TCP/IP utilities

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

TCP/IP utilities

To assist with the management of TCP/IP, there are three types of TCP/IP-based utilities:

  • Connectivity utilities that you can use to interact with and use resources on a variety of Microsoft® and non-Microsoft hosts, such as UNIX systems.

  • Diagnostic utilities that you can use to detect and resolve networking problems.

  • TCP/IP server software that provides printing and publishing services to TCP/IP-based Microsoft Windows® clients.

The following tables describe the TCP/IP-based utilities.

Connectivity utilities

Utility Description

Ftp

Transfers files of any size between computers running Windows Server 2003 operating systems and any computer running File Transfer protocol (FTP) server software. For more information, see Ftp.

Lpr

Sends print jobs to remote UNIX printers managed by Line Printer Daemon (LPD) print server software. For more information, see Lpr.

Rcp

Copies files between computers running Windows Server 2003 operating systems and computers running Remote Copy protocol (RCP) server software. For more information, see Rcp.

Rexec

Executes processes on remote computers. For more information, see Rexec.

Rsh

Runs commands on a computer running Remote Shell (RSH) server software. For more information, see Rsh.

Telnet

Uses terminal-based login to remotely access network devices that are running Telnet server software. For more information, see Telnet.

Tftp

Transfers small files between computers running Windows Server 2003 operating systems and computers running Trivial File Transfer protocol (TFTP) server software. For more information, see Tftp.

Diagnostic utilities

Utility Description

Arp

Displays and modifies the Address Resolution protocol (ARP) cache. This cache is a local table used to resolve IP addresses to media access control addresses used on the local network. For more information, see Arp and Address Resolution Protocol (ARP).

Hostname 

Returns the host name of the local computer. For more information, see Hostname.

Ipconfig

Displays the current TCP/IP configuration. Also used to manually release and renew TCP/IP configurations assigned by a DHCP server. For more information, see Ipconfig and Command-line utilities.

Lpq

Obtains print queue status information from computers running Line Printer Daemon (LPD) print server software. For more information, see Lpq.

Nbtstat

Displays the local NetBIOS name table, a table of NetBIOS names registered by local programs, and the NetBIOS name cache, a local cache listing of NetBIOS computer names that have been resolved to IP addresses. For more information, see Nbtstat and Release and refresh NetBIOS names by using the nbtstat command.

Netsh

Displays and administers TCP/IP protocol settings on the local computer or a remote computer. For more information, see Netsh commands for Interface IP.

Netstat

Displays TCP/IP protocol session information. For more information, see Netstat.

Nslookup

Checks records, domain host aliases, domain host services, and operating system information by querying DNS servers. For more information, see Nslookup and Verify DNS registration for domain controllers using the nslookup command.

Ping

Verifies configurations and tests IP connectivity. For more information, see Ping and Test a TCP/IP configuration by using the ping command.

Route

Displays or modifies the local routing table. For more information, see Route.

Tracert

Traces the route a packet takes to a destination. For more information, see Tracert and Trace a path by using the tracert command.

Pathping

Traces the route a packet takes to a destination and displays information on packet losses for each router in the path. Pathping can also be used to troubleshoot Quality of Service (QoS) connectivity. For more information, see Using the pathping command.

Server-based software

Server software Description

TCP/IP Printing service

The TCP/IP Printing service offers an LPD printing service. This service allows UNIX computers to send print jobs to computers running Windows Server 2003 operating systems by using the Line Printer Remote (Lpr) utility for printing.

Internet Information Services

Internet Information Services (IIS) offers Web, Gopher, and FTP server software for providing TCP/IP-based publishing services. IIS is provided to offer an enterprise-ready Web server to use with an unlimited number of simultaneous connections.

Peer Web Services

Peer Web Services is provided with Windows XP Professional to provide Web-publishing services similar to those offered by IIS for serving fewer than 10 simultaneous connections.