Ping is a computer network administration utility used to test the reachability of a host on an Internet Protocol (IP) network and to measure the round-trip time for messages sent from the originating host to a destination computer.

To increase or decrease the time interval between packets :

By default the time interval between two packets in Ping is 1 sec. It can be altered by using “–i” option

Increase time interval (wait for 4 sec.) :

#  ping  -i  4  [IP]

Decrease time interval (wait for 0.1 sec.) :

#  ping  -i  0.1  [IP]

Note: only super user can specify interval less than 0.2 sec.

To Ping the localhost :

Three methods to check the local network interface status :

#  ping  0

#  ping  localhost

#  ping  127.0.0.1

To specify the no. of packets to be sent :

The specified no. of packets are sent and then the Ping stops.

#  ping  -c  [no.]  [IP]

Eg.  #  ping  -c  5  192.168.7.1

To flood the network :

Super users can flood a host with packets. It prints a “.” when a packet is sent and a backspace is printed when a packet is received.

#  ping  -f  [IP]

To print only Ping command summary statistics :

If you only want to view the Ping statistics and not each reply, then :

#  ping  -q  [IP]

You can also specify the no. of packets here :

#  ping  -c  7  -q  [IP]

To change the Ping packet size :

#  ping  -s  [size]  [IP]

Eg.  #  ping  -s  200  192.168.7.1

To specify the timeout :

You can specify the no. of seconds the Ping command should send the packets :

#  ping  -w  [time]  [IP]

Eg.  #  ping  -w  6  192.168.7.1

This will send ping for 6 sec.

Note: if you specify both  “-w” and “-c”, then whichever comes first will terminate the Ping.

To view the shorter statistics :

If you want to view the shorter statistics, while Ping is printing individual packet status :

Press  CTRL + | (control key + pipe symbol). It prints the short statistics while Ping is still continued.

To record and print the route of Ping :

It records and prints the network route through which the packet is sent and received

#  ping  -R  [IP]

 

To stop your System from responding to Ping :

Write this at the terminal :

echo  1  >  /proc/sys/net/ipv4/icmp_echo_ignore_all

Now, your system will not respond to any ping received from any other system.

To revert :

echo  0  >  /proc/sys/net/ipv4/icmp_echo_ignore_all