Data Communication Network Lab Project Report On

Implementation of IP Commands such as

TraceRoute, Nslookup

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY
In
Electronics and Communication Engineering

By
K .RAMYASRI (Roll No: 22D41A0455)
K.RITHIKA (Roll No: 23D41A0454)
K.SHIVANI (Roll No: 22D41A0453)
K. PAVAN KUMAR (Roll No: 22D41A0457)

Under the esteemed guidance of

Mrs. R. Kalpana
Asst. Prof

Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering

SRI INDU COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY

(An Autonomous Institution under UGC, New Delhi)Recognized
under 2(f) and 12(B) of UGC Act. 1956
Sheriguda village, Ibrahimpatnam, RR District – 501 510, T.S,INDIA2023-2024
 ABSTRACT

The IPCONFIG network command provides a comprehensive view of information regarding

the IP address configuration of the device we are currently working on.
Traceroute is one of the most common utilities built into most operating systems. It is useful for
diagnosing network connections. It shows the path of a packet going from your host/computer
through each of the individual routes that handle the packet and time required for it to go from
one router to another up to the final host/destination.
Nslookup is the name of a program that lets users enter a host name and find out the
corresponding IP address or domain name system (DNS) record. Users can also enter a
command in nslookup to do a reverse DNS lookup and find the host name for a specified IP
address.
 INTRODUCTION
In addition to having strong knowledge of networking protocols and commands on network
devices (routers, switches, firewalls etc) we need also to have very good knowledge of IP and
other networking related commands on end-point devices such as Windows computers, Linux
servers and workstations etc.
In this article we’ll list and describe the most useful and helpful IP Commands on Windows
operating system. Most of these commands (with some exceptions and variations) are also
available on Linux OS.
I have found myself thousands of times to start troubleshooting network and connectivity problems
from an end-point device first (computer, server etc) before moving on to the actual core network
devices for further investigation.
TRACEROUTE:

When you start the traceroute command, it sends a packet (using the Internet Control Message
Protocol or ICMP) with a time limit value (known as the 'time to live' - TTL). The first packet
has a TTL of 1, the second packet has a TTL of 2, etc. Increasing TTL in such a manner, it
resends the packet so that you can reach the first, the second and other routers on the way to the
destination. When a router receives the packet, it sends a Time Exceeded message, which
provides an opportunity to determine the time required for the hop to the router. Each time a
packet is passed to a new router, the TTL is decreased by 1. When it reaches 0, the packet is
discarded, and the router returns an error message.
NSLOOKUP
The primary purpose of nslookup is to retrieve detailed information about the specified domain.
This information is essential for troubleshooting DNS-related problems.
LIST OF NSLOOKUP COMMANDS
There are various types of nslookup commands for requesting different domain information.
The most commonly used commands include:
name – shows information about the domain name or hostname using the default server.
server name – sets a different default DNS server using the current one’s information.
root – assigns the root server as the default.
set type=<record type> – queries a specific DNS record type, such as A, MX, PTR, or SOA.
Use ANY to display all server records.
set debug – displays debugging information about each query and its corresponding response.
set recurse – asks the DNS nameserver to query other servers if it can’t provide the
information.
help – shows a list of nslookup commands and their functions.
exit – quits the nslookup tool and returns users to the CLI.
METHODOLOGY
To implement a command like traceroute, the program sends packets (e.g., ICMP Echo Request
or UDP) with incrementally increasing Time-To-Live (TTL) values to the target IP address. The
TTL determines how many hops a packet can traverse before being discarded. Each router along
the route decrements the TTL by one, and when it reaches zero, the router responds with an
ICMP "Time Exceeded" message. The program starts with a TTL of 1 and increments it step-
by-step, recording the IP address and response time of each intermediate router until the
destination responds (with an ICMP Echo Reply for ICMP-based traceroute, or a "port
unreachable" message for UDP). The program uses raw sockets to craft and send packets and
listens for responses, extracting the sender's IP and timing information. The process stops when
the destination is reached or a predefined TTL limit is exceeded.
To implement a command like nslookup, the program interacts with the Domain Name System
(DNS) to resolve domain names to IP addresses and vice versa. It constructs a DNS query
packet containing the desired hostname, query type (e.g., A for IPv4, AAAA for IPv6, or PTR
for reverse lookups), and query class (usually IN for Internet). This packet is sent to a DNS
server using UDP (or TCP for larger queries) on port 53. The server responds with a DNS
response packet containing the requested information, such as the resolved IP address or
additional records.
TESTING AND DISCUSSION
TRACEROUTE:
For Windows

Perform the following actions to run the tracert command:

1. Select the Start button > click on the Run option.

2. In the command line, type in cmd and press Enter.

3. Input:

tracert ***

You need to use the domain name, the server's name or its IP instead of ***.

4. Press Enter.

NSLOOKUP:
The Nslookup command is a DNS lookup utility. You can use the following commands to look
up the information for a selected hostname:

nslookup hostname - provides an A record for the hostname:

 nslookup -type=RecordType hostname - gives the specified record for the set hostname (i.e., if
you enter nslookup -type=txt hostname it will provide you with the txt record, etc.):

nslookup hostname nameserver (nameserver address or nameserver IP address) - provides you

with a DNS record stored in the specified DNS server:

RESULT
Hence we have implemented the various IP commands such as TraceRoute and Nslookup

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE SCOPE

Traceroute and nslookup are indispensable tools in network troubleshooting and diagnostics.
Traceroute provides visibility into the path that packets take to a destination, aiding in identifying
routing issues, delays, and network bottlenecks. Nslookup simplifies domain name resolution,
helping administrators debug DNS configurations and resolve issues with name-to-IP or IP-to-
name mappings. Both commands empower users with critical insights into the functioning of
network and DNS infrastructure, ensuring smoother connectivity and performance.
REFERENCE
Ping , Traceroute and nslookup.. Lets see all these cmds in detail… | by The_Anshuman |
Medium
What are Traceroute, Ping, Telnet and Nslookup commands? - Hosting - Namecheap.com
Network configuration and troubleshooting commands in Linux - GeeksforGeeks