The ping command is a network utility that is used to test the reachability of a network host. It sends Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echo request packets and evaluates the responses. If the destination host responds, the ping command will display the round-trip time (RTT) of the packets in milliseconds. If the destination host does not respond, the ping command will display a “Request timed out” message.

Syntax

The basic syntax for the ping command is as follows:

ping [options] <destination_host>

The <destination_host> argument is the hostname or IP address of the network host that you want to test the reachability of. The [options] argument is a list of options that can be used to modify the behavior of the ping command.

Examples

Ping the hostname “google.com”.

ping google.com

Ping the IP address “192.168.1.1”.

ping 192.168.1.1

Ping the hostname “google.com” for 10 packets.

ping -c 10 google.com

Ping the hostname “google.com” with an interval of 1 second.

ping -i 1 google.com

Options

The ping command has a number of options that can be used to modify its behavior. Some of the most common options are:

-c : Ping the destination host for the specified number of packets.

-i : Ping the destination host at the specified interval in seconds.

-a: Ping the destination host continuously until you press Ctrl+C.

For more information on the ping command and its options, please see the man page: man ping.

With gencmd

gencmd ping google.com 3 times with an interval of 3 seconds

• ping -c 3 -i 3 google.com
• ping -i 3 google.com -c 3