RHEL Linux Red Hat System Administration 2025 – 400 Free Practice Questions to Pass the Exam

Using the 'ping' command in RHEL (and other operating systems) primarily serves the purpose of checking connectivity to a remote host. When you execute the ping command followed by a hostname or IP address, it sends Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echo request packets to the specified destination. If the destination is reachable, it responds with echo reply packets. This process helps in diagnosing network issues, determining if a particular host is active, and assessing the stability of the connection. The output includes timing information that can be useful for troubleshooting network performance, although it does not measure speed in a direct sense.

While other utilities provide functionalities related to file permissions, listing devices, or speed testing, they do not relate to the primary function of ping. Therefore, the correct identification of 'ping' as a tool for checking connectivity illustrates its critical role in network diagnostics within RHEL and other networked environments.