSE packages received back. This command is useful to test conectivety with a remote host.
The -f flag can be used to flood ping the remote host. Packages are then sent as fast as possible. Note that using this option may lead to network congestion and should be used with care on networks shared with others.
When using ping for fault isolation, start by pinging 127.0.0.1 (a universal self-address, by internet convention.) This verifies that at least the onboard setup is workable. Then, hosts and gateways further and further away should be pinged. Round-trip times and packet loss statistics are computed. If duplicate packets are received, they are not included in the packet loss calculation, although the round trip time of these packets is used in calculating the minimum/average/maximum round-trip time numbers. When the program is terminated by a ^C a brief summary is displayed.
Ping will report duplicate and damaged packets. Duplicate packets should never happen: they have to be gateway problems. Tell your network manager.
Damaged packets (data doesnÂ’t look like it should) are serious cause for alarm and often indicate broken hardware ; somewhere in the ping packets path (in the network or in the hosts).
Environment
The command uses no environment variable.
See Also
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