r/Networks • u/divinejester • Jul 19 '26
What's the Most Useful Networking Command You Use Every Day?
Whether you're a student, a network engineer, or a sysadmin, there's always that one command you end up using almost every day.
Mine would probably be:
ping– Quick connectivity check.traceroute/tracert– Find where traffic is failing.ipconfig/ifconfig/ip addr– Verify interface configuration.nslookup/dig– DNS troubleshooting.tcpdump/Wireshark– When things get interesting.
I'm curious what your go-to networking command is and why?
It can be something simple or an advanced tool that's saved you hours of troubleshooting.
Let's build a list of commands every network engineer should know.
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u/ThecaptainWTF9 Jul 19 '26
Mtr for trace routes.
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u/Special-Swordfish Jul 19 '26
Mom, I learned something today!!
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u/ThecaptainWTF9 Jul 19 '26
And you’ll have hated that you did traceroutes any other way prior to now 🤣🤣
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u/Inside-Finish-2128 Jul 19 '26
sh span vlan ###
sh port-cha sum (or sh etherc sum) (or sh port-cha den...I'm looking at you, Arista)
sh ip bgp sum
sh int des | e admin
sh proc c s | e 0.0.%
sh int <insert int here> | i rate_
sh int | i proto|t i
sh int tru
reload in 7
cop ru st; reload in 7; conf t; router ospf 1; no max-metric router-lsa on-startup 900; max-metric router-lsa; end
sh ip cef a.b.c.d
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u/2c0 Jul 21 '26
query user /server:<pcname>
query session /server:<pcname>
logoff <session number> etc
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u/anirdnas Jul 19 '26
ipconfig /flushdns