Command library / ping

Test whether a host is reachable

Sends ICMP echo requests to a host and reports whether (and how fast) it answers. On Linux ping runs forever until you stop it (Ctrl+C) unless you limit the count with -c — worth remembering before you ping something in a live demo.

Usage

Options and flags

• host

  host name or IP address to test

• -c N

  send exactly N packets then stop (default: forever)

• -i SECONDS

  seconds between packets (default: 1)

• -W SECONDS

  timeout in seconds to wait for each reply

Examples

• ping -c 4 8.8.8.8

  Send exactly 4 packets to Google's DNS and stop — the classic 'is the internet up' check.

• ping -c 1 10.0.0.5

  One packet: does this specific host answer at all?

• ping -c 4 -i 0.2 10.0.0.5

  Four packets sent quickly, 0.2 seconds apart, for a faster read.

Common mistakes

Related commands