The use of TCP/IP commands, PING, IPCONFIG and others

The following utilities are provided with Microsoft TCP/IP for troubleshooting TCP/IP problems:

Troubleshooting    Utility	Function
PING	Verifies configurations and tests connectivity
IPCONFIG	Displays the current TCP/IP configuration
NSLOOKUP	Displays the site name or address depending on which you want   to  resolve
HOSTNAME	Returns the local computers TCP/IP host name
NBTSTAT	Displays a list of NetBIOS computer names that have been   resolved to IP addresses
NETSTAT	Displays the TCP/IP protocol session information
ROUTE	Displays or modifies the local routing table
TRACERT	Displays the path a packet takes to a destination host

 

PING 

Tip:To find out the dot address (such as 205.245.172.72) for a given domain name, Windows users can go to their MS DOS prompt screen and enter: ping xxx.yyy where xxx is the second-level domain name like "whatis" and yyy is the top-level domain name like "com").

Ping is a basic Internet program that lets you verify that a particular Internet address exists and can accept requests. The verb ping means the act of using the ping utility or command. Ping is used diagnostically to ensure that a host computer you are trying to reach is actually operating. If, for example, a user can't ping a host, then the user will be unable to use the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) to send files to that host. Ping can also be used with a host that is operating to see how long it takes to get a response back. Using ping, you can learn the number form of the IP address from the symbolic domain name (see "Tip").

Loosely, ping means "to get the attention of" or "to check for the presence of" another party online. Ping operates by sending a packet to a designated address and waiting for a response. The computer acronym was contrived to match the submariners' term for the sound of a returned sonar pulse.

C:\>ping raaust Pinging raaust.syd.ime.reuters.com [196.1.118.1] with 32 bytes of data: Reply from 196.1.118.1: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=254 Reply from 196.1.118.1: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=254 Reply from 196.1.118.1: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=254 Reply from 196.1.118.1: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=254

 

 

IPCONFIG

This diagnostic command displays all current TCP/IP network configuration values on the current computer.  It  displays the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway values for each network card.  This command is of particular use on systems running DHCP, allowing users to determine which TCP/IP configuration values have been configured by DHCP.

C:\>ipconfig Windows NT IP Configuration Ethernet adapter E100B1: IP Address. . . . . . . . . : 196.1.101.145 Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Default Gateway . . . . . . : 196.1.101.254

 

 

HOSTNAME

This command prints the name of the current computer (host). This command is available only if the TCP/IP protocol has been installed.

C:\>hostname calls1

 

 

ROUTE

Manipulates network routing tables. This command is available only if the TCP/IP protocol has been installed.

C:\>route print

Active Routes:

Network Address             Netmask                 Gateway Address         Interface                     Metric
0.0.0.0                                0.0.0.0                       196.1.101.254            196.1.101.145              1
127.0.0.0                            255.0.0.0                   127.0.0.1                      127.0.0.1                     1
196.1.101.0                       255.255.255.0          196.1.101.145             196.1.101.145            1
196.1.101.145                   255.255.255.255     127.0.0.1                      127.0.0.1                      1
196.1.101.255                   255.255.255.255     196.1.101.145             196.1.101.145            1
224.0.0.0                            224.0.0.0                   196.1.101.145             196.1.101.145             1
255.255.255.255              255.255.255.255     196.1.101.145             196.1.101.145             1

 

 

TRACERT

Tracert is a utility that records the route through the Internet between your computer and a specified destination computer. It also calculates and displays the amount of time each hop took. Tracert is a handy tool both for understanding where problems are in the Internet network and for getting a detailed sense of the Internet itself. Another utility, ping, is often used prior to using tracert to see whether a host is present on the network.

 

C:\>TRACERT 165.21.48.229 Tracing route to signet2 [165.21.48.229] over a maximum of 30 hops: 1 <10 ms 10 ms <10 ms 202.139.3.193 2 10 ms 20 ms 20 ms mce1-14-24.sb2.optus.net.au [202.139.0.209] 3 10 ms 20 ms 20 ms atm5-0-0-13.ia4.optus.net.au [192.65.89.213] 4 30 ms 20 ms 40 ms atmsr-1-10.ap1.optus.net.au [202.139.7.57] 5 131 ms 140 ms 130 ms 203.116.10.98 6 140 ms 140 ms 131 ms 203.116.255.2 7 130 ms 140 ms 131 ms 203.116.255.9 8 221 ms 170 ms 180 ms 203.116.1.217 9 251 ms 150 ms 140 ms 165.21.49.169 10 130 ms 131 ms 140 ms signet2 [165.21.48.229] Trace complete.

 

 

NBTSTAT

This dianostic command displays protocol statistics and current TCP/IP connections using NBT (NetBIOS over TCP/IP). This command is available only if the TCP/IP protocol has been installed.

C:\>nbtstat /?

Displays protocol statistics and current TCP/IP connections using NBT
(NetBIOS over TCP/IP).

NBTSTAT [-a RemoteName] [-A IP address] [-c] [-n]
[-r] [-R] [-s] [-S] [interval] ]

-a     (adapter status)               Lists the remote machine's name table given its name
-A     (Adapter status)             Lists the remote machine's name table given its
                                                   IP address.
-c     (cache)                              Lists the remote name cache including the IP addresses
-n     (names)                            Lists local NetBIOS names.
-r     (resolved)                         Lists names resolved by broadcast and via WINS
-R     (Reload)                           Purges and reloads the remote cache name table
-S     (Sessions)                        Lists sessions table with the destination IP addresses
-s     (sessions)                         Lists sessions table converting destination IP
                                                    addresses to host names via the hosts file.

RemoteName        Remote host machine name.
IP address             Dotted decimal representation of the IP address.
interval                  Redisplays selected statistics, pausing interval seconds
                                between each display. Press Ctrl+C to stop redisplaying
                                statistics.

C:\>nbtstat -n

Node IpAddress: [196.1.101.145] Scope Id: []

NetBIOS Local Name Table

Name                                             Type                             Status
---------------------------------------------
CALLS1                     <00>             UNIQUE                     Registered
CALLS                        <00>            GROUP                      Registered
CALLS1                     <20>             UNIQUE                     Registered
CALLS1                     <03>             UNIQUE                     Registered
CALLS                       <1E>             GROUP                      Registered
CALLS                       <03>             UNIQUE                     Registered
CALLS                       <1D>            UNIQUE                     Registered
..__MSBROWSE__.<01>             GROUP                     Registered

 

 

NETSTAT

The Netstat utility provides statistics on the following network components.

Foreign Address
The IP address and port number of the remote computer to which the socket is connected. The name corresponding to the IP address is shown instead of the number if the HOSTS file contains an entry for the IP address. In cases where the port is not yet established, the port number is shown as an asterisk (*).
Local Address
The IP address of the local computer, as well as the port number the connection is using. The name corresponding to the IP address is shown instead of the number if the HOSTS file contains an entry for the IP address. In cases where the port is not yet established, the port number is shown as an asterisk (*).
Proto
The name of the protocol used by the connection.
(state)
Indicates the state of TCP connections only. The possible states are 

CLOSED FIN_WAIT_1 SYN_RECEIVED
CLOSE_WAIT FIN_WAIT_2 SYN_SEND
ESTABLISHED LISTEN TIMED_WAIT
LAST_ACK

 

C:\>netstat -r

Route Table

Active Connections

Proto     Local Address         Foreign Address                                                 State
TCP         calls1:1025             localhost:1026                                          ESTABLISHED
TCP         calls1:1026             localhost:1025                                          ESTABLISHED
TCP         calls1:1027             localhost:1029                                          ESTABLISHED
TCP         calls1:1029             localhost:1027                                          ESTABLISHED
TCP         calls1:nbsession    CALLS3:2725                                          ESTABLISHED
TCP         calls1:3014             raaust.syd.ime.reuters.com:8484         ESTABLISHED
TCP         calls1:2770             clusterip2.syd.ime.reuters.com:2544  ESTABLISHED
TCP         calls1:2775             raaust.syd.ime.reuters.com:6161         ESTABLISHED
TCP         calls1:3038             sydsdm02.syd.ime.reuters.com:1352   ESTABLISHED