Cabrillo College

ICMP Using Ping and Trace

Jan. 24, 2002

172.30.1.20

172.30.1.25

Ethernet Header (Layer 2)

IP Header (Layer 3)
Source IP Add. Dest. IP Add. Protocol field

ICMP Message (Layer 3)

Ether. Tr.
FCS

Ping Uses ICMP message within an IP Packet, Protocol field = 1 Both are layer 3 protocols. (ICMP is considered as a network layer protocol.) Does not use TCP or UDP, but may be acted upon by the receiver using TCP or UDP. Format ping ip address (or ping <cr> for extended ping) ping 172.30.1.25
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Ethernet Header (Layer 2)

IP Header (Layer 3)
Source IP Add. 172.30.1.20 Dest. IP Add. 172.30.1.25 Protocol field 1

ICMP Message - Echo Request (Layer 3)

Ether. Tr.
FCS

Echo Request The sender of the ping, transmits an ICMP message, Echo Request Echo Request - Within ICMP Message Type = 8 Code = 0
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172.30.1.20

172.30.1.25

Ethernet Header (Layer 2)

IP Header (Layer 3)
Source IP Add. 172.30.1.25 Dest. IP Add. 172.30.1.20 Protocol field 1

ICMP Message - Echo Reply (Layer 3)

Ether. Tr.
FCS

Echo Reply The IP address (destination) of the ping, receives the ICMP message, Echo Request The ip address (destination) of the ping, returns the ICMP message, Echo Reply Echo Reply - Within ICMP Message Type = 0 Code = 0
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Q: Are pings forwarded by routers? A: Yes! This is why you can ping devices all over the Internet.
Q: Do all devices forward or respond to pings? A: No, this is up to the network administrator of the device. Devices, including routers, can be configured not to reply to pings (ICMP echo requests). This is why you may not always be able to ping a device. Also, routers can be configured not to forward pings destined for other devices.
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Traceroute

Trace ( Cisco = traceroute, tracert,) is used to trace the probable path a packet takes between source and destination. Probable, because IP is a connectionless protocol, and different packets may take different paths between the same source and destination networks, although this is not usually the case. Trace will show the path the packet takes to the destination, but the return path may be different.
This is more likely the case in the Internet, and less likely within your own autonomous system.

Uses ICMP message within an IP Packet Both are layer 3 protocols. Uses UDP as a the transport layer. We will see why this is important in a moment.
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10.0.0.0/8 RTA RTB

172.16.0.0/16 RTC

192.168.10.0/24 RTD

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Format (trace, traceroute, tracert) RTA# traceroute ip address RTA# traceroute 192.168.10.2

10.0.0.0/8 RTA RTB

172.16.0.0/16 RTC

192.168.10.0/24 RTD

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DA = 192.168.10.2, TTL = 1

Data Link Header (Layer 2) Data Link Data Link Destination Source Address Address

IP Header (Layer 3) Source IP Add. 10.0.0.1 Dest. IP Add. 192.168.10.2 Protocol field 1 TTL 1

ICMP Message - Echo Request (trace) Type 8 Code 0 Chk sum ID Seq. Num Data

UDP (Layer 4) DestPort 35,000

DataLink Tr. FCS

How it works - Fooling the routers & host!

Traceroute uses ping (echo requests) Traceroute sets the TTL (Time To Live) field in the IP Header, initially to 1
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10.0.0.0/8 RTA RTB

172.16.0.0/16 RTC

192.168.10.0/24 RTD

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DA = 192.168.10.2, TTL = 1 ICMP Time Exceeded, SA = 10.0.0.2

Data Link Header (Layer 2) Data Link Data Link Destination Source Address Address

IP Header (Layer 3) Source IP Add. 10.0.0.2 Dest. IP Add. 10.0.0.1 Protocol field 1

ICMP Message - Time Exceeded Type 11 Code 0 Chk sum ID Seq . Nu m. Data

DataLink Tr. FCS

RTB - TTL:

When a router receives an IP Packet, it decrements the TTL by 1. If the TTL is 0, it will not forward the IP Packet, and send back to the source an ICMP time exceeded message. ICMP Message: Type = 11, Code = 0
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10.0.0.0/8 RTA RTB

172.16.0.0/16 RTC

192.168.10.0/24 RTD

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DA = 192.168.10.2, TTL = 1 ICMP Time Exceeded, SA = 10.0.0.2

Data Link Header (Layer 2) Data Link Data Link Destination Source Address Address

IP Header (Layer 3) Source IP Add. 10.0.0.2 Dest. IP Add. 10.0.0.1 Protocol field 1

ICMP Message - Time Exceeded Type 11 Code 0 Chk sum ID Seq . Nu m. Data

DataLink Tr. FCS

RTB

After the traceroute is received by the first router, it decrements the TTL by 1 to 0. Noticing the TTL is 0, it sends back a ICMP Time Exceeded message back to the source, using its IP address for the source IP address. Router Bs IP header includes its own IP address (source IP) and the sending hosts IP address (dest. IP).
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10.0.0.0/8 RTA RTB

172.16.0.0/16 RTC

192.168.10.0/24 RTD

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DA = 192.168.10.2, TTL = 1 ICMP Time Exceeded, SA = 10.0.0.2

Data Link Header (Layer 2) Data Link Data Link Destination Source Address Address

IP Header (Layer 3) Source IP Add. 10.0.0.2 Dest. IP Add. 10.0.0.1 Protocol field 1

ICMP Message - Time Exceeded Type 11 Code 0 Chk sum ID Seq . Nu m. Data

DataLink Tr. FCS

RTA, Sending Host The traceroute program of the sending host (RTA) will use the source IP address of this ICMP Time Exceeded packet to display at the first hop.
RTA# traceroute 192.168.10.2 Type escape sequence to abort. Tracing the route to 192.168.10.2
1 10.0.0.2 4 msec 4 msec 4 msec
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10.0.0.0/8 RTA RTB

172.16.0.0/16 RTC

192.168.10.0/24 RTD

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DA = 192.168.10.2, TTL = 1 ICMP Time Exceeded, SA = 10.0.0.2

DA = 192.168.10.2, TTL = 2

Data Link Header (Layer 2) Data Link Data Link Destination Source Address Address

IP Header (Layer 3) Source IP Add. 10.0.0.1 Dest. IP Add. 192.168.10.2 Protocol field 1 TTL 2

ICMP Message - Echo Request (trace) Type 8 Code 0 Chk sum ID Seq. Num Data

UDP (Layer 4) DestPort 35,000

DataLink Tr. FCS

RTA

The traceroute program increments the TTL by 1 (now 2 ) and resends the ICMP Echo Request packet.

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10.0.0.0/8 RTA RTB

172.16.0.0/16 RTC

192.168.10.0/24 RTD

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DA = 192.168.10.2, TTL = 1 ICMP Time Exceeded, SA = 10.0.0.2

DA = 192.168.10.2, TTL = 2 ICMP Time Exceeded, SA = 172.16.0.2

RTB This time RTB decrements the TTL by 1 and it is NOT 0. (It is 1.) So it looks up the destination ip address in its routing table and forwards it on to the next router. RTC RTC however decrements the TTL by 1 and it is 0. RTC notices the TTL is 0 and sends back the ICMP Time Exceeded message back to the source. RTCs IP header includes its own IP address (source IP) and the sending hosts IP address (destination IP address of RTA). The sending host, RTA, will use the source IP address of this ICMP Time Exceeded message to display at the second hop. 15

10.0.0.0/8 RTA RTB

172.16.0.0/16 RTC

192.168.10.0/24 RTD

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.2

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DA = 192.168.10.2, TTL = 1 ICMP Time Exceeded, SA = 10.0.0.2

DA = 192.168.10.2, TTL = 2 ICMP Time Exceeded, SA = 172.16.0.2

RTA to RTB
Data Link Header (Layer 2) Data Link Data Link Destination Source Address Address IP Header (Layer 3) Source IP Add. 10.0.0.1 Dest. IP Add. 192.168.10.2 Protocol field 1 TTL 2 ICMP Message - Echo Request (trace) Type 8 Code 0 Chk sum ID Seq. Num Data UDP (Layer 4) DestPort 35,000 DataLink Tr. FCS

RTB to RTC
Data Link Header (Layer 2) Data Link Data Link Destination Source Address Address IP Header (Layer 3) Source IP Add. 10.0.0.1 Dest. IP Add. 192.168.10.2 Protocol field 1 TTL 1 ICMP Message - Echo Request (trace) Type 8 Code 0 Chk sum ID Seq. Num Data UDP (Layer 4) DestPort 35,000 DataLink Tr. FCS

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Data Link Header (Layer 2) Data Link Data Link Destination Source Address Address .

IP Header (Layer 3) Source IP Add. 172.16.0.2 Dest. IP Add. 10.0.0.1 Protocol field 1

ICMP Message - Time Exceeded Type 11 Code 0 Chk sum ID Seq . Nu m. Data

DataLink Tr. FCS

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10.0.0.0/8 RTA RTB

172.16.0.0/16 RTC

192.168.10.0/24 RTD

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DA = 192.168.10.2, TTL = 1 ICMP Time Exceeded, SA = 10.0.0.2

DA = 192.168.10.2, TTL = 2 ICMP Time Exceeded, SA = 172.16.0.2

Data Link Header (Layer 2) Data Link Data Link Destination Source Address Address

IP Header (Layer 3) Source IP Add. 172.16.0.2 Dest. IP Add. 10.0.0.1 Protocol field 1

ICMP Message - Time Exceeded Type 11 Code 0 Chk sum ID Seq . Nu m. Data

DataLink Tr. FCS

The sending host, RTA:

The traceroute program uses this information (Source IP Address) and displays the second hop.

RTA# traceroute 192.168.10.2 Type escape sequence to abort. Tracing the route to 192.168.10.2
1 10.0.0.2 4 msec 4 msec 4 msec 2 172.16.0.2 20 msec 16 msec 16 msec

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10.0.0.0/8 RTA RTB

172.16.0.0/16 RTC

192.168.10.0/24 RTD

.1

.2

.1

.2

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.2

DA = 192.168.10.2, TTL = 1 ICMP Time Exceeded, SA = 10.0.0.2

DA = 192.168.10.2, TTL = 2 ICMP Time Exceeded, SA = 172.16.0.2

DA = 192.168.10.2, TTL = 3

Data Link Header (Layer 2) Data Link Data Link Destination Source Address Address

IP Header (Layer 3) Source IP Add. 10.0.0.1 Dest. IP Add. 192.168.10.2 Protocol field 1 TTL 3

ICMP Message - Echo Request (trace) Type 8 Code 0 Chk sum ID Seq. Num Data

UDP (Layer 4) DestPort 35,000

DataLink Tr. FCS

The sending host, RTA:

The traceroute program increments the TTL by 1 (now 3 ) and resends the Packet.
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10.0.0.0/8 RTA RTB

172.16.0.0/16 RTC

192.168.10.0/24 RTD

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DA = 192.168.10.2, TTL = 1 ICMP Time Exceeded, SA = 10.0.0.2

DA = 192.168.10.2, TTL = 2 ICMP Time Exceeded, SA = 172.16.0.2

DA = 192.168.10.2, TTL = 3

RTA to RTB
Data Link Header (Layer 2) Data Link Data Link Destination Source Address Address IP Header (Layer 3) Source IP Add. 10.0.0.1 Dest. IP Add. 192.168.10.2 Protocol field 1 TTL 3 ICMP Message - Echo Request (trace) Type 8 Code 0 Chk sum ID Seq. Num Data UDP (Layer 4) DestPort 35,000 DataLink Tr. FCS

Data Link Header (Layer 2) Data Link Data Link Destination Source Address Address

RTB to RTC

IP Header (Layer 3) Source IP Add. 10.0.0.1 Dest. IP Add. 192.168.10.2 Protocol field 1 TTL 2

ICMP Message - Echo Request (trace) Type 8 Code 0 Chk sum ID Seq. Num Data

UDP (Layer 4) DestPort 35,000

DataLink Tr. FCS

RTC to RTD
Data Link Header (Layer 2) Data Link Data Link Destination Source Address Address IP Header (Layer 3) Source IP Add. 10.0.0.1 Dest. IP Add. 192.168.10.2 Protocol field 1 TTL 1 ICMP Message - Echo Request (trace) Type 8 Code 0 Chk sum ID Seq. Num Data UDP (Layer 4) DestPort 35,000 DataLink Tr. FCS

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10.0.0.0/8 RTA RTB

172.16.0.0/16 RTC

192.168.10.0/24 RTD

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.2

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DA = 192.168.10.2, TTL = 1 ICMP Time Exceeded, SA = 10.0.0.2

DA = 192.168.10.2, TTL = 2 ICMP Time Exceeded, SA = 172.16.0.2

DA = 192.168.10.2, TTL = 3

RTB This time RTB decrements the TTL by 1 and it is NOT 0. (It is 2.) So it looks up the destination ip address in its routing table and forwards it on to the next router. RTC This time RTC decrements the TTL by 1 and it is NOT 0. (It is 1.) So it looks up the destination ip address in its routing table and forwards it on to the next router. RTD RTD however decrements the TTL by 1 and it is 0. However, RTD notices that the Destination IP Address of 192.168.0.2 is its own interface. 20 Since it does not need to forward the packet, the TTL of 0 has no affect.

Data Link Header (Layer 2) Data Link Data Link Destination Source Address Address

IP Header (Layer 3) Source IP Add. 10.0.0.1 Dest. IP Add. 192.168.10.2 Protocol field 1 TTL 1

ICMP Message - Echo Request (trace) Type 8 Code 0 Chk sum ID Seq. Num Data

UDP (Layer 4) DestPort 35,000

DataLink Tr. FCS

Data Link Header (Layer 2) Data Link Data Link Destination Source Address Address

IP Header (Layer 3) Source IP Add. 192.168.10.2 Dest. IP Add. 10.0.0.1 Protocol field 1

ICMP Message Port Unreachable Type 3 Code 3 Chk sum ID Seq . Nu m. Data

DataLink Tr. FCS

RTD RTD sends the packet to the UDP process. UDP examines the unrecognizable port number of 35,000 and sends back an ICMP Port Unreachable message to the sender, RTA, using Type 3 and Code 3.
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10.0.0.0/8 RTA RTB

172.16.0.0/16 RTC

192.168.10.0/24 RTD

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DA = 192.168.10.2, TTL = 1 ICMP Time Exceeded, SA = 10.0.0.2

DA = 192.168.10.2, TTL = 2 ICMP Time Exceeded, SA = 172.16.0.2

DA = 192.168.10.2, TTL = 3 ICMP Port Unreachable, SA = 192.168.10.2

Data Link Header (Layer 2) Data Link Data Link Destination Source Address Address

IP Header (Layer 3) Source IP Add. 192.168.10.2 Dest. IP Add. 10.0.0.1 Protocol field 1

ICMP Message Port Unreachable Type 3 Code 3 Chk sum ID Seq . Nu m. Data

DataLink Tr. FCS

Sending host, RTA RTA receives the ICMP Port Unreachable message. The traceroute program uses this information (Source IP Address) and displays the third hop. The traceroute program also recognizes this Port Unreachable message as meaning this is the destination it was tracing. 22

10.0.0.0/8 RTA RTB

172.16.0.0/16 RTC

192.168.10.0/24 RTD

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DA = 192.168.10.2, TTL = 1 ICMP Time Exceeded, SA = 10.0.0.2

DA = 192.168.10.2, TTL = 2 ICMP Time Exceeded, SA = 172.16.0.2

DA = 192.168.10.2, TTL = 3 ICMP Port Unreachable, SA = 192.168.10.2

Sending host, RTA

RTA, the sending host, now displays the third hop. Getting the ICMP Port Unreachable message, it knows this is the final hop and does not send any more traces (echo requests).

RTA# traceroute 192.168.10.2 Type escape sequence to abort. Tracing the route to 192.168.10.2 1 10.0.0.2 4 msec 4 msec 4 msec 2 172.16.0.2 20 msec 16 msec 16 msec 3 192.168.10.2 16 msec 16 msec 16 msec

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For more information on ICMP and other TCP/IP topics, I recommend: TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume I R.W. Stevens

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Cabrillo College

ICMP Using Ping and Trace CCNA Semester 2 Rick Graziani, Instructor

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