Most networking utilities are somewhat standard across operating systems. Table A.13 contains the most commonly used Linux networking utilities.
COMMAND
GENERAL USAGE
DESCRIPTION
dig
dig HOST
Utility used to look up DNS information for the specified host.
ftp
ftp HOST
File Transfer Protocol client utility used to transfer files to and from FTP servers.
ifconfig
ifconfig [OPTIONS]
Utility used to display and configure network interface cards.
Common options include
-a Display all configured devices
ifdown
ifdown INTERFACE
Script used to stop the specified network interface card.
ifup
ifup INTERFACE
Script used to start the specified network interface card.
netstat
netstat [OPTIONS]
Displays network statistics.
-r Show routing table
-n Do not resolve host names
-s Display network statistics
ping
ping HOST
Utility used to test network connectivity using ICMP packets directed to the specified host.
route
Displays or modifies the current IP routing table.
ssh
ssh HOST
Secure shell client used to open a terminal session on a remote SSH server.
tar
tar [OPTIONS] FILE
Tape or disk archive utility used to combine multiple files into one single archive.
-c Create new archive
-t Test archive
-x Extract archive contents
-z Create archive using gzip compression
-j Create archive using bzip2 compression
telnet
telnet HOST
Insecure method used to open a terminal session on a remote server.
TRaceroute
traceroute HOST
Utility used to test network connectivity and trace paths used to reach remote hosts.