Editing Ping (networking utility) (section)

{{Short description|Network utility used to test the reachability of a host}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}} 
{{Infobox software
| name                   = 
| title                  = Ping
| screenshot = Ping iputils screenshot.png
| caption = Linux version of ping
| screenshot size        = 
| screenshot alt         = 
| collapsible            = 
| author                 = [[Mike Muuss]]
| developer              = Various [[open-source software|open-source]] and [[commercial software|commercial]] developers
| released               = {{Start date and age|1983}}
| latest release version = 
| latest release date    = <!-- {{Start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|df=yes/no}} -->
| programming language   = 
| platform               = [[Cross-platform]]
| genre                  = [[Command (computing)|Command]]
| license                = [[Public-domain software|Public-domain]], [[BSD License|BSD]], [[GPL]], [[MIT License|MIT]]
| website                = 
| standard               = 
| AsOf                   = 
}}

'''ping''' is a [[computer network]] administration [[software utility]] used to test the reachability of a [[host (network)|host]] on an [[Internet Protocol]] (IP) network. It is available in a wide range of [[operating system]]s {{endash}} including most embedded network administration software.

Ping measures the [[round-trip time]] for messages sent from the originating host to a destination computer that are echoed back to the source. The name comes from [[active sonar]] terminology that sends a [[Pulse (signal processing)|pulse]] of sound and listens for the [[echo]] to detect objects under water.<ref name="ping" />

Ping operates by means of [[Internet Control Message Protocol]] (ICMP) [[Network packet|packet]]s. ''Pinging'' involves sending an '''ICMP echo request''' to the target host and waiting for an '''ICMP echo reply'''. The program reports errors, [[packet loss]], and a statistical summary of the results, typically including the minimum, maximum, the [[mean (average)|mean]] round-trip times, and [[standard deviation]] of the mean.

[[Command-line option]]s and [[Computer terminal|terminal]] output vary by implementation. Options may include the size of the payload, count of tests, limits for the number of network hops ([[Time to live#IP packets|TTL]]) that probes traverse, interval between the requests and time to wait for a response. Many systems provide a companion utility ping6, for testing on [[Internet Protocol version 6]] (IPv6) networks, which implement [[ICMPv6]].