Running external applications  |  16-Feb-2024

PingTool: Commands

From version 4.1, PingTool offers the option of executing user-defined commands. In contrast to the user-defined actions, these are not executed on objects, but independently of them. Such a command could, for example, clear the DNS cache, open the hosts file or change your own IP address.



With or without admin rights
Certain commands - such as changing your own IP address - only work with admin rights. For this reason, you can specify whether admin rights are required when creating a command. The UAC is then addressed when the command is started and admin rights are requested.

 

Bold: The entry is displayed in bold.

Admin: Administrator rights are required for the command and are requested via the UAC.

Window: A command line window is displayed.

Examples

► Example 1: Delete DNS cache
► Example 2: Open Hosts file (as Admin)
► Example 3: Change IP address
► Example 4: Change IP address to DHCP
► Example 5: Show IP configuration

Example 1: Delete DNS cache

When migrating or configuring network components, it often happens that the locally cached DNS information is out of date. It can be deleted with ipconfig /flushdns so that current data can be accessed.

This command allows you to delete the DNS cache with one click:

1. Click on the 3-dot menu and "Commands"
2. Enter the text Delete DNS cache under "Display text".
3. Enter the command cmd.exe /c ipconfig /flushdns & timeout /t 3 under "Command".
4. Click on the "Window" checkbox.

You can now use the command via the black command icon.

The concatenated command "timeout /t 3" keeps the window open for 3 seconds and then closes it. The activated window checkbox makes the window visible to the user. If you do not activate this checkbox, the command is executed but is invisible.

Example 2: Open Hosts file (as Admin)

Sometimes it is necessary to make changes to the hosts file. This command can be used to open the hosts file as an administrator so that changes can also be made.

Display text: Open Hosts file (as Admin)
Command: notepad.exe C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts
Admin checkbox: yes

Example 3: Change IP address

As a network administrator, it sometimes happens that you have to give your own notebook a different IP address. This is a relatively complicated process. This can be prepared using a PingTool command and then performed with a single click.

Display text: Change IP address to 10.5.2.100
Command: netsh interface ip set address "Ethernet" static 10.5.2.100 255.255.255.0 10.5.2.1 & pause
Admin checkbox: yes

In the command, "Ethernet" must be replaced by the name of your network connection. You can obtain the list of network connections with the command ncpa.cpl. Of course, you must also replace the IP address 10.5.2.100 with your value. Also the subnet mask and the default gateway 10.5.2.1.

A pause command is concatenated to keep the window open.

Example 4: Change IP address to DHCP

The IP address can be set to DHCP with the following command:

Display text: Change IP address to DHCP
Command: netsh interface ip set address "Ethernet" dhcp & pause
Admin checkbox: yes

In the command, "Ethernet" must be replaced by the name of your network connection. You can obtain the list of network connections with the command ncpa.cpl.

In this example, a pause command is concatenated to keep the window open.

Example 5: Show IP configuration

You can view the complete IP address configuration with the following command:

Display text: ipconfig /all
Command: ipconfig /all & pause
Admin-CheckBox: no

A pause command is concatenated to keep the window open.