Technical data

ping
-d
Sets the SO_DEBUG option on the socket being used.
-f
Floods ping . Outputs packets as fast as they come back or 100 times per second,
whichever is more. For every ECHO_REQUEST sent, a dot (.) is displayed, while for
every ECHO_REPLY received a backspace is used. This provides a rapid display of
how many packets are being dropped. You must have system privileges to use
this option. Using the
-f flag can be very hard on a network and should be used
with caution.
-i wait
Waits the specified number of seconds between sending each packet. The default
is to wait for 1 second between each packet. This option is incompatible with the
-f option.
-l preload
If preload is specified, ping sends that many packets as fast as possible before
falling into its normal mode of behavior. You must have system privileges to use
this option. Using the -l option can be very hard on a network and should be
used with caution.
-n
Numeric output only. No attempt is made to look up symbolic names for host
addresses. This occurs only when displaying ICMP packets other than ECHO_
RESPONSE.
-p pattern
Specifies up to 16 pad bytes to fill out the packet you send. This is useful for
diagnosing data-dependent problems in a network. For example, -p ff will cause
the sent packet to be filled with all ones (1).
-q
Suppresses output. Nothing is displayed except the summary lines at startup
time and at completion.
-R
Records route. Includes the RECORD_ROUTE option in the ECHO_REQUEST
packet and displays the route buffer on returned packets. Note that the IP
header is large enough for only nine such routes. Many hosts ignore or discard
this option.
-r
Bypasses the normal routing tables and sends directly to a host on an attached
network. If the host is not on a directly attached network, an error is returned.
This option can be used to send ping to a local host through an interface that has
no route through it (for example, after the interface was dropped by ROUTED).
-s packetsize
Specifies the number of data bytes to be sent. The default is 56, which translates
into 64 ICMP data bytes when combined with the 8 bytes of ICMP header data.
-u
Displays the time in microseconds (three decimal places). In order to ensure this
microsecond precision, the NTP_TIME and MICRO_TIME kernel options must
be on. By default, NTP_TIME and MICRO_TIME kernel options are off. If these
Troubleshooting Utilities Reference A–29