fping

A tool to check if hosts are alive.

Description

The fping command is similar to ping but much more powerful. Unlike ping, which waits for a response or a timeout from a single host before moving to the next, fping sends a packet to one host and immediately moves to the next. This allows it to ping multiple hosts simultaneously. fping also allows specifying a range of IP addresses or a list of hosts via the command line.

Syntax

fping (options) (parameters)

Options

-a  # Show systems that are alive.
-b  # Size of the ping packet (default is 56 bytes).
-c  # Number of pings to send to each target (default is 1).
-f  # Read a list of targets from a file (cannot be used with -g).
-l  # Loop mode (send pings continuously).
-g  # Generate a target list by specifying start and end addresses (can be a network range).
-u  # Show targets that are unreachable.

Examples

Installing fping:

# Install EPEL repository first:
yum install epel* -y
# Install fping package:
yum install fping -y

Ping specific IP addresses:

~]# fping 192.168.0.1 192.168.0.125 192.168.0.126 2>/dev/null
192.168.0.1 is alive
192.168.0.125 is alive
192.168.0.126 is unreachable

Ping an entire network segment:

~]# fping -g 192.168.0.0/24 2>/dev/null
192.168.0.1 is alive
192.168.0.103 is alive
...
192.168.0.253 is unreachable
192.168.0.254 is unreachable

Ping a network segment and show only alive hosts:

~]# fping -ag 192.168.0.0/24 2>/dev/null
192.168.0.1
192.168.0.103
...

Ping a specific range of IPs:

~]# fping -ag 192.168.0.5 192.168.0.130 2>/dev/null
192.168.0.103
...
192.168.0.125
192.168.0.130