Special thanks to our member for creating this content: John Korduba
Contents
Microsoft online documentation
Searching Microsoft documentation
Commands
Here are some often used Command line commands with which a Help Desk professional should be familiar.
ipconfig
In the Windows search window type Cmd.
(Command prompt screen displays).
Right-click/ Run as administrator.
(Command line displays).
Enter ipconfig.
Press Enter
(Basic configuration details about your system and its network displays)
If instead you type ipconfig /all and press ENTER.
(a more detailed screen displays).
Note: In the above screen, “DHCP Enabled” is set to No. This means that a static IP address has been set for this machine.
hostname
At the command prompt type “hostname” and press ENTER.
(The host’s machine name displays).
ping
The ping command confirms connectivity between the sending machine and the destination address.
For example, type “ping 192.168.0.1” and press ENTER.
(Results display).
Connectivity with the destination address is confirmed by the four replies and the notice that there were zero “lost” packets.
Note: You can ping not only the destination’s address’s IP address, but you can also ping the destination’s machine name, if you know it.
When a ping is sent, this is also called an echo request. In other words, the ping is requesting a reply (i.e., echo).
Extended ping
A regular ping stops after 4 results. The “-t” switch allows the echo requests and replies to continue indefinitely, until you manually stop the request.
At the command prompt, type “ping 192.168.0.1 -t”.
Press ENTER.
(Results display).
Stopping a ping
To stop a ping or extended ping, press Ctrl+C, or close the command screen.
Nslookup
Name Server Lookup
This command brings back either the IP address of a device, or its machine name, depending on which type of information is provided initially.
nslookup using IP address
The “nslookup 192.168.0.1” above would bring back the corresponding machine name.
nslookup using machine name
The “nslookup plabdc01” above comes back with the “fully qualified domain name” of “Plabdc01.PRACTICELABS.COM”, along with its corresponding address “192.168.0.1”.
Netstat
Network Statistics
A network utility that shows TCP network connections (incoming and outgoing). Also used to monitor traffic and possible network threats.
In the command line, type “netstat -a” and press ENTER.
(All the current connections display).
In the above screencap, note that the address is followed by a port number. For example, in “192.168.0.1:389”, “389” is the port number.
Chkdsk
Check Disk
This command will scan a specified disk and list any issues (e.g., bad sectors, etc.). Note that it does not fix any discovered issues, only lists them
Thus “chkdsk: D” will scan drive D.
Adding the “/r” switch locates bad sectors and recovers readable information. (The disk must be idle.)
whoami
At the command prompt, type “whoami” and press ENTER.
(If used without parameters, whoami displays the current domain and user name.)
whoami /fqdn
At the command prompt, type “whoami /fqdn” and press ENTER.
(Result displays)
System folders
System and System32 folders contain the main Windows operating system files.
Path: C:/ Windows
System File Checker
This utility will scan and repair any issues with the system files.
At the command line, enter SFC /scannow and press ENTER.
Microsoft online documentation
Click link below to access Microsoft’s online documentation, landing page.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/
Windows Commands
Click link below to access Microsoft’s online documentation for Windows commands:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/windows-commands
Searching Microsoft documentation
For example, to search for information on the “chkdsk” command, enter “chkdsk” in the Search field.
NOTE: These commands are used a lot in Azure, for example. GUI is not always available for everything you might want to do, so learning these commands, or how to find them when needed, is important.
Press Enter.
(Results display).
Click chkdsk.
(Documentation displays)
Special thanks to our member for creating this content: John Korduba
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