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The Essential IP Toolkit

Jul 19, 2002

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Basic Built-in Tools

Although the names of some commands may vary for other platforms, most of them include the kind of functionality you'll find in this set of built-in Windows IP and networking utilities (which we present in alphabetical order in Table 1 for easy reference).

Table 1: Built-in Windows IP Commands

Name	Explanation	Command Help
arp	Shows known IP to physical address mappings.	arp /?
ipconfig	Displays current IP configuration data; use also to manage IP address leases from DHCP (use on Windows NT, 2000, XP).	ipconfig /?
nbtstat	Shows NetBIOS over TCP/IP sessions, names, and other statistics.	nbtstat /?
netdiag	Use to operate a whole battery of network diagnostics, most of which are IP-related.	netdiag /?
netsh	Powerful, general-purpose administrative tool to manage network services and protocols (see Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q242468 for syntax).	netsh /?
netstat	Network statistics monitor and reporting tool.	netstat /?
nslookup	DNS lookup and diagnostic utility.	nslookup /?
pathping	Performs sequential ping to all hosts between source and destination machines; follows the route and reports the link transit time statistics.	pathping /?
ping	Traces basic reachability (and round-trip time) between current and target IP name or address.	ping /?
route	Use to inspect or update local routing table (for static IP routes only).	route /?
tracert	Traces route from source to destination name or address; shows IP address and DNS names (where available) plus three ICMP transit times.	tracert /?
winipcfg	Displays current IP configuration data (use with Windows 9x, Me).	winipcfg

Notes: ipconfig, nbtstat, netdiag, netsh, pathping, and winipcfg are Windows specific commands; arp, netstat, nslookup, ping, route, and tracert (aka traceroute) are general IP commands.

All of the preceding commands can come in handy for IP diagnostics and troubleshooting, but the following commands are likely to be among the most often used on Windows machines:

arp. Shows information about connections on the local (or virtual local) cable segment; use it to troubleshoot low-level connectivity problems.
ipconfig. Use this to check a Windows machine's IP address and general configuration data.
netstat. Use this to check active TCP and UDP services, plus Ethernet and protocol statistics; useful to see what's active and working IP-wise.
nslookup. Essential for diagnosing DNS information, especially when troubleshooting DNS accessibility or name resolution problems.
ping. The most important and basic tool in this kit, you can use it for everything from checking your local TCP/IP stack (ping localhost or ping <your-IP-address>), checking gateway accessibility (ping <gateway-IP-address> or ping <gateway-name>), and checking reachability of remote hosts (ping <remote-IP address> or ping <remote-domain-name>). Most often used in tandem with ipconfig.
route. Not just handy for managing static routes (which you'll use only in SOHO or branch offices), but also for displaying known networks, broadcast, and multicast addresses.
tracert. Use this to display intermediate hosts between a local and a remote machine, and to determine where connectivity may be breaking down.

Working with these commands takes a little TCP/IP knowledge and some basic troubleshooting skills. If you're unfamiliar with this kind of information and activity, please consult the excellent TechNet article entitled "Basic Steps to Troubleshooting TCP/IP" (by Ron Nutter, originally for TechRepublic). That's it for the basic built-in tools; in the next section we move on to some easily accessible shareware and freeware add-ons that belong in the "nice to have around" category.

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