You can use TCP/IP commands to determine the status of a network, display information about a user, and resolve host information needed to communicate to another host or user.
TCP/IP contains the following commands to determine the status of local and
remote hosts and their networks:
| finger or f | Displays information about the current users on a specified host. This information can include the user's login name, full name, and terminal name, as well as the date and time of login. |
| host | Resolves a host name into an Internet address or an Internet address into a host name. |
| ping | Helps determine the status of a network or host. It is most commonly used to verify that a network or host is currently running. |
| rwho | Shows which users are logged in to hosts on a local network. This command displays the user name, host name, and date and time of login for everyone on the local network. |
| whois | Identifies to whom a user ID or nickname belongs. This command can only be used if your local network is connected to the Internet. |
To display information about all users logged in to host alcatraz, type:
finger @alcatraz
Information similar to the following is displayed:
brown console Mar 15 13:19 smith pts0 Mar 15 13:01 jones tty0 Mar 15 13:01
User brown is logged in at the console, user smith is logged in from a pseudo teletype line pts0, and user jones is logged in from a tty0. Your system administrator can set your system up so the finger command works differently. If you encounter any problems using the finger command, call your system administrator.
To display information about user brown at alcatraz, type:
finger brown@alcatraz
Information similar to the following is displayed:
Login name: brown Directory: /home/brown Shell: /home/bin/xinit -L -n Startup On since May 8 07:13:49 on console No Plan.
Your system administrator can set your system up so the finger command works differently. If you encounter any problems using the finger command, call your system administrator.