traceroute – Network Path Discovery Tool

traceroute is an essential network diagnostic utility that displays the route packets take to reach...

Networking Tools Linux Open Source

traceroute is an essential network diagnostic utility that displays the route packets take to reach a destination host. By showing each hop along the path with timing information, it helps administrators identify where network delays or failures occur, making it invaluable for troubleshooting connectivity issues.

📑 Table of Contents

Key Features

  • Path Visualization – See every router between you and the destination
  • Hop Timing – Measure latency at each network segment
  • Bottleneck Detection – Identify slow network segments
  • Multiple Protocols – Support for ICMP, UDP, and TCP probes

Installation

sudo apt install traceroute    # Debian/Ubuntu
sudo dnf install traceroute    # Fedora/RHEL

Basic Usage

# Basic traceroute
traceroute google.com

# Use ICMP instead of UDP
traceroute -I google.com

# Use TCP SYN packets
traceroute -T -p 443 google.com

# Set maximum hops
traceroute -m 20 example.com

# Don't resolve hostnames
traceroute -n 8.8.8.8

View Documentation

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