The ping Command

The ping command, which is included as a part of the TCP/IP protocol suite, is supported at the user and privileged exec modes. In user mode, you must specify an IP address or a host name, if the host name can be resolved to an IP address, with the ping command. The ping command tests the round-trip path to and from a target. In privileged mode, you must enter a protocol, a target IP address, a repeat count, datagram size, and a timeout in seconds.

Cisco IOS makes ping available for a number of protocols including IPX and AppleTalk. Cisco introduced ping for IPX in IOS version 8.2. This is, however, a Cisco proprietary tool. Therefore non-Cisco devices such as Novell servers do not respond to it. If you want the Cisco router to generate Novell-compliant pings, you must use the global configuration command ipx ping-default novell. Ping for AppleTalk sends AppleTalk Echo Protocol (AEP) packets to the destination node and waits for replies.

Generally, the syntax for the ping command is:

ping -s ip_address [ packet_size] [ packet_count]

Parameter Purpose
-s Causes ping to send one datagram per second, printing one line of
output for every response received. The ping command does not
return any output when no response is received.
ip_address The IP address or IP alias of the host.
packet_size This optional parameter represents the number of bytes in a packet,
from 1 to 2000 bytes, with a default of 56 bytes. The actual packet size
is eight bytes larger because the switch adds header information.
packet_count This optional parameter represents the number of packets to send.

TABLE 4.1: Parameters for the ping Command

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