Network Command Reference
This page is a practical command reference for checking addressing, interfaces, routing, switching, DNS, sockets, packet flow, and device state. Command availability and exact output vary by operating system and network platform.
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Linux: Interfaces and Addressing
ip -brief address ip address show ip -s link show ip link show dev eth0 ip neigh show ethtool eth0 ethtool -S eth0
Linux: Routing
ip route show ip -6 route show ip route get 203.0.113.25 ip -6 route get 2001:db8::25 ip rule show ip route show table all
Connectivity and Path Testing
ping 192.0.2.1 ping -6 2001:db8::1 traceroute 203.0.113.25 traceroute6 2001:db8::25 tracepath 203.0.113.25 mtr -rwzbc 100 203.0.113.25 curl -v https://example.com/ nc -vz example.com 443
DNS
dig example.com dig example.com A dig example.com AAAA dig example.com MX dig @1.1.1.1 example.com dig +trace example.com host example.com resolvectl status resolvectl query example.com
Listening Ports and Connections
ss -lntup ss -ntp ss -s lsof -i :443 curl -I https://example.com/ openssl s_client -connect example.com:443 -servername example.com
Packet Capture
tcpdump -D tcpdump -ni eth0 tcpdump -ni eth0 host 192.0.2.25 tcpdump -ni eth0 port 53 tcpdump -ni eth0 'tcp port 443 and host 203.0.113.10' tcpdump -ni eth0 -s 0 -w capture.pcap
Use -n to avoid DNS lookups during capture, -i to select an interface, -s 0 to capture complete packets, and -w to save a file for Wireshark.
Cisco IOS: Switching
show interfaces status show interfaces counters errors show interfaces trunk show vlan brief show mac address-table show mac address-table interface GigabitEthernet1/0/10 show spanning-tree show spanning-tree interface GigabitEthernet1/0/10 detail show etherchannel summary show cdp neighbors detail show lldp neighbors detail
Cisco IOS: Routing and Services
show ip interface brief show ipv6 interface brief show ip route show ipv6 route show ip route 203.0.113.25 show ip cef 203.0.113.25 detail show arp show ipv6 neighbors show ip ospf neighbor show ip bgp summary show ip bgp neighbors show access-lists show logging show processes cpu sorted show memory statistics
VyOS
show interfaces show interfaces ethernet eth0 physical show ip route show ipv6 route show arp show ipv6 neighbors show protocols ospf neighbor show protocols bgp summary show log monitor traffic interface eth0 compare show configuration commands
Evidence Before Changes
Capture command output before clearing counters, restarting services, or changing configuration. The original state may contain the only evidence of the root cause.