{"id":241,"date":"2025-02-14T05:35:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-14T05:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/texarxs.com\/blog\/?p=241"},"modified":"2026-07-03T05:50:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T05:50:14","slug":"macos-command-line-basics-part-7-network-commands-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/texarxs.com\/blog\/macos-command-line-basics-part-7-network-commands-2\/","title":{"rendered":"macOS Command Line Basics – Part 7: Network Commands 2"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Managing network settings and configurations on macOS can be a straightforward process with the right commands. Here\u2019s a detailed guide on essential network commands that can help troubleshoot, configure, and optimize your macOS network settings.
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netstat \u2013 Show Network Status<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The\u00a0netstat\u00a0command symbolically displays the contents of various network-related data structures. There are a number of output formats, depending on the options for the information presented. The first form of the command displays a list of active sockets for each protocol.
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View information on all sockets<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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$ netstat -at<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n


Network info for IPv6<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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$ netstat -lt<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n


Per protocol network statistics<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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$ netstat -s<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n


Statistics for a specific network protocol<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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$ netstat -p igmp<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n


Statistics for network interfaces<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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$ netstat -i<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n


ntop<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

View real-time network information<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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$ ntop<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n


traceroute \u2013 Print the route packets take to a network host<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The traceroute command utilizes the IP protocol time to live field and attempts to elicit an ICMP TIME_EXCEEDED response from each gateway along the path to a host. The only mandatory parameter is the destination host name or IP number. The default probe datagram length is 40 bytes but can be increased by specifying a packet size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Trace the path packets take to a destination<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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$ traceroute google.com<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n


Without resolving domain names<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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$ traceroute -n google.com<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n


Run traceroute in debug mode<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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$ traceroute -d google.com<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n


nc \u2013 Arbitrary TCP and UDP connections and listen<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The nc (or netcat) utility can be used for almost anything involving TCP or UDP. It can open TCP connections, send UDP packets, listen on arbitrary ports, perform port scanning, and handle both IPv4 and IPv6. Unlike telnet, nc scripts nicely and separates error messages onto standard error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Establish a network connection<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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$ nc -v google.com 443<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n


Connect over port 443 with a timeout of 15 seconds<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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$ nc -v -w 15 google.com 443<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n


Force IPv4-only connection<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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$ nc -v -4 google.com 443<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n


Setup a network listener on port 2195 for testing<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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$ nc -l 443<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n


tcpdump \u2013 Dump traffic on a network<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

tcpdump prints out a description of the contents of packets on a network interface that match the Boolean expression. The description is preceded by a time stamp, printed by default as hours, minutes, seconds, and fractions of a second since midnight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Capture some packets<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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$ tcpdump -nS<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n


Capture all packets<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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$ tcpdump -nnvvXS<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n


Capture packets for a specific port<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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$ tcpdump -nnvvXs 443<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n


Capture packets for a given port destined for 192.168.1.160<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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$ tcpdump -nnvvXs 443 dst 192.168.1.1<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n


Capture packets and save to a pcap file<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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$ tcpdump -nnvvXs 443 dst 192.168.1.1 -w \/tmp\/dump.pcap<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n


Read and analyze captured packets<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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$ tcpdump -qns 0 -A -r \/tmp\/dump.pcap<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n


networkQuality \u2013 Network quality testing tool<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

networkQuality measures different aspects of network quality, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n