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Check if a machine is online

Terminal - Check if a machine is online
ping -c 1 -q MACHINE_IP_OR_NAME >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo ONLINE || echo OFFLINE
2012-02-09 06:30:55
User: UnixNeko
Functions: echo ping
8
Up
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Check if a machine is online

PING

parameters

c 1 limits to 1 pinging attempt

q makes the command quiet (or silent mode)

/dev/null 2>&1 is to remove the display

&& echo ONLINE is executed if previous command is successful (return value 0)

|| echo OFFLINE is executed otherwise (return value of 1 if unreachable or 2 if you're offline yourself).

I personally use this command as an alias with a predefined machine name but there are at least 2 improvements that may be done.

Asking for the machine name or IP

Escaping the output so that it displays ONLINE in green and OFFLINE in red (for instance).

Add to favourites | Report as malicious

Alternatives

There are 2 alternatives - vote for the best!

Terminal - Alternatives
echo -n "IP Address or Machine Name: "; read IP; ping -c 1 -q $IP >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo -e "\e[00;32mOnline\e[00m" || echo -e "\e[00;31mOffline\e[00m"
2012-02-09 07:00:03
User: crlf
Functions: echo ping read
Tags: bash echo IP ping
1
Up
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Check if a machine is online with better UI

I have used single packet, and in a silent mode with no display of ping stats. This is with color and UI improvement to the http://www.commandlinefu.com/commands/view/10220/check-if-a-machine-is-online. It is as per the enhancements suggested.

Show sample output | Comments (0) | Add to favourites | Report as malicious
ping1 IPaddr_or_hostname
2012-02-09 17:26:32
User: waibati
Tags: echo IP ping
0
Up
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Check if a machine is online

export THISOS="`uname -s`"

if [ "$THISOS" = "SunOS" ]

then

export THISRELEASE="`uname -r`"

ping1() { ping -s $1 56 1 | egrep "^64"; }

elif [ "$THISOS" = "AIX" ]

then

export THISRELEASE="`uname -v`.`uname -r`"

ping1() { ping -w ${2:-1} $1 56 1 | egrep "^64"; }

elif [ "$THISOS" = "Linux" ]

then

export THISRELEASE="`uname -r`"

ping1() { ping -c 1 -w ${2:-1} $1 | egrep "^64"; }

fi

Comments (0) | Add to favourites | Report as malicious

Know a better way?

If you can do better, submit your command here.

What others think

The usage of && and || is wrong!

Try:

true && false || echo not true

It will print "not true" because of command `false'!

Comment by uzsolt 70 weeks and 6 days ago

This is the improved version.

echo -n "IP Address or Machine Name: "; read IP; ping -c 1 -q $IP >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo -e "\e[00;32mOnline\e[00m" || echo -e "\e[00;31mOffline\e[00m"

Comment by crlf 70 weeks and 5 days ago

You didn't even test this before you posted it, did you?

ping -c -q 127.0.0.1 >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo online || echo offline

... results in "offline", despite using 127.0.0.1 which would always be online.

Comment by Mozai 70 weeks ago

ah, wait, my test had a typo in it. I typed "-c " instead of "-c 1 "

Comment by Mozai 70 weeks ago

@uzsolt Try

false && echo true || echo false

and

true && echo true || echo false
Comment by Mozai 70 weeks ago

OK, so it is a fundamental error to believe that if a system does not respond to ICMP echo request then it is not online. The paranoid amongst us (and those who remember "ping-of-death" attacks) disable ICMP echo request acknowledgement.

Comment by mpb 69 weeks and 5 days ago

crlf : You should upload that updated one ;)

uzsolt : I don't think so. ;)

Mozai : tested for sure but you already know it.

mpb : true, but my command assumes you don't disable echo. Maybe should I have mentioned this.

Comment by UnixNeko 62 weeks and 4 days ago

Your point of view

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