Network troubleshooting is part any System Administrator’s life. Maybe you need to check the IP address of a machine or test if its networking connection is working. Maybe you need to see if DNS is properly configured or check the latency between two hosts.
If you have been in this field long enough, you probably have a few favorite commands that you learned years ago and use on a regular basis, like IPCONFIG or PING.
There are literally hundreds of networking-related PowerShell cmdlets in Windows these days. Just try out this command on your machine: Get-Command -Module Net* | Group Module
But more important than knowing every one of them, is to know the most useful cmdlets that have the potential to replace those old commands that you can’t live without.
And it’s when you combine the many networking cmdlets in ways that only PowerShell can do that you’ll find amazing new troubleshooting abilities…
IPCONFIG
Description: This command has many options, but the most common usage is just to show the IP address, subnet mask and default gateway for each network adapter in a machine.
PowerShell: Get-NetIPConfiguration or Get-NetIPAddress
Sample command lines:
- Get-NetIPConfiguration
- Get-NetIPAddress | Sort InterfaceIndex | FT InterfaceIndex, InterfaceAlias, AddressFamily, IPAddress, PrefixLength -Autosize
- Get-NetIPAddress | ? AddressFamily -eq IPv4 | FT –AutoSize
- Get-NetAdapter Wi-Fi | Get-NetIPAddress | FT -AutoSize
Sample output:
PS C:> Get-NetIPConfiguration
InterfaceAlias : Wi-Fi
InterfaceIndex : 3
InterfaceDescription : Dell Wireless 1703 802.11b|g|n (2.4GHz)
NetProfile.Name : HomeWifi
IPv6Address : fded:b22c:44c4:1:88f2:9970:4082:4118
IPv4Address : 192.168.1.2
IPv6DefaultGateway :
IPv4DefaultGateway : 192.168.1.1
DNSServer : 192.168.1.1InterfaceAlias : Bluetooth Network Connection
InterfaceIndex : 6
InterfaceDescription : Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)
NetAdapter.Status : DisconnectedInterfaceAlias : Ethernet
InterfaceIndex : 4
InterfaceDescription : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
NetAdapter.Status : DisconnectedPS C:> Get-NetIPAddress | Sort InterfaceIndex | FT InterfaceIndex, InterfaceAlias, AddressFamily, IPAddress, PrefixLength –Autosize
InterfaceIndex InterfaceAlias AddressFamily IPAddress PrefixLength
————– ————– ————- ——— ——-
1 Loopback Pseudo-Interface 1 IPv6 ::1 128
1 Loopback Pseudo-Interface 1 IPv4 127.0.0.1 8
3 Wi-Fi IPv6 fe80::88f2:9970:4082:4118%3 64
3 Wi-Fi IPv6 fded:b22c:44c4:1:f188:1e45:58e3:9242 128
3 Wi-Fi IPv6 fded:b22c:44c4:1:88f2:9970:4082:4118 64
3 Wi-Fi IPv4 192.168.1.2 24
4 Ethernet IPv6 fe80::ce6:97c9:ae58:b393%4 64
4 Ethernet IPv4 169.254.179.147 16
6 Bluetooth Network Connection IPv6 fe80::2884:6750:b46b:cec4%6 64
6 Bluetooth Network Connection IPv4 169.254.206.196 16
7 Local Area Connection* 3 IPv6 fe80::f11f:1051:2f3d:882%7 64
7 Local Area Connection* 3 IPv4 169.254.8.130 16
8 Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface IPv6 2001:0:5ef5:79fd:1091:f90:e7e9:62f0 64
8 Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface IPv6 fe80::1091:f90:e7e9:62f0%8 64
9 isatap.{024820F0-C990-475F-890B-B42EA24003F1} IPv6 fe80::5efe:192.168.1.2%9 128PS C:> Get-NetIPAddress | ? AddressFamily -eq IPv4 | FT –AutoSize
ifIndex IPAddress PrefixLength PrefixOrigin SuffixOrigin AddressState PolicyStore
——- ——— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———–
7 169.254.8.130 16 WellKnown Link Tentative ActiveStore
6 169.254.206.196 16 WellKnown Link Tentative ActiveStore
3 192.168.1.2 24 Dhcp Dhcp Preferred ActiveStore
1 127.0.0.1 8 WellKnown WellKnown Preferred ActiveStore
4 169.254.179.147 16 WellKnown Link Tentative ActiveStore
PS C:> Get-NetAdapter Wi-Fi | Get-NetIPAddress | FT -AutoSizeifIndex IPAddress PrefixLength PrefixOrigin SuffixOrigin AddressState PolicyStore
——- ——— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———–
3 fe80::88f2:9970:4082:4118%3 64 WellKnown Link Preferred ActiveStore
3 fded:b22c:44c4:1:f188:1e45:58e3:9242 128 RouterAdvertisement Random Preferred ActiveStore
3 fded:b22c:44c4:1:88f2:9970:4082:4118 64 RouterAdvertisement Link Preferred ActiveStore
3 192.168.1.2 24 Dhcp Dhcp Preferred ActiveStore
PING
Description: Checks connectivity to a specific host. Commonly used to check for liveliness, but also used to measure network latency.
PowerShell: Test-NetConnection
Sample command lines:
- Test-NetConnection www.microsoft.com
- Test-NetConnection -ComputerName http://www.microsoft.com -InformationLevel Detailed
- Test-NetConnection -ComputerName http://www.microsoft.com | Select -ExpandProperty PingReplyDetails | FT Address, Status, RoundTripTime
- 1..10 | % { Test-NetConnection -ComputerName http://www.microsoft.com -RemotePort 80 } | FT -AutoSize
Sample output
PS C:> Test-NetConnection www.microsoft.com
ComputerName : www.microsoft.com
RemoteAddress : 104.66.197.237
InterfaceAlias : Wi-Fi
SourceAddress : 192.168.1.2
PingSucceeded : True
PingReplyDetails (RTT) : 22 msPS C:> Test-NetConnection -ComputerName www.microsoft.com -InformationLevel Detailed
ComputerName : www.microsoft.com
RemoteAddress : 104.66.197.237
AllNameResolutionResults : 104.66.197.237
2600:1409:a:396::2768
2600:1409:a:39b::2768
InterfaceAlias : Wi-Fi
SourceAddress : 192.168.1.2
NetRoute (NextHop) : 192.168.1.1
PingSucceeded : True
PingReplyDetails (RTT) : 14 msPS C:> Test-NetConnection -ComputerName www.microsoft.com | Select -ExpandProperty PingReplyDetails | FT Address, Status, RoundTripTime -Autosize
Address Status RoundtripTime
——- —— ————-
104.66.197.237 Success 22PS C:> 1..10 | % { Test-NetConnection -ComputerName www.microsoft.com -RemotePort 80 } | FT -AutoSize
ComputerName RemotePort RemoteAddress PingSucceeded PingReplyDetails (RTT) TcpTestSucceeded
———— ———- ————- ————- ———————- —————-
www.microsoft.com 80 104.66.197.237 True 17 ms True
www.microsoft.com 80 104.66.197.237 True 16 ms True
www.microsoft.com 80 104.66.197.237 True 15 ms True
www.microsoft.com 80 104.66.197.237 True 18 ms True
www.microsoft.com 80 104.66.197.237 True 20 ms True
www.microsoft.com 80 104.66.197.237 True 20 ms True
www.microsoft.com 80 104.66.197.237 True 20 ms True
www.microsoft.com 80 104.66.197.237 True 20 ms True
www.microsoft.com 80 104.66.197.237 True 15 ms True
www.microsoft.com 80 104.66.197.237 True 13 ms True
NSLOOKUP
Description: Name server lookup. Mostly used to find the IP address for a given DNS name (or vice-versa). Has many, many options.
PowerShell: Resolve-DnsName
Sample command lines:
- Resolve-DnsName www.microsoft.com
- Resolve-DnsName microsoft.com -type SOA
- Resolve-DnsName microsoft.com -Server 8.8.8.8 –Type A
Sample output
PS C:> Resolve-DnsName www.microsoft.com
Name Type TTL Section NameHost
—- —- — ——- ——–
www.microsoft.com CNAME 6 Answer toggle.www.ms.akadns.net
toggle.www.ms.akadns.net CNAME 6 Answer www.microsoft.com-c.edgekey.net
www.microsoft.com-c.edgekey.ne CNAME 6 Answer www.microsoft.com-c.edgekey.net.globalredir.akadns.net
t
www.microsoft.com-c.edgekey.ne CNAME 6 Answer e10088.dspb.akamaiedge.net
t.globalredir.akadns.net
Name : e10088.dspb.akamaiedge.net
QueryType : AAAA
TTL : 6
Section : Answer
IP6Address : 2600:1409:a:39b::2768Name : e10088.dspb.akamaiedge.net
QueryType : AAAA
TTL : 6
Section : Answer
IP6Address : 2600:1409:a:396::2768Name : e10088.dspb.akamaiedge.net
QueryType : A
TTL : 6
Section : Answer
IP4Address : 104.66.197.237PS C:> Resolve-DnsName microsoft.com -type SOA
Name Type TTL Section PrimaryServer NameAdministrator SerialNumber
—- —- — ——- ————- —————– ————
microsoft.com SOA 2976 Answer ns1.msft.net msnhst.microsoft.com 2015041801PS C:> Resolve-DnsName microsoft.com -Server 8.8.8.8 –Type A
Name Type TTL Section IPAddress
—- —- — ——- ———
microsoft.com A 1244 Answer 134.170.188.221
microsoft.com A 1244 Answer 134.170.185.46
ROUTE
Description: Shows the IP routes in a given system (also used to add and delete routes)
PowerShell: Get-NetRoute (also New-NetRoute and Remove-NetRoute)
Sample command lines:
- Get-NetRoute -Protocol Local -DestinationPrefix 192.168*
- Get-NetAdapter Wi-Fi | Get-NetRoute
Sample output:
PS C:WINDOWSsystem32> Get-NetRoute -Protocol Local -DestinationPrefix 192.168*
ifIndex DestinationPrefix NextHop RouteMetric PolicyStore
——- —————– ——- ———– ———–
2 192.168.1.255/32 0.0.0.0 256 ActiveStore
2 192.168.1.5/32 0.0.0.0 256 ActiveStore
2 192.168.1.0/24 0.0.0.0 256 ActiveStorePS C:WINDOWSsystem32> Get-NetAdapter Wi-Fi | Get-NetRoute
ifIndex DestinationPrefix NextHop RouteMetric PolicyStore
——- —————– ——- ———– ———–
2 255.255.255.255/32 0.0.0.0 256 ActiveStore
2 224.0.0.0/4 0.0.0.0 256 ActiveStore
2 192.168.1.255/32 0.0.0.0 256 ActiveStore
2 192.168.1.5/32 0.0.0.0 256 ActiveStore
2 192.168.1.0/24 0.0.0.0 256 ActiveStore
2 0.0.0.0/0 192.168.1.1 0 ActiveStore
2 ff00::/8 :: 256 ActiveStore
2 fe80::d1b9:9258:1fa:33e9/128 :: 256 ActiveStore
2 fe80::/64 :: 256 ActiveStore
2 fded:b22c:44c4:1:d1b9:9258:1fa:33e9/128 :: 256 ActiveStore
2 fded:b22c:44c4:1:c025:aa72:9331:442/128 :: 256 ActiveStore
2 fded:b22c:44c4:1::/64 :: 256 ActiveStore
TRACERT
Description: Trace route. Shows the IP route to a host, including all the hops between your computer and that host.
PowerShell: Test-NetConnection –TraceRoute
Sample command lines:
- Test-NetConnection http://www.microsoft.com –TraceRoute
- Test-NetConnection outlook.com -TraceRoute | Select -ExpandProperty TraceRoute | % { Resolve-DnsName $_ -type PTR -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue }
Sample output:
PS C:> Test-NetConnection www.microsoft.com –TraceRoute
ComputerName : www.microsoft.com
RemoteAddress : 104.66.197.237
InterfaceAlias : Wi-Fi
SourceAddress : 192.168.1.2
PingSucceeded : True
PingReplyDetails (RTT) : 16 ms
TraceRoute : 192.168.1.1
10.0.0.1
TimedOut
68.86.113.181
69.139.164.2
68.85.240.94
68.86.93.165
68.86.83.126
104.66.197.237PS C:> Test-NetConnection outlook.com -TraceRoute | Select -ExpandProperty TraceRoute | % { Resolve-DnsName $_ -type PTR -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue }
Name Type TTL Section NameHost
—- —- — ——- ——–
125.144.85.68.in-addr.arpa PTR 7200 Answer te-0-1-0-10-sur02.bellevue.wa.seattle.comcast.net
142.96.86.68.in-addr.arpa PTR 4164 Answer be-1-sur03.bellevue.wa.seattle.comcast.net
6.164.139.69.in-addr.arpa PTR 2469 Answer be-40-ar01.seattle.wa.seattle.comcast.net
165.93.86.68.in-addr.arpa PTR 4505 Answer be-33650-cr02.seattle.wa.ibone.comcast.net
178.56.167.173.in-addr.arpa PTR 7200 Answer as8075-1-c.seattle.wa.ibone.comcast.net
248.82.234.191.in-addr.arpa PTR 3600 Answer ae11-0.co2-96c-1a.ntwk.msn.net
NETSTAT
Description: Shows current TCP/IP network connections.
PowerShell: Get-NetTCPConnection
Sample command lines:
- Get-NetTCPConnection | Group State, RemotePort | Sort Count | FT Count, Name –Autosize
- Get-NetTCPConnection | ? State -eq Established | FT –Autosize
- Get-NetTCPConnection | ? State -eq Established | ? RemoteAddress -notlike 127* | % { $_; Resolve-DnsName $_.RemoteAddress -type PTR -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue }
Sample output:
PS C:> Get-NetTCPConnection | Group State, RemotePort | Sort Count | FT Count, Name -Autosize
Count Name
—– —-
1 SynSent, 9100
1 Established, 40028
1 Established, 65001
1 Established, 27015
1 Established, 5223
1 Established, 49227
1 Established, 49157
1 Established, 49156
1 Established, 12350
1 Established, 49200
2 Established, 5354
2 TimeWait, 5357
2 Established, 80
3 Established, 443
36 Listen, 0PS C:> Get-NetTCPConnection | ? State -eq Established | FT -Autosize
LocalAddress LocalPort RemoteAddress RemotePort State AppliedSetting
———— ——— ————- ———- —– ————–
127.0.0.1 65001 127.0.0.1 49200 Established Internet
192.168.1.2 59619 91.190.218.57 12350 Established Internet
192.168.1.2 57993 213.199.179.175 40028 Established Internet
192.168.1.2 54334 17.158.28.49 443 Established Internet
192.168.1.2 54320 96.17.8.170 80 Established Internet
192.168.1.2 54319 23.3.105.144 80 Established Internet
192.168.1.2 54147 65.55.68.119 443 Established Internet
192.168.1.2 49257 17.143.162.214 5223 Established Internet
127.0.0.1 49227 127.0.0.1 27015 Established Internet
127.0.0.1 49200 127.0.0.1 65001 Established Internet
192.168.1.2 49197 157.56.98.92 443 Established Internet
127.0.0.1 49157 127.0.0.1 5354 Established Internet
127.0.0.1 49156 127.0.0.1 5354 Established Internet
127.0.0.1 27015 127.0.0.1 49227 Established Internet
127.0.0.1 5354 127.0.0.1 49157 Established Internet
127.0.0.1 5354 127.0.0.1 49156 Established InternetPS C:> Get-NetTCPConnection | ? State -eq Established | ? RemoteAddress -notlike 127* | % { $_; Resolve-DnsName $_.RemoteAddress -type PTR -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue }
LocalAddress LocalPort RemoteAddress RemotePort State AppliedSetting
———— ——— ————- ———- —– ————–
192.168.1.2 59619 91.190.218.57 12350 Established Internet
192.168.1.2 57993 213.199.179.175 40028 Established Internet
192.168.1.2 54334 17.158.28.49 443 Established Internet
192.168.1.2 54320 96.17.8.170 80 Established InternetName : 170.8.17.96.in-addr.arpa
QueryType : PTR
TTL : 86377
Section : Answer
NameHost : a96-17-8-170.deploy.akamaitechnologies.com192.168.1.2 54319 23.3.105.144 80 Established Internet
Name : 144.105.3.23.in-addr.arpa
QueryType : PTR
TTL : 7
Section : Answer
NameHost : a23-3-105-144.deploy.static.akamaitechnologies.com192.168.1.2 54147 65.55.68.119 443 Established Internet
Name : 119.68.55.65.in-addr.arpa
QueryType : PTR
TTL : 850
Section : Answer
NameHost : snt404-m.hotmail.com192.168.1.2 49257 17.143.162.214 5223 Established Internet
192.168.1.2 49197 157.56.98.92 443 Established Internet
Name : 92.98.56.157.in-addr.arpa
QueryType : PTR
TTL : 3600
Section : Answer
NameHost : bn1wns1011516.wns.windows.com
Note: Including a PDF version of the output in case you can't see it too well on the web with the lines wrapping and all. See below.
Windows PowerShell equivalents for common networking commands.pdf
Jose Barreto's Blog 
Great article thanks! However the pdf version link leads to an error page 😦
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@NB04
I noticed there was a problem and re-posted the file. I hope that works for everyone now.
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Nice article,
I would have added the Get-NetIPConfiguration cmdlet as a replacement for ipconfig.
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@Emin
You’re right! I missed that one. I added a reference to Get-NetIPConfiguration. Thanks!
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You should mention a required PS version
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Agreed! I’m guessing most of this is for PS Version 5 as none of the commands exist on my Win7 System.
PS C:WINDOWSsystem32> $PSVersionTable
Name Value
—- —–
PSVersion 4.0
WSManStackVersion 3.0
SerializationVersion 1.1.0.1
CLRVersion 4.0.30319.42000
BuildVersion 6.3.9600.16406
PSCompatibleVersions {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0}
PSRemotingProtocolVersion 2.2
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5 doesn’t do it for me:
PS U:> $PSVersionTable
Name Value
—- —–
PSVersion 5.0.10586.117
PS U:> Get-NetIPConfiguration
Get-NetIPConfiguration : The term ‘Get-NetIPConfiguration’ is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.
At line:1 char:1
+ Get-NetIPConfiguration
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (Get-NetIPConfiguration:String) [], CommandNotFoundException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException
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Probably has to do with Windows version.
I just tried this on Windows 10 and it worked for me.
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So it works for W10, but is there some library that has to be loaded or called for these to work in W7 Pro?
Get-NetIPAddress
The term ‘Get-NetIPAddress’ is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script
file, or operable program.
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Test-connection gives a more detailed but more like expected ping output.
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Here is a summary of some news, Announcements and other interesting stuff. send out "randomly"
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Excellent tutorial! Thank you!
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Great. waiting & searching for this information from long time.
But one thing missed. TCP traceroute from Powershell. Can you please provide the command to tcp traceroute from powershell.
Thank you very much.
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Excellent article. Great review and comparison. PowerShell rules!
Thank you Jose.
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thanks for this bootstrap guide to ease the transition into PowerShell standard!!!
@Mihail Stacanov , many of the latest network (aka nettcpip module) cmdlets and storage cmdlets are for Win8/Server2012+.
I have the same experience on my Win7 platform but it works just as expected on Server 2012.
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Wonderful Post!!! Thanks!
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is there a way if i can ping other computer from selected nic interface
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As far as I understand ping will use the best possible route. I guess you could reconfigure your route to use a specific adapter, but that will change the behavior for all traffic, not just ping. See ROUTE command and be careful with changes at this level.
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ping -S
ie..
nic 1: 192.168.1.1
nic2: 192.168.2.1
ping -S 192.168.2.1 http://www.google.com
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Doesn’t work in my command prompt ! I have Win7 64bit professional. Author doesn’t even mention what is required for these commands.
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Great article !!
Is it possible to include the PS equivalents for the NET USE command syntax (NET USE {devicename} {user} {password} etc) ??
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Thanks for this guide! Very helpful!
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