Diagnostic Utilities

DIAGNOSTICS UTILITIES
OBJECTIVE
To learn about and practice some of the Diagnostic Utilities for use with computer
networks.
THEORY
Following table gives the descriptions of different diagnostic Utilities
Diagnostics Utility Functions
IPCONFIG Verifies a TCP/IP configuration, including DHCP, DNS, and
WINS server addresses.
FINGER Retrieves system information from a remote computer that
supports the TCP/IP Finger service.
NSLOOKUP Examines entries in the DNS database that pertain to a
particular host or domain.
HOSTNAME Returns the local computers hostname for authentication.
NETSTAT Displays protocol statistics and the current state of TCP/IP
connections.
1.Ping
Objective
Verify connections to a remote computer or computers
Theory
The ping command verifies connections to remote computer or computers, by sending
ICMP echo packets to the computer and listening for echo reply packets. Ping waits
for up to 1 second for each packet sent and prints the number of packets transmitted
and received. Each received packet is validated against the transmitted message. By
default, four echo packets containing 64 bytes of data (a periodic uppercase sequence
of alphabetic characters) are transmitted.
You can use the ping utility to test both the computer name and the IP address of the
computer. If the IP address is verified but the computer name is not, you may have a
name resolution problem. In this case, be sure that the computer name you are
querying is in either the local HOSTS file or in the DNS database.
The Ping stands for Packet Internet Groper.
Parameters
-t
Pings the specified computer until interrupted.
Diagnostic Utilities



-a
Resolve addresses to computer names.
-n count
Sends the number of ECHO packets specified by count. The default is 4.
Example 4.1
Y:\>ping sirsyed
Output as follows :
Pinging sirsyed [192.168.1.1] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=255
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=255
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=255
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=255
Example 4.2
Output as follows :
Y:\>ping aurangzeb
Pinging aurangzeb [192.168.1.5] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.5: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.5: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.5: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.5: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=128
Exercise 4.1
On command prompt, type
ping 192.168.2.145
Record the output :
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Exercise 4.2

On command prompt, type
ping 192.168.1.3

Record the output
Diagnostic Utilities




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2. Ipconfig
Theory
This diagnostic command displays all current TCP/IP network configuration values.
This command is of particular use on systems running DHCP, allowing users to
determine which TCP/IP configuration values have been configured by DHCP.
ipconfig [/all | /renew [adapter] | /release [adapter]]
Parameters
all
Produces a full display. Without this switch, ipconfig displays only the IP address,
subnet mask, and default gateway values for each network card.
Example 4.2
Y:\> ipconfig

Output as follows :
Windows NT IP Configuration
Ethernet adapter Elnk31:
IP Address. . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.13
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . : 192.168.1.8
Exercise 4.3
On command prompt, type
Y:\> ipconfig /all
Record the output
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Exercise 4.4)
In this procedure, you use the Ipconfig utility to view an IP configuration and the
PING utility to test your workstation and connections to another TCP/IP host.
Diagnostic Utilities



3.Finger
Theory
Displays information about a user on a specified system running the Finger service.
Output varies based on the remote system. This command is available only if the
TCP/IP protocol has been installed.
finger [-l] [user]@computer [...]
Parameters
-l
Displays information in long list format.
user
Specifies the user you want information about. Omit the user parameter to display
information about all users on the specifed computer.
@computer
Specifies the server on the remote system whose users you want information about.
Example 4.4
The following shows sample output for finger:
Y:\> finger @sirsyed
[sirsyed]
Login Name Tty Idle Login Time Office Office Phone
srahim Syed Inam ur Rahim pa 2:15 Apr 28 16:27 (faculty-t09)
afrahman Afif Ur Rahaman (1) pe Apr 28 17:17 (NTWS126)
basith Basit Hussain p6 14 Apr 28 18:29 (NTWS125)
masghark Muhammad Asghar Khan *p1 Apr 28 17:10 (NTWS144)
masghark Muhammad Asghar Khan q0 9 Apr 28 17:26 (NTWS144)
masghark Muhammad Asghar Khan p0 3 Apr 28 17:51 (NTWS144)
miyezdani Mohammad Iftikhar Yez *p3 Apr 28 18:40 (NTWS152)
sharjeelf Sharjeel Farooqui (98 p2 2:14 Apr 28 16:21 (NTWS145)
shusain Suheyl Husain 1 1:32 Apr 28 15:00 Faculty Ext. 213
shusain Suheyl Husain p5 Apr 28 18:35 (suheylws)
ygazdar Yasir Gazdar pa Apr 28 17:05 (NTWS113)
ygazdar Yasir Gazdar q1 1 Apr 28 17:24 (NTWS113)
Exercise 4.5
On command prompt, type
Y:\username>finger athar@sirsyed
Diagnostic Utilities



Record the output
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Exercise 4.6
On command prompt, type
Y:\username>finger @ liaquat
Record the output

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Exercise 4.7
On command prompt, type
Y:\username>finger @ iqbal
Record the output

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4. Nslookup
This diagnostic tool displays information from Domain Name System (DNS) name
servers. Before using this tool, you should be familiar with how DNS works.
Nslookup is available only if the TCP/IP protocol has been installed.

Hostname:- It returns the local computer host name .
Exercise 4.8
On command prompt, type
Y:\username>hostname
Record the output

Diagnostic Utilities




5. Netstat:- Displays protocol statistics and the current state of TCP/IP connections

Exercise 4.9
On command prompt, type
Y:\username>netstat
Record the output