Troubleshooting with Diagnostic Utilities
Many utilities can be used when troubleshooting TCP/IP. Although the actual utilities available vary from platform to platform, the functionality between platforms is quite similar. Table 1 lists the TCP/IP troubleshooting tools along with their purpose.
|
Tool |
Purpose |
|---|---|
|
tracert/traceroute |
Used to track the path a packet takes as it travels across a network. tracert is used on Windows systems, traceroute is used on UNIX, Linux, and Macintosh systems. |
|
ping |
Used to test connectivity between two devices on a network. |
|
arp |
Used to view and work with the IP address to MAC address resolution cache. |
|
netstat |
Used to view the current TCP/IP connections on a system. |
|
nbtstat |
Used to view statistics related to NetBIOS name resolutions, and to see information about current NetBIOS over TCP/IP connections. |
|
ipconfig |
Used to view and renew TCP/IP configuration on a Windows system. |
|
ifconfig |
Used to view TCP/IP configuration on a UNIX, Linux or Macintosh system. |
|
winipcfg |
Graphical tool used to view TCP/IP configuration on Windows 95, 98, and Me. |
|
nslookup/dig |
Used to perform manual DNS lookups. nslookup can be used on Windows, UNIX, Macintosh, and Linux systems. dig can only be used on UNIX, Linux, and Macintosh systems. |
The following sections look in more detail at these utilities and the output they produce.