Normal Ping output:
> ping 192.168.0.100
PING 192.168.0.100 (192.168.0.100): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 192.168.0.100: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=0.047 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.100: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.056 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.100: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.045 ms
Ansible Ping output:
> ansible 192.168.0.100 -m ping
> 192.168.0.100 | SUCCESS => {
"changed": false,
"ping": "pong"
}
Have you ever wondered why it is different?
The Normal ping uses ICMP to check network connectivity, while Ansible's ping is a module that ensures connectivity by running Python on the remote host and returning a "pong" message.
It's more of a connectivity and system readiness check rather than just a network test.
Apart from these two major pings, some of the less-known ping types you should understand:
Flood Ping
Sends packets as fast as possible, useful for stress testing or debugging.
ping -f 192.168.1.1
Ping with a Set Number of Requests
Limits the number of ping requests sent.
ping -c 4 192.168.1.1
TTL Ping
Limits the Time To Live (TTL) value of a packet, often used in debugging routing loops or traceroute.
ping -t 5 192.168.1.1
Ping Broadcast
Pings every host on the local network.
ping -b 192.168.1.255
Reverse Ping (Windows)
Windows-specific, checks if another host can ping your machine.
ping -r 9 192.168.1.1
Hope this was useful for all of you. Happy Learning!