Discussion on:

Troubleshoot network problems using basic TCP/IP commands

This is a very good article but I know there are switches that can be used with these commands. It would have been helpful to have gone over them.
Just my 2c

Perhaps a future article can get more indebt.

Advanced Basic TCP/IP troubleshooting skills for Windows.

There are some other handy commands. Try typing /? after the command. Example:

ipconfig /?

The proper format for obtaining help for these three commands is:

IPCONFIG /?

PING -?

TRACERT -?

These commands will list all the switches and associated options.

Typing switch /? after command line instruction is great, but what if the Dos window closes automatically before you have a chance to read it?

Try opening a DOS window with the MS-Dos Prompt.
Then in the window you can type your command and it will not disapear. If you scroll off the screen, then you can do:

IPCONFIG /? | more (to pause the screen)

or

IPCONFIG /? > file.ext (to have a copy of the information)

There are 2 options>
1. Use a DOS command prompt window
2. Use a standard pipe option to redirect output in a file, for example:
tracert -? >trchlp.txt
tracert www.yahoo.com >trcyaho.txt
the output file will be in your current working directory. Then you can open it with any text editor.
The 2nd is one and only solution, when the output is too large to pass one screen.

piping the results of ipconfig, ping, and tracert into a text file is a great idea! I've done it before when working as an IT Helpdesk Tech at a local bank (much to the amazement of my supervisors, as they'd never thought of it). It's great for printing the results out, or just reviewing more thoroughly, especialy when the problem turns out to be DNS related...

It is always good to keep in touch with the basics. Keep it coming.

type PING/? to see all the avaliable switches used with ping command.

What if dos window closes before you read info???

are you using IPCONFIG FOR NT OPERATING SYS?
and you are on 9x operating sys which would be command winipcfg
do you use run from start menu to type command?

Start | Run | Command

Ping -?

command
command
command


When you are finished, "Exit"

Quick Question? How do you find out what IP addresses are being used on a system, and you don't have a name resolution as well?

in NT the command is IPCONFIG
in 9X the command is winipcfg
as always type HELP or /? after the command to see available switches

use command arp with nic address

what's the purpose of arp and meaning

ARP(Address Resolution Protocol) is a protocol used to connect an IP address(Layer 3 in the OSI model) to a MAC(Media Access Control)address also know as the hardware address of the device e.g. NIC(Network Interface Card).The MACaddress is fixed, the IPaddress can be changed manually or by a DHCP server.
CCNA student.

how do we use this arp???i mean does it have any command?

use command rarp with nic address

For 95-98-ME OS:
You go to start Programs, Accessories, MSDOS prompt and open it.
type in winipcfg and there is the IP address.
(all commands are in C:\WINDOWS)


For NT, 2000 and XP:
You go to start and choose run type in cmd.
type in inconfig and there is the IP address.
(all commands are in C:\WINDOWS\system32)

Use a utility like IPScan. It will give you a list of all active/dead addresses in the scope that you enter (ie: 192.168.0.1 thru 192.168.0.60). This is really helpful if you have devices with static IP's and want the list.

Thanx alot for the valueble information but we need some more scenarios and tools for trouble shooting if any.

These few commands that are documented here are the most frequent tools to use if you are troubleshooting a simple tcpip issue. However, depending on what information you need, and what protocol you are isolating, many other tools can be effective. Netstat can be used to collect information pertaining to your arp tables, which is a listing of computers that you have recently communicated with. Another one is nbstat, which can all be used from the command prompt. If you would like more information, go to your local bookstore and purchase a network + certification study guide, or similar pathway for self teaching. Because of the specific situations involved with some of these more advanced commands, techrepublic can't realistically throw these commands your way, and expect to have a good audience response from them, because they have so many switches, and the data is very specific. Good luck

Hi,

I thought the article gave some good pointers for network debugging.

The ones I use are (and a couple of other tips):

ping - also useful for determining when a remote system has returned from a reboot. ping -n 1000 xx.xx.xx.xx.

ipconfig. all purpose IP info.
nslookup - shows system details from DNS server.

netstat - status of all connections.

route - manipulates the network routing tables, not for the faint hearted.

as always the /? argument gives you more details on most dos based commands.

Regards,

Tim.

Windows Resource Kits for NT and 2000 both have excellent tools for troubleshooting as well as other useful admin utilities.

The tools described are free tolls from Microsoft NT product (Free meaning they are included with the purchase of NT). There are other free tools available such as QCheck from NetIQ and a number of freeware and nearly free shareware products. One only has to think outside the Microsoft box.

I thought the article was excellent. You have to remember not everyone who reads these articles has years of experience behind them. I think it's important to give a good basic explanation that everyone can understand. As someone previously stated, an advanced article would also be good for those who would like to go into greater detail.

thanks pal,keep writing.

The Windows 2000 Help Menu provides a fair amount of information for most of the questions presented. Try opening "my computer" on youre desk top, selecting "Help", and finally entering the following search: command-line utilities, TCP/IP services and utilities. You can even just start with a more generic search such as "command-line utilities". It has helped me to become familiar with the topics discussed.

Good luck!

GM

Some of the other networking tools not mentioned in the article are Telnet, ARP, and NBSTAT.

Telnet is a remote terminal emulation protocol that provides text based access to hosts running the Telnet service. Unix networks permit Telnet, as well as active hubs, switches, dedicated print servers and routers. Telnet is more reliable than ping since a connection oriented session is actually created.

ARP allows you to display and modify the IP-to-physical address translation tables. It also gives you the ability to make permanent entries to hosts that are accessed often, preventing them from being flushed out of the cache.

NBSTAT displays a list of NetBIOS computer names that have been resolved to IP addresses, protocol statistics andcurrent TCP/IP connections using NetBIOS over TCP/IP.

It would be great to see a more involved article on some of these other network troubleshooting tools.

This is good stuff. Someone menioned that not everyone reading these replies has the experience and I thank them for remembering. That is the case with my knowledge any ideas or recommendations for reading for further research on this subject. I would like to give thanks for all those who participated in this thread. It really helps me understand the process and procedures.

Greg

What about the pathping utility. It can be handy as well.

Under Win98, I would use winipcfg to to get adapter info, and get gateway and subnet info from the high speed connections. I could renew release etc. I do I get this same information under windows 2000? msconfig doesn't work?
thanks.

One of the last posts;
For NT, 2000 and XP:
You go to start and choose run type in cmd.
type in inconfig and there is the IP address.
(all commands are in C:\WINDOWS\system32)


From: Joffrey Date: 8/21/02

seemed to work for me. I have used the ipconfig with 98 and had the same question with my Win2K notebook also and found Win2K's help menu listed the command line prompts also.
Oh, and to everyone reading this POST, I apologize for the repeated Windoze references but in a network full of salesmen, it has to be a simple point and click world.;-)

I work as a troubleshooter where people with cable-modem connectivity issues call me and I walk them through the easy stuff on the phone or refer them to a tech dispatch.

One problem I've seen of late is with the IPCONFIG under Windows 2000/XP. Typically, I customer calls me up complaining of loss of connectivity. To start, I have them check their IP and renew if it's incorrect. Sometimes, though, They'll get a response like this:

C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32>IPCONFIG
Windows (XP/2000) IP Configuration

C:\>

I know that under 2K/XP, TCPIP has been made a core component which you can't add/remove at will like under the 9X series. But when the IP config comes back blank like that, does that mean that the OS's TCPIP stack has been totally blown away? And if so, is there any way to fix it under XP without having to nuke the OS and start from scratch (since my field-techs are telling me that is the only option on XP)? Doing a partial system restore has failed me each time and the roll-back feature hasn't work either and most people have it diabled anyway.

So, the question, in it's simplest terms is this: under XP, if TCPIP has been seemingly destroyed, is there a way to fix it without reinstalling the OS?

The problem seems to pop up on PCs where the users have installed some spyware/adware driven file sharing app like KaZaA or Morpheus and I know they modify the stack, and uninsralling the app doesn't fix the stack. So, what's left?

Try to disconnect the protocol on the specific NIC(Network Interface Card). Then reconnect the protocol. Also under W2K Ipconfig is stored in the C:/Windows directory, try running this .exe file. A more basic method is to uninstall the device and reinstall it.
Good luck.

Try to disconnect the protocol on the specific NIC(Network Interface Card). Then reconnect the protocol. Also under W2K Ipconfig is stored in the C:/Windows directory, try running this .exe file. A more basic method is to uninstall the device and reinstall it.
Good luck.

In Windows XP TCP/IP is considered to be a core component of the operating system - meaning that you can't uninstall TCP/IP, but you can still have problems with it, of course....

First things first, check to ensure that the device you're trying to use is installed and working properly. Start by ensuring that the device is 'Enabled'.
1) Right Click on "My Network Places' and choose 'Properties'
2) Examine the devices listed (note if you have a firewire card it may appear here as well) to see if its enabled... i.e. if its 'Shaded Out' its not 'Enabled'
3) If necessary 'Enable' the device by right clicking on it and choosing 'Enable'

You still may want to check the device itself with the TCP/IP Protocol stack... This is pretty simple as well, simply open up a command line window (either by choosing it from the start menu or opening up 'RUN' then typing 'CMD') and PING your localhost by typing: PING 127.0.0.1 at the command prompt.

If everything appears to be working but you're still not getting back any IPCONFIG information you may need to rebuild the TCP/IP Protocol stack which you'll be happy to know CAN be done without reinstalling the OS. Use the NETSH command in the following manner to rebuild your protocol stack:

1) Open up a command line window
2) Type: netsh int ip reset c:\resetlog.txt

Note: c:\resetlog.txt is simply the name and location I'm giving as an example for you to name and place the log file generated by the process.

For more information on this procedure see Microsoft Article Q299357 at:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;299357

--
Chad L. Marshall, MCP, MCSA

Sam Spade is a hell of a good network tool, with a gui interface at http://www.samspade.org/ssw/

A very useful and illuminating article; I have learnt a lot from it.You have made this complex subject so easy to understand, by your examples and diagrams.I look forward to more such articles from you on various subjects.

Here is a side-by-side comparison (Windows vs. Linux) of the TCP/IP commands listed in this article:

http://dougvitale.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/troubleshooting-faulty-network-connectivity-part-2-essential-network-commands/