Trace Network Routes

Q. How do I trace network routes using Windows / Linux / UNIX / BSD operating systems?

A. You can easily tracks the route packets take across an IP network on their way to a given host. It utilizes the IP protocol’s time to live (TTL) field and attempts to elicit an ICMP TIME_EXCEEDED response from each gateway along the path to the host. You need to use command as per your operating systems.

Trace Network Routes Using Windows XP / Vista / Server 2003 / 2008

Use tracert command. Click on Start > Run > Type cmd and press [Enter] key. At dos command prompt enter:
tracert server-ip-address
tracert 202.54.1.2
tracert google.com

Trace Network Routes Using Linux / UNIX

Use traceroute command. Open a shell prompt, enter:
traceroute server-ip-address
traceroute 202.54.1.2
traceroute google.com
Sample output:

 1  sl1-dallas.xyz.org (74.11.22.33)  0.561 ms  0.765 ms  0.755 ms
 2  po102.dar01.dal01.dallas-datacenter.com (66.228.118.177)  0.969 ms  0.961 ms  1.175 ms
 3  po1.cer02.dal01.dallas-datacenter.com (66.228.118.204)  1.165 ms  1.155 ms  1.361 ms
 4  xe-7-4.r02.dllstx09.us.bb.gin.ntt.net (157.238.224.69)  1.346 ms  1.561 ms  1.550 ms
 5  te-10-1-0.edge2.Dallas3.level3.net (4.68.63.225)  1.768 ms  1.760 ms  1.738 ms
 6  vlan79.csw2.Dallas1.Level3.net (4.68.19.126)  2.191 ms vlan69.csw1.Dallas1.Level3.net (4.68.19.62)  12.751 ms vlan79.csw2.Dallas1.Level3.net (4.68.19.126)  1.042 ms
 7  ae-62-62.ebr2.Dallas1.Level3.net (4.69.136.137)  7.784 ms ae-92-92.ebr2.Dallas1.Level3.net (4.69.136.149)  4.040 ms  1.285 ms
 8  ae-6.ebr3.NewYork1.Level3.net (4.69.137.122)  35.727 ms  35.958 ms  35.950 ms
 9  ae-83-83.csw3.NewYork1.Level3.net (4.69.134.106)  36.430 ms ae-93-93.csw4.NewYork1.Level3.net (4.69.134.110)  49.142 ms ae-63-63.csw1.NewYork1.Level3.net (4.69.134.98)  36.402 ms
10  ae-4-99.edge1.NewYork1.Level3.net (4.68.16.206)  36.610 ms ae-1-69.edge1.NewYork1.Level3.net (4.68.16.14)  36.340 ms ae-2-79.edge1.NewYork1.Level3.net (4.68.16.78)  36.819 ms
11  GOOGLE-INC.edge1.NewYork1.Level3.net (4.71.172.86)  49.793 ms  49.785 ms  50.003 ms
12   (72.14.236.213)  49.993 ms 216.239.43.146 (216.239.43.146)  68.671 ms  (72.14.236.213)  72.396 ms
13  66.249.94.92 (66.249.94.92)  69.160 ms  68.988 ms 66.249.94.90 (66.249.94.90)  69.088 ms
14  66.249.94.92 (66.249.94.92)  64.541 ms  (72.14.236.134)  79.013 ms 66.249.94.92 (66.249.94.92)  64.514 ms
15  66.249.94.50 (66.249.94.50)  71.474 ms  (72.14.236.130)  71.460 ms 66.249.94.50 (66.249.94.50)  71.432 ms
16  eh-in-f99.google.com (72.14.207.99)  69.652 ms  69.382 ms  69.868 ms

Trace Network Routes Using Mac OS X

Use traceroute command. Open a shell prompt, enter:
traceroute server-ip-address
traceroute 202.54.1.2
traceroute google.com