
	NAME
		fping

	KEYWORDS
		Status; IP; ping; UNIX, VMS; Free;

	ABSTRACT
		fping is a ping(1) like program which uses the Internet Control
                Message Protocol (ICMP) echo request to determine if a host is
                up. fping is different from ping in that you can specify any
                number of hosts on the command line, or specify a file 
                containing the lists of hosts to ping. 

                Unlike ping, fping is meant to be used in scripts and its
                output is easy to parse.

	MECHANISM
                Instead of trying one host until it timeouts or replies, 
                fping will send out a ping packet and move on to the next 
                host in a round-robin fashion. If a host replies, it is 
                noted and removed from the list of hosts to check. If a 
                host does not respond within a certain time limit and/or 
                retry limit it will be considered unreachable. 

	CAVEATS
                Like any other tool, this tool has the potential for abuse.
                Its easy to write a front-end script that would go through
                and ping every host on a network. Needs to be installed
                setuid root, or run by root since it creates a raw socket.

	BUGS
		None known.

	LIMITATIONS
                Setting the retry limit or the timeout too low on slow
                networks can result in hosts being considered unreachable
                even though they might be reachable.

	HARDWARE REQUIRED
                No restrictions.

	SOFTWARE REQUIRED
                BSD UNIX or related OS, or VMS with Multinet.

	AVAILABILITY
                Available by anonymous FTP from argus.stanford.edu, in file 
                pub/fping.shar. Questions and suggestions can be directed to:
                Roland Schemers, schemers@stanford.edu.

