# Basic Network Utilities ### ipconfig**/ifconfig** This command gives you information about your connection to a network (or to the Internet). Most importantly, you find out your own IP address. The command also has the IP address for your default gateway, which is your connection to the outside world. Running the ipconfig command is a first step in determining your system’s network configuration. There are many flags, but a common method is to use `ipconfig /all`. ### ping Ping is used to send a test packet, or echo packet, to a machine to find out whether the machine is reachable and how long the packet takes to reach the machine. **TTL** means “time to live.” That time unit is how many intermediary steps, or hops, the packet should take to the destination before giving up. ### **tracert/traceroute** Tracert not only tells you whether the packet got there and how long it took, but it also tells you all the intermediate hops it took to get there. ### netstat Essentially, this command tells you what connections your computer currently has. If you see many private IP addresses, your network has internal communication going on. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://wiki.zacheller.dev/network-security/courses/isci-cnss-course/introduction/untitled-1.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.