5-1-1: Examining Network Commands in Windows
At the end of this episode, I will be able to:
1. Identify and explain common network commands in Windows systems, given a scenario.
Learner Objective: Identify and explain common network commands in Windows systems, given a scenario
Description: In this episode, the learner will examine common network troubleshooting commands. We will
explore command such as ping, ipconfig, nslookup, tracert, netstat and more.
• What commands can be used to troubleshoot the network?
o ipconfig - various utilities to display and configure TCP/IP settings in Windows (ipconfig) and
Linux (ip/ifconfig/)
ipconfig (displays IP configuration information)
ipconfig /all (displays detailed IP configuration information)
ipconfig /release (discontinues use of currently DHCP-assigned IP address and optio
ipconfig /renew (initiates the DHCP lease process D.O.R.A)
o ping - tests reachability of and endpoint or host
ping 192.168.0.10 - sends ICMP echo requests to 192.168.0.10 to check connectivity
ping -n 2 www.google.com - "-n" specifies number of ICMP echo requests to send
o Process
♠ Start with 127.0.0.1 (Loopback, verifies TCP/IP is functional)
♠ Next, ping the local host's IP address (verifies local IP address)
♠ Next, ping another host on the local network (verifies communication on the local
network)
♠ Next, ping the default gateway (verifies communication with the router, connected to the
local network)
♠ Finally, ping a remote host (verifies connectivity beyond the local network)
• What if we wanted to determine where these packets are going, what can we use?
o tracert - network path tracing
tracert www.google.com (traces the route/path taken to destination in Windows-based
• With name resolution being so important to networking, how about a command that can help with DNS?
o nslookup - tests DNS name resolution
nslookup <domain>
nslookup acilearning.com (perform name lookup)
nslookup acilearning.com 8.8.8.8 (perform name lookup with DNS server 8.8.8.8)
nslookup <press enter> (Enters interactive mode)
set type=AAAA (sets lookup type to IPv6)
google.com (performs name lookup for AAAA records)
set type=SOA (sets lookup type to Start of Authority records)
google.com (performs lookup for SOA records)
exit
o ipconfig
ipconfig /displaydns (displays local resolver cache)
ipconfig /flushdns (clears local resolver cache)
• If we need to troubleshoot connections and gather protocol information, does Windows have
something?
o netstat - displays various network statistics, including TCP connections/ports
netstat -a (displays the current state of all connections)
netstat -P TCP (displays network statistics for the TCP protocol)
netstat -s -e (view the statistic of Ethernet connections)
• How about gathering information such as routing and ARP tables?
o arp - displays and modifies the local Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) table
arp -a (displays ARP table entries)
arp -s xxx.xxx.xxx aa-bb-cc-11-22-33 (adds a ARP entries to the table
o route - displays and manipulates the routing table ``` route print - display full routing table route
print -4/-6 - displays IPv4 or IPv6 routing table
• Additional Resources:
o If applicable
