The ping and ping6 commands verify if a remote IPv4 or IPv6 host is functioning and accessible across the network. When you execute the ping or ping6 command, it sends ICMP ECHO requests to the host and displays the results; ping6 can also send Node Information Queries (RFC4620).

Syntax

The following is the command syntax:

ping [options] <hostname|IPv4_address>


ping6 [options] <hostname|IPv6_address>

where:

• hostname is the name of host you want to ping.
• IPv4_address is the IPv4 address of the host you want to ping.
• IPv6_address is the IPv6 address of the host you want to ping.

The ping and ping6 commands are basic Linux commands. Depending on the system you are working in, the available options for these commands may vary.