Visualizing Ping with Gping: Real‑Time Graphs, ICMP Insights & Installation Guide

1 Introduction

Gping can display ping results in a line‑graph in real time, supporting Windows, Linux, and macOS, and allowing multiple targets to be pinged and compared simultaneously. The article also expands on ICMP and ICMP tunneling.

ICMP Message Structure

ICMP messages consist of a type field, a code field, a checksum field, and data fields specific to the message type. The type and code together determine the message’s category, while the data field can carry various information depending on the type and code. Below is the typical ICMP packet format:

Flexibility

The ICMP protocol is designed to be flexible, allowing various information to be carried in the data field. This flexibility enables encapsulating arbitrary data packets within ICMP messages for transmission across the network, as the data field is not heavily restricted as long as it conforms to the specific message type and code.

Encapsulation and Decapsulation

The sender wraps the data packet inside an ICMP message, which is then placed inside an IP packet for delivery. The receiver first extracts the IP packet, then extracts the ICMP message to retrieve the original data packet.

Tunnel Technology

ICMP tunneling leverages this encapsulation ability to transmit data packets inside ICMP messages. Tunnel software splits data into small chunks, encapsulates each chunk in separate ICMP messages, and sends them to the destination, where the software reassembles the original packet.

Stealth

ICMP tunnels are often hard for network filters or firewalls to detect because ICMP traffic is common for network management, making it a potential covert communication method.

TTL and other ICMP mechanisms will be covered in a future article

2 Comparison

Traditional Ping vs. Gping visualizations:

Single‑target Gping:

Dual‑target Gping:

3 Usage

$ gping --help
Ping, but with a graph.

Usage: gping [OPTIONS] [HOSTS_OR_COMMANDS]...

Arguments:
  [HOSTS_OR_COMMANDS]...  Hosts or IPs to ping, or commands to run if --cmd is provided. Can use cloud shorthands like aws:eu-west-1.

Options:
      --cmd                Graph the execution time for a list of commands rather than pinging hosts
  -n, --watch-interval <WATCH_INTERVAL>  Watch interval seconds (provide partial seconds like '0.5'). Default for ping is 0.2, default for cmd is 0.5.
  -b, --buffer <BUFFER>  Determines the number of seconds to display in the graph. [default: 30]
  -4                     Resolve ping targets to IPv4 address
  -6                     Resolve ping targets to IPv6 address
  -i, --interface <INTERFACE>  Interface to use when pinging
  -s, --simple-graphics  Uses dot characters instead of braille
      --vertical-margin <VERTICAL_MARGIN>  Vertical margin around the graph (top and bottom) [default: 1]
      --horizontal-margin <HORIZONTAL_MARGIN>  Horizontal margin around the graph (left and right) [default: 0]
  -c, --color <color>   Assign color to a graph entry. Accepts hex '#RRGGBB' or names like black, red, green, etc.
  -h, --help            Print help information
  -V, --version         Print version information
      --clear           Clear the graph from the terminal after closing the program

4 Installation

Linux

wget https://github.com/orf/gping/releases/download/gping-v1.14.0/gping-Linux-x86_64.tar.gz
mv gping /usr/local/bin

gping
Error: At least one host or command must be given (i.e gping google.com). Use --help for a full list of arguments.
#安装成功

Windows

Place the executable in the C:/Windows directory.