Unit – 5

Network Operating Systems and Troubleshooting

Network
Trouble Shooting Networks
Why Command-Line Interface Tools is essential in Trouble
shooting?
 When a network isn't working as expected, command-line interface
(CLI) tools are essential for diagnosing and resolving problems.
 These tools are available on most operating systems like Windows,
Linux, and macOS and are used by network administrators and IT
professionals for real-time analysis.
Command-Line Interface Tools
Basically, there are 5 types of command-line interface tools are available for
Network OS trouble shooting.
1. Connectivity and Reachability
2. DNS Resolution
3. Interface & IP Configuration
4. Routing & Network Stats
5. Advanced Tools
Command-Line Interface Tools - Connectivity and Reachability
1. ping
Use - ping is a basic network utility used to test whether a particular host (usually a server
or another computer) is reachable across an IP network.
Working - It sends ICMP Echo Request packets to the target host and waits for ICMP Echo
Reply messages. The utility then measures the round-trip time (RTT) — the time taken for
the packets to go to the destination and return.
Advantages:
 If the host is online or reachable
 Packet loss statistics
 Time delay (latency) between source and destination
Example
ping wikileaks.com
This command will send packets to wikileaks.com and show the response time for each
Command-Line Interface Tools - Connectivity and
Reachability
2. traceroute / tracert (Windows)
Use : This tool traces the path that packets take from your machine to a specified destination, helping
identify routing issues or bottlenecks.
Working:
 The `traceroute` or `tracert` command is used to trace the path between a source and a destination,
listing the IP addresses of all the routers the data passes through.
 This tool is commonly available across various operating systems. Depending on the system, the
command might be `traceroute` or `tracert`.
 Similar to the `ping` command, it uses ICMP messages to function.
 On Linux systems, you can use it by opening a terminal and entering `traceroute` followed by the
target hostname or IP address.
Advantages:
 Number of hops between source and destination
 IP address and sometimes the hostname of each intermediate router
 Response time of each hop (helps locate delays)
Command-Line Interface Tools - Connectivity and
Reachability
3. telnet
Use: Used to test TCP connectivity to a specific port on a remote server. This can be useful
for checking if a service (like a web server or mail server) is reachable and listening on its
intended port.
Working
It attempts to establish a TCP connection to the specified host and port. If successful, it
means the port is open and reachable; otherwise, it's blocked or closed.
Advantages
 Whether the remote service is running and accepting connections on the given port
 Useful for debugging firewall rules, network issues, or application availability
Example: telnet example.com 80
This tries to connect to example.com on port 80 (default HTTP port). If successful, you'll
see a blank screen or a welcome message from the server.
Command-Line Interface Tools - DNS Resolution
1. nslookup
Use
nslookup stands for Name Server Lookup. It is a command-line tool used to query Domain Name
System (DNS) servers to obtain domain name to IP address mappings (and vice versa).
Working
 When you enter a domain name (like openai.com), nslookup sends a query to a DNS server to
resolve that domain name to its IP address.
 It can also perform reverse lookups — resolving an IP address back to a domain name.
Advantages
 Verify DNS resolution issues
 Find the IP address of a website or server
 Diagnose network problems related to domain names
Example
nslookup yahoo.com
This will return the IP address(es) associated with yahoo.com and the DNS server that provided the
Command-Line Interface Tools - Interface & IP
Configuration
ipconfig
 The ipconfig command is used in Windows to display network configuration
details of your computer.
 It's helpful for troubleshooting network issues or checking your system’s IP
settings.
Use : Displays basic IP configuration of the system's network interfaces.
It’s Output Includes:
• IPv4 and IPv6 addresses
• Subnet mask
• Default gateway
Command-Line Interface Tools - Interface & IP
Configuration
Windows IP Configuration
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : MyLaptop
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Ethernet:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : mynetwork.local
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) Ethernet Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : A1-B2-C3-D4-E5-F6
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.101
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
 Command-Line Interface Tools - Routing &
Network Stats
1. netstat (Network Statistics)
 The netstat command is used to display network-related information, such as active connections,
routing tables, and network interface statistics.
 It is a powerful diagnostic tool for network troubleshooting.
Advantage of using netstat:
 Active Connections
Displays all TCP and UDP connections on the system (IP address, port number, connection status
like LISTENING, ESTABLISHED, etc.).
 Routing Tables
Shows the routing table that the system uses to determine how to send packets to remote hosts.
 Interface Statistics
Provides data like bytes sent/received, error counts for network interfaces.
 Protocol-specific Statistics
Command-Line Interface Tools -Routing & Network
Stats
Common netstat options (Windows/Linux)

Option | Description
-a | Displays all connections and listening ports.
-n | Displays addresses and port numbers in numerical form (no DNS resolution).
-o | Shows the PID (Process ID) associated with each connection.
-r | Displays the routing table.
-e | Shows Ethernet statistics, like packets sent/received.
-s | Shows statistics for each protocol (TCP, UDP, etc.).
-p <protocol> | Shows connections for a specific protocol (e.g., netstat -p tcp).
Command-Line Interface Tools - Advanced Tools
The arp command is used to view and manage the ARP cache on a computer.
What is ARP?
 ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) is a network protocol used to map an IP address to a MAC (Media
Access Control) address on a local network.
 When a device wants to communicate with another device on the same network, it uses ARP to find out the
physical address associated with an IP address.

Purpose of the ARP Cache:

 The ARP cache stores the mappings of IP addresses to MAC addresses that the system has resolved
recently.
 This helps improve efficiency by avoiding repeated ARP requests for the same devices.
arp -a
Interface: 192.168.1.5 --- 0x7
Internet Address Physical Address Type
192.168.1.1 00-14-22-01-23-45 dynamic