Test-Connection

Syntax

Test-Connection
    [-AsJob]
    [-DcomAuthentication <AuthenticationLevel>]
    [-WsmanAuthentication <String>]
    [-Protocol <String>]
    [-BufferSize <Int32>]
    [-ComputerName] <String[]>
    [-Count <Int32>]
    [-Impersonation <ImpersonationLevel>]
    [-ThrottleLimit <Int32>]
    [-TimeToLive <Int32>]
    [-Delay <Int32>]
    [<CommonParameters>]

Test-Connection
    [-AsJob]
    [-DcomAuthentication <AuthenticationLevel>]
    [-WsmanAuthentication <String>]
    [-Protocol <String>]
    [-BufferSize <Int32>]
    [-ComputerName] <String[]>
    [-Count <Int32>]
    [-Credential <PSCredential>]
    [-Source] <String[]>
    [-Impersonation <ImpersonationLevel>]
    [-ThrottleLimit <Int32>]
    [-TimeToLive <Int32>]
    [-Delay <Int32>]
    [<CommonParameters>]

Test-Connection
    [-DcomAuthentication <AuthenticationLevel>]
    [-WsmanAuthentication <String>]
    [-Protocol <String>]
    [-BufferSize <Int32>]
    [-ComputerName] <String[]>
    [-Count <Int32>]
    [-Impersonation <ImpersonationLevel>]
    [-TimeToLive <Int32>]
    [-Delay <Int32>]
    [-Quiet]
    [<CommonParameters>]

Description

The Test-Connection cmdlet sends Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echo request packets, or pings, to one or more remote computers and returns the echo response replies. You can use this cmdlet to determine whether a particular computer can be contacted across an IP network.

You can use the parameters of Test-Connection to specify both the sending and receiving computers, to run the command as a background job, to set a time-out and number of pings, and to configure the connection and authentication.

Unlike the familiar ping command, Test-Connection returns a Win32_PingStatus object that you can investigate in Windows PowerShell. You can use the Quiet parameter to force it to return only a Boolean value.

Examples

Example 1: Send echo requests to a remote computer

PS C:\> Test-Connection "Server01"



Source        Destination     IPV4Address     IPV6Address  Bytes    Time(ms)

------        -----------     -----------     -----------  -----    --------

ADMIN1        Server01         10.59.137.44                32       0

ADMIN1        Server01         10.59.137.44                32       0

ADMIN1        Server01         10.59.137.44                32       0

ADMIN1        Server01         10.59.137.44                32       1

This command sends echo request packets from the local computer to the Server01 computer. This command uses the ComputerName parameter to specify the Server01 computer, but omits the optional parameter name.

Example 2: Send echo requests to several computers

PS C:\> Test-Connection -ComputerName "Server01", "Server02", "Server12"

This command sends pings from the local computer to several remote computers.

Example 3: Send echo requests from several computers to a computer

PS C:\> Test-Connection -Source "Server02", "Server12", "localhost" -ComputerName "Server01" -Credential Domain01\Admin01

This command sends pings from different source computers to a single remote computer, Server01. It uses the Credential parameter to specify the credentials of a user who has permission to send a ping request from the source computers. Use this command format to test the latency of connections from multiple points.

Example 4: Customize the test command

PS C:\> Test-Connection -ComputerName "Server01" -Count 3 -Delay 2 -TTL 255 -BufferSize 256 -ThrottleLimit 32

This command sends three pings from the local computer to the Server01 computer. It uses the parameters of Test-Connection to customize the command.

Use this command format when the ping response is expected to take longer than usual, either because of an extended number of hops or a high-traffic network condition.

Example 5: Run a test as a background job

PS C:\> $job = Test-Connection -ComputerName (Get-Content "Servers.txt") -AsJob

PS C:\> if ($job.JobStateInfo.State -ne "Running") {$Results = Receive-Job $job}

This example shows how to run a Test-Connection command as a Windows PowerShell background job.

The first command uses the Test-Connection cmdlet to ping many computers in an enterprise. The value of the ComputerName parameter is a Get-Content command that reads a list of computer names from the Servers.txt file. The command uses the AsJob parameter to run the command as a background job and it saves the job in the $job variable.

The second command checks to see that the job is not still running, and if it is not, it uses a Receive-Job command to get the results and store them in the $Results variable.

Example 6: Ping a remote computer with credentials

PS C:\> Test-Connection "Server55" -Credential Domain55\User01 -Impersonation Identify

This command uses the Test-Connection cmdlet to ping a remote computer. The command uses the Credential parameter to specify a user account that has permission to ping the remote computer and the Impersonation parameter to change the impersonation level to Identify.

Example 7: Create a session only if a connection test succeeds

PS C:\> if (Test-Connection -ComputerName "Server01" -Quiet) {New-PSSession Server01}

This command creates a session on the Server01 computer only if at least one of the pings sent to the computer succeeds.

The command uses the Test-Connection cmdlet to ping the Server01 computer. The command uses the Quiet parameter, which returns a Boolean value, instead of a Win32_PingStatus object. The value is $True if any of the four pings succeed and is, otherwise, $False.

If the Test-Connection command returns a value of $True, the command uses the New-PSSession cmdlet to create the PSSession .

Required Parameters

Optional Parameters

Inputs

None

You cannot pipe input to this cmdlet.

Outputs

System.Management.ManagementObject#root\cimv2\Win32_PingStatus, System.Management.Automation.RemotingJob, System.Boolean

This cmdlet returns a job object, if you specify the AsJob parameter. If you specify the Quiet parameter, it returns a Boolean . Otherwise, this cmdlet returns a Win32_PingStatus object for each ping.

Notes

• This cmdlet uses the Win32_PingStatus class. A Get-WMIObject Win32_PingStatus command is equivalent to a Test-Connection command.
• The Source parameter set was introduced in Windows PowerShell 3.0.

Related Links

• Add-Computer
• Restart-Computer
• Stop-Computer