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Networking Commands

The document provides an overview of various networking commands, including their functions and use cases. Each command, such as ping, netstat, and curl, is explained along with examples demonstrating their usage. The commands are essential tools for network connectivity testing, troubleshooting, and data transfer.

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Pratik Sanas
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4 views

Networking Commands

The document provides an overview of various networking commands, including their functions and use cases. Each command, such as ping, netstat, and curl, is explained along with examples demonstrating their usage. The commands are essential tools for network connectivity testing, troubleshooting, and data transfer.

Uploaded by

Pratik Sanas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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NETWORKING COMMANDS:

1. ping
• What it does: Checks if a device or server is reachable over the network by sending
ICMP packets.

• Use cases:

o Test network connectivity to a specific host.

o Measure response time (latency).

2. netstat
• What it does: Displays network connections, routing tables, and active ports on your
system.

• Use cases:

o Check which ports are open and in use.

o Identify active connections to/from your system.

o Troubleshoot network issues.

3. ifconfig
• What it does: Shows or configures the network interfaces on a system.
• Use cases:

o View IP addresses of network interfaces.

o Enable or disable an interface.

o Change IP address manually. (Note: replaced by ip command in modern


systems.)

4. traceroute
• What it does: Tracks the path packets take to reach a specific destination, listing each
hop.

• Use cases:

o Diagnose where network delays or failures occur.

o Understand the routing path to a server.


5. mtr (My Traceroute)
• What it does: Combines ping and traceroute to provide real-time packet loss and
latency reports.
• Use cases:

o Identify network performance issues.

o Continuously monitor latency and loss at each hop.

6. nslookup
• What it does: Queries DNS servers to get domain name to IP address mappings.

• Use cases:

o Find the IP address of a domain.

o Troubleshoot DNS issues.

7. Reverse Lookup (using nslookup or similar tools)


• What it does: Finds the domain name associated with an IP address.

• Use cases:

o Verify the domain behind an IP address.

o Investigate suspicious IPs.

8. telnet
• What it does: Connects to remote servers on a specific port to test connectivity.
• Use cases:

o Check if a port is open on a server.

o Debug plain-text communication protocols (e.g., SMTP, HTTP).


(Note: It's insecure; use alternatives like SSH for secure connections.)
9. dig (Domain Information Groper)
• What it does: Performs DNS lookups, providing detailed query and response
information.
• Use cases:

o Check DNS records (A, CNAME, MX, etc.).

o Test how DNS servers resolve domains.

10. whois
• What it does: Queries information about domain registrations and owners.

• Use cases:

o Find out who owns a domain.

o Check domain expiry or registration details.

11. curl
• What it does: Transfers data from or to a server using various protocols (HTTP, FTP,
etc.).

• Use cases:

o Test APIs.
o Download or send data from/to a server.

o Fetch website content programmatically.

12. wget
• What it does: Downloads files from the web using HTTP, HTTPS, or FTP.

• Use cases:

o Download large files or entire websites for offline use.

o Automate file downloads in scripts.


EXAMPLES FOR EACH NETWORKING TOOL:

1. ping
• Example:
ping google.com

Explanation: This sends packets to google.com to check if it's reachable and measures the
response time.

2. netstat
• Example:

netstat -tuln

Explanation: Shows all active listening ports (-t for TCP, -u for UDP, -l for listening ports, -n
to show numeric addresses).

3. ifconfig
• Example:

ifconfig

Explanation: Displays the configuration of all network interfaces, including IP addresses and
status.

4. traceroute
• Example:

traceroute google.com
Explanation: Traces the path from your computer to google.com, showing each hop along
the way.

5. mtr
• Example:

mtr google.com

Explanation: Provides a real-time, continuous trace to google.com with latency and packet
loss stats.
6. nslookup
• Example:
nslookup google.com

Explanation: Queries DNS to find the IP address associated with google.com.

7. Reverse Lookup (using nslookup)


• Example:
nslookup 8.8.8.8

Explanation: Looks up the domain name associated with the IP address 8.8.8.8 (Google's
DNS server).

8. telnet
• Example:

telnet google.com 80

Explanation: Connects to google.com on port 80 (HTTP) to test if the port is open and
accessible.

9. dig
• Example:

dig google.com

Explanation: Performs a detailed DNS query for google.com, including IP addresses and
other DNS records

10. whois
• Example:

whois google.com

Explanation: Retrieves information about the domain google.com, including the owner,
registrar, and expiration date.
11. curl
• Example:

curl https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos/1

Explanation: Fetches data from a sample API (JSON format) from jsonplaceholder and
prints it to the terminal.

12. wget
• Example:

wget https://example.com/file.zip

Explanation: Downloads the file file.zip from example.com to your current directory.

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