Problem Determination for WebSphere for z/OS

Chapter 18. Commands 205

18.3.3 The ping command

The ping command sends a request to a remote system and monitors the response time and

the number of lost replies.

The ping command is mainly used on the client to check communication and the proper name

and server configuration. If you can ping your WebSphere for z/OS system by using the name

of the system, you can be almost certain that your client network configuration is fine. If you

cannot ping your system, you should ping the IP address and use the nslookup command to

check the name and server configuration.

To issue the ping command, you use a TSO Command panel for z/OS and a Windows

command prompt for the remote system. The ping command provides the following

information:

No. of responses The ping command counts the number of responses. On z/OS, the

ping command only sends one request. On other client systems, you

should specify a count to limit the number of requests; otherwise, you

must interrupt the process by pressing Ctrl+C.

Response time How many seconds elapsed until the reply came back.

Successes How many tries were successful and many requests were lost.

Example 18-11 shows sample output from the ping command on a workstation.

Example 18-11 The ping command and its response

C:\Documents and Settings\TOT188>ping wtsc55.itso.ibm.com

Pinging wtsc55.itso.ibm.com [9.12.4.28] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 9.12.4.28: bytes=32 time=4ms TTL=63

Reply from 9.12.4.28: bytes=32 time=4ms TTL=63

Reply from 9.12.4.28: bytes=32 time=4ms TTL=63

Reply from 9.12.4.28: bytes=32 time=7ms TTL=63

Ping statistics for 9.12.4.28:

Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),

Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:

Minimum = 4ms, Maximum = 7ms, Average = 4ms

18.3.4 The tracert command

The trace route (tracert) command follows all intermediate network hops until it reaches a

given IP address and informs you about any delays in this process.

The trace route command can be used from both ends of the communication to check for

routers or bridges that are preventing communication or causing unnecessary delays.

The trace route command provides the following information:

Address Address of the target server

Delay One line per hop, with IP address and delay in ms

Note: The trace route command in z/OS TSO/E is called TRACERTE and not tracert.