Ping in C

13 May, 2022
Prerequisites : ICMP | Raw Socket | Internet Checksum | DNS Ping is a necessity for debugging of the Internet. Ping is a basic Internet tool that allows a user to verify that a particular IP address exists and can accept requests., with other facilities.  Ping sends out ICMP packets by opening a RAW socket, which is separate from TCP and UDP. Since IP does not have any inbuilt mechanism for sending error and control messages. It depends on Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) to provide an error control. It is used for reporting errors and management queries. Example of Ubuntu Ping
ping www.google.com
PING www.google.com (172.217.194.105) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 172.217.194.105 (172.217.194.105): icmp_seq=1 ttl=46 time=116 ms
64 bytes from 172.217.194.105 (172.217.194.105): icmp_seq=2 ttl=46 time=102 ms
64 bytes from 172.217.194.105 (172.217.194.105): icmp_seq=3 ttl=46 time=119 ms
^C
--- www.google.com ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 3 received, 0% packet loss, time 3110ms
Working Mechanism The Internet Ping program works much like a sonar echo-location, sending a small packet of information containing an ICMP ECHO_REQUEST to a specified computer, which then sends an ECHO_REPLY packet in return. The packet has a TTL (time-to-live) value determining max number of router hops. If the packet does not reach, then the sender is noted back with the error. Errors are of following types:
TTL Expired in Transit
Destination Host Unreachable
Request Timed Out i.e. no reply
Unknown Host
 Implementation The steps followed by a simple ping program are:
Take a hostname as inputDo a DNS lookup
Take a hostname as input
Do a DNS lookup
DNS lookup can be done using gethostbyname(). The gethostbyname() function converts a normal human readable website and returns a structure of type hostent which contains IP address in form of binary dot notation and also address type.
Some ping programs like the one given with ubuntu support reverse DNS lookup. Reverse DNS lookup is performed using getnameinfo(), and it converts dot notation IP address to hostname. for example, the pinging of google.com frequently gives a strange address: bom07s18-in-f14.1e100.net This is as a result of a reverse DNS lookup.Open a Raw socket using SOCK_RAW with protocol as IPPROTO_ICMP. Note: raw socket requires superuser rights so you have to run this code using sudoWhen crtl + C is pressed, ping gives a report. This interrupt is caught by an interrupt handler which just sets our pinging looping condition to false.Here comes the main ping sending loop. We have to:Set the ttl option to a value in the socket TTL value is set to limit the number of hops a packet can make.Set the timeout of the recv function If timeout is not set, recv will wait forever, halting the loop.Fill up the icmp packet As follows:Set packet header type to ICMP_ECHO.Set id to pid of processFill msg part randomly.Calculate checksum and fill it in checksum field.Send the packetWait for it to be received. The main problem here is that the packet received does not mean that  the destination is working. Echo reply means destination is OK. Echo reply is sent from destination OS kernel. This is the list of all types and codes. A issue here is that the program shows type 69 and code 0 if all goes correct instead of 0 which stands for echo_reply. 
Some ping programs like the one given with ubuntu support reverse DNS lookup. Reverse DNS lookup is performed using getnameinfo(), and it converts dot notation IP address to hostname. for example, the pinging of google.com frequently gives a strange address: bom07s18-in-f14.1e100.net This is as a result of a reverse DNS lookup.
Open a Raw socket using SOCK_RAW with protocol as IPPROTO_ICMP. Note: raw socket requires superuser rights so you have to run this code using sudo
When crtl + C is pressed, ping gives a report. This interrupt is caught by an interrupt handler which just sets our pinging looping condition to false.
Here comes the main ping sending loop. We have to:Set the ttl option to a value in the socket TTL value is set to limit the number of hops a packet can make.Set the timeout of the recv function If timeout is not set, recv will wait forever, halting the loop.Fill up the icmp packet As follows:Set packet header type to ICMP_ECHO.Set id to pid of processFill msg part randomly.Calculate checksum and fill it in checksum field.Send the packetWait for it to be received. The main problem here is that the packet received does not mean that  the destination is working. Echo reply means destination is OK. Echo reply is sent from destination OS kernel. This is the list of all types and codes. A issue here is that the program shows type 69 and code 0 if all goes correct instead of 0 which stands for echo_reply. 
Set the ttl option to a value in the socket TTL value is set to limit the number of hops a packet can make.Set the timeout of the recv function If timeout is not set, recv will wait forever, halting the loop.Fill up the icmp packet As follows:Set packet header type to ICMP_ECHO.Set id to pid of processFill msg part randomly.Calculate checksum and fill it in checksum field.Send the packetWait for it to be received. The main problem here is that the packet received does not mean that  the destination is working. Echo reply means destination is OK. Echo reply is sent from destination OS kernel. This is the list of all types and codes. A issue here is that the program shows type 69 and code 0 if all goes correct instead of 0 which stands for echo_reply. 
Set the ttl option to a value in the socket TTL value is set to limit the number of hops a packet can make.
Set the timeout of the recv function If timeout is not set, recv will wait forever, halting the loop.
Fill up the icmp packet As follows:Set packet header type to ICMP_ECHO.Set id to pid of processFill msg part randomly.Calculate checksum and fill it in checksum field.
Set packet header type to ICMP_ECHO.Set id to pid of processFill msg part randomly.Calculate checksum and fill it in checksum field.
Set packet header type to ICMP_ECHO.
Set id to pid of process
Fill msg part randomly.
Calculate checksum and fill it in checksum field.
Send the packet
Wait for it to be received. The main problem here is that the packet received does not mean that  the destination is working. Echo reply means destination is OK. Echo reply is sent from destination OS kernel. This is the list of all types and codes. A issue here is that the program shows type 69 and code 0 if all goes correct instead of 0 which stands for echo_reply. 
C
// C program to Implement Ping // compile as -o ping// run as sudo ./ping <hostname> #include <stdio.h>#include <sys/types.h>#include <sys/socket.h>#include <netinet/in.h>#include <arpa/inet.h>#include <netdb.h>#include <unistd.h>#include <string.h>#include <stdlib.h>#include <netinet/ip_icmp.h>#include <time.h>#include <fcntl.h>#include <signal.h>#include <time.h> // Define the Packet Constants// ping packet size#define PING_PKT_S 64  // Automatic port number#define PORT_NO 0 // Automatic port number#define PING_SLEEP_RATE 1000000 x // Gives the timeout delay for receiving packets// in seconds#define RECV_TIMEOUT 1 // Define the Ping Loopint pingloop=1;  // ping packet structurestruct ping_pkt{    struct icmphdr hdr;    char msg[PING_PKT_S-sizeof(struct icmphdr)];}; // Calculating the Check Sumunsigned short checksum(void *b, int len){    unsigned short *buf = b;    unsigned int sum=0;    unsigned short result;     for ( sum = 0; len > 1; len -= 2 )        sum += *buf++;    if ( len == 1 )        sum += *(unsigned char*)buf;    sum = (sum >> 16) + (sum & 0xFFFF);    sum += (sum >> 16);    result = ~sum;    return result;}  // Interrupt handlervoid intHandler(int dummy){    pingloop=0;} // Performs a DNS lookupchar *dns_lookup(char *addr_host, struct sockaddr_in *addr_con){    printf("\nResolving DNS..\n");    struct hostent *host_entity;    char *ip=(char*)malloc(NI_MAXHOST*sizeof(char));    int i;     if ((host_entity = gethostbyname(addr_host)) == NULL)    {        // No ip found for hostname        return NULL;    }         //filling up address structure    strcpy(ip, inet_ntoa(*(struct in_addr *)                          host_entity->h_addr));     (*addr_con).sin_family = host_entity->h_addrtype;    (*addr_con).sin_port = htons (PORT_NO);    (*addr_con).sin_addr.s_addr  = *(long*)host_entity->h_addr;     return ip;     } // Resolves the reverse lookup of the hostnamechar* reverse_dns_lookup(char *ip_addr){    struct sockaddr_in temp_addr;       socklen_t len;    char buf[NI_MAXHOST], *ret_buf;     temp_addr.sin_family = AF_INET;    temp_addr.sin_addr.s_addr = inet_addr(ip_addr);    len = sizeof(struct sockaddr_in);     if (getnameinfo((struct sockaddr *) &temp_addr, len, buf,                    sizeof(buf), NULL, 0, NI_NAMEREQD))    {        printf("Could not resolve reverse lookup of hostname\n");        return NULL;    }    ret_buf = (char*)malloc((strlen(buf) +1)*sizeof(char) );    strcpy(ret_buf, buf);    return ret_buf;} // make a ping requestvoid send_ping(int ping_sockfd, struct sockaddr_in *ping_addr,                char *ping_dom, char *ping_ip, char *rev_host){    int ttl_val=64, msg_count=0, i, addr_len, flag=1,               msg_received_count=0;         struct ping_pkt pckt;    struct sockaddr_in r_addr;    struct timespec time_start, time_end, tfs, tfe;    long double rtt_msec=0, total_msec=0;    struct timeval tv_out;    tv_out.tv_sec = RECV_TIMEOUT;    tv_out.tv_usec = 0;     clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC, &tfs);          // set socket options at ip to TTL and value to 64,    // change to what you want by setting ttl_val    if (setsockopt(ping_sockfd, SOL_IP, IP_TTL,               &ttl_val, sizeof(ttl_val)) != 0)    {        printf("\nSetting socket options                 to TTL failed!\n");        return;    }     else    {        printf("\nSocket set to TTL..\n");    }     // setting timeout of recv setting    setsockopt(ping_sockfd, SOL_SOCKET, SO_RCVTIMEO,                   (const char*)&tv_out, sizeof tv_out);     // send icmp packet in an infinite loop    while(pingloop)    {        // flag is whether packet was sent or not        flag=1;              //filling packet        bzero(&pckt, sizeof(pckt));                 pckt.hdr.type = ICMP_ECHO;        pckt.hdr.un.echo.id = getpid();                 for ( i = 0; i < sizeof(pckt.msg)-1; i++ )            pckt.msg[i] = i+'0';                 pckt.msg[i] = 0;        pckt.hdr.un.echo.sequence = msg_count++;        pckt.hdr.checksum = checksum(&pckt, sizeof(pckt));          usleep(PING_SLEEP_RATE);         //send packet        clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC, &time_start);        if ( sendto(ping_sockfd, &pckt, sizeof(pckt), 0,           (struct sockaddr*) ping_addr,            sizeof(*ping_addr)) <= 0)        {            printf("\nPacket Sending Failed!\n");            flag=0;        }         //receive packet        addr_len=sizeof(r_addr);         if ( recvfrom(ping_sockfd, &pckt, sizeof(pckt), 0,             (struct sockaddr*)&r_addr, &addr_len) <= 0              && msg_count>1)        {            printf("\nPacket receive failed!\n");        }         else        {            clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC, &time_end);                         double timeElapsed = ((double)(time_end.tv_nsec -                                 time_start.tv_nsec))/1000000.0            rtt_msec = (time_end.tv_sec-                          time_start.tv_sec) * 1000.0                        + timeElapsed;                         // if packet was not sent, don't receive            if(flag)            {                if(!(pckt.hdr.type ==69 && pckt.hdr.code==0))                {                    printf("Error..Packet received with ICMP                           type %d code %d\n",                           pckt.hdr.type, pckt.hdr.code);                }                else                {                    printf("%d bytes from %s (h: %s)                          (%s) msg_seq=%d ttl=%d                          rtt = %Lf ms.\n",                          PING_PKT_S, ping_dom, rev_host,                          ping_ip, msg_count,                          ttl_val, rtt_msec);                     msg_received_count++;                }            }        }       }    clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC, &tfe);    double timeElapsed = ((double)(tfe.tv_nsec -                          tfs.tv_nsec))/1000000.0;         total_msec = (tfe.tv_sec-tfs.tv_sec)*1000.0+                          timeElapsed                        printf("\n===%s ping statistics===\n", ping_ip);    printf("\n%d packets sent, %d packets received, %f percent           packet loss. Total time: %Lf ms.\n\n",           msg_count, msg_received_count,           ((msg_count - msg_received_count)/msg_count) * 100.0,          total_msec);} // Driver Codeint main(int argc, char *argv[]){    int sockfd;    char *ip_addr, *reverse_hostname;    struct sockaddr_in addr_con;    int addrlen = sizeof(addr_con);    char net_buf[NI_MAXHOST];     if(argc!=2)    {        printf("\nFormat %s <address>\n", argv[0]);        return 0;    }     ip_addr = dns_lookup(argv[1], &addr_con);    if(ip_addr==NULL)    {        printf("\nDNS lookup failed! Could                   not resolve hostname!\n");        return 0;    }     reverse_hostname = reverse_dns_lookup(ip_addr);    printf("\nTrying to connect to '%s' IP: %s\n",                                       argv[1], ip_addr);    printf("\nReverse Lookup domain: %s",                           reverse_hostname);     //socket()    sockfd = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_RAW, IPPROTO_ICMP);    if(sockfd<0)    {        printf("\nSocket file descriptor not received!!\n");        return 0;    }    else        printf("\nSocket file descriptor %d received\n", sockfd);     signal(SIGINT, intHandler);//catching interrupt     //send pings continuously    send_ping(sockfd, &addr_con, reverse_hostname,                                 ip_addr, argv[1]);         return 0;}
An example output: Run sudo ./ping google.com
An example output: Run sudo ./ping google.com
Resolving DNS..

Trying to connect to 'google.com' IP: 172.217.27.206

Reverse Lookup domain: bom07s15-in-f14.1e100.net
Socket file descriptor 3 received

Socket set to TTL..
64 bytes from bom07s15-in-f14.1e100.net (h: google.com) (172.217.27.206)
                                msg_seq=1 ttl=64 rtt = 57.320584 ms.

64 bytes from bom07s15-in-f14.1e100.net (h: google.com) (172.217.27.206)
                                msg_seq=2 ttl=64 rtt = 58.666775 ms.

64 bytes from bom07s15-in-f14.1e100.net (h: google.com) (172.217.27.206)
                                msg_seq=3 ttl=64 rtt = 58.081148 ms.

64 bytes from bom07s15-in-f14.1e100.net (h: google.com) (172.217.27.206) 
                                msg_seq=4 ttl=64 rtt = 58.700630 ms.

64 bytes from bom07s15-in-f14.1e100.net (h: google.com) (172.217.27.206) 
                                msg_seq=5 ttl=64 rtt = 58.281802 ms.

64 bytes from bom07s15-in-f14.1e100.net (h: google.com) (172.217.27.206) 
                                msg_seq=6 ttl=64 rtt = 58.360916 ms.

===172.217.27.206 ping statistics===

6 packets sent, 6 packets received, 0.000000 percent packet loss. 
Total time: 6295.187804 ms.
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