Network Troubleshooting - 5 : NETSTAT

You need to now move on to the Remote System & check if the program / process is listening on a particular port that you are trying to connect to.

Netstat (network statistics) is a command-line tool that displays network connections (both incoming and outgoing), routing tables, and a number of network interface statistics.

- Wikipedia

You can use the simple NETSTAT command on the remote system to check the open Network ports, active connections, etc . You just need to open a Command Prompt ( Terminal in LINUX ) & type :-

( LINUX )

netstat -an | grep port_name

OR

( WINDOWS )

netstat -an | findstr port_name

You should see a bunch of Network statistics like this :-

TCP 0.0.0.0:1521 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING
TCP 127.30.22.11:1521 10.177.239.210:2527 ESTABLISHED
TCP 127.30.22.11:25271 10.177.239.210:1521 ESTABLISHED
TCP 127.30.22.110:28802 10.177.145.53:1521 ESTABLISHED

If you don't get this response, you can conclude on these :-

1. The program / process on the remote system that should be "listening" on the port is not running.

Now, it's time to call up the IT Help Desk & tell them that there's a problem with Network Access.

At the end of this exercise, you have :-

* tried some basic troubleshooting steps.
* identified the source of the problem.
* communicated effectively to the IT Support Staff.

You can now confidently communicate with the IT Support Staff & they'd be more than happy to work with an "educated" colleague.