Lab 1 - Basic Networking Utilities

Objective

Learn basic networking tools on Kali Linux: ifconfig, ping, netstat.

Tasks and Results

Task 1: IP Address with ifconfig

• Command used:

ifconfig

• Output:

eth0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        inet 192.168.1.100  netmask 255.255.255.0  broadcast 192.168.1.255
        ether 08:00:27:6c:4d:1f  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)

• Screenshot:

---

• Explanation: ifconfig is a command used to display network interface configuration. It shows the IP address, subnet mask, and other network settings for the specified network interface.

Task 2: Ping www.nyt.com 5 times

• Command used:

ping www.nyt.com -c 5

• Output:

PING www.nyt.com (157.166.234.11) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 157.166.234.11: icmp_seq=1 ttl=55 time=14.2 ms
64 bytes from 157.166.234.11: icmp_seq=2 ttl=55 time=14.1 ms
64 bytes from 157.166.234.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=55 time=14.1 ms
64 bytes from 157.166.234.11: icmp_seq=4 ttl=55 time=14.1 ms
64 bytes from 157.166.234.11: icmp_seq=5 ttl=55 time=14.1 ms

--- www.nyt.com ping statistics ---
5 packets transmitted, 5 received, 0% packet loss, time 4007ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 14.158/14.190/14.233/0.138 ms

• Screenshot:

---

• Explanation: ping is a command used to test the reachability of a network host. It sends ICMP echo requests to the specified host and displays the response time.

Task 3: Open ports with netstat

• Command used:

netstat -tu

• Output:

Active Internet connections (only servers)
Proto Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address           Foreign Address         State       PID/Program name
tcp        0      0 0.0.0.0:22              0.0.0.0:*               LISTEN      1124/sshd
tcp        0      0 127.0.0.1:25            0.0.0.0:*               LISTEN      1165/master
tcp        0      0 0.0.0:80 

• Screenshot:

---

• Explanation: netstat is a command used to display network connections, routing tables, interface statistics, and other network-related information. The -tu options display the TCP and UDP connections, respectively.

---

Tools Used

• Kali Linux 2021
• VS Code
• Git & GitHub
• Basic Networking Commands

---

🔍 Observations and Learning

During this lab, I explored and practiced several essential networking utilities in a Kali Linux environment:

• ifconfig:

  • I successfully retrieved the system’s IP address, netmask, and broadcast information.
  • I observed that Kali (being Debian-based) still uses ifconfig, though newer systems recommend ip a.
  • I learned the differences between internal (local) and external IP addresses.

• ping:

  • By limiting pings to 5 packets with -c 5, I learned how to control the number of ICMP Echo Requests.
  • I observed packet loss and round-trip times (RTT), understanding network performance basics.

• netstat:

  • After browsing a website in Firefox, I captured active TCP and UDP connections.
  • I learned how to filter results (-t for TCP, -u for UDP) and saw the importance of monitoring open ports for security.

Challenges Faced:

• Remembering to use sudo su to get sufficient permissions for some commands.
• Some commands (like netstat) required additional options to show only the needed information clearly.

Key Takeaways:

• Basic networking utilities are powerful tools for diagnostics and troubleshooting.
• Understanding the meaning of IP addresses, ports, and packet loss is critical for cybersecurity work.
• Working in superuser mode requires caution, as it gives full control over the system.

Overall, this lab reinforced my understanding of how low-level network communications operate and gave me hands-on experience with Kali Linux's basic command-line networking tools.

---

📚 References

• ifconfig
• ping
• netstat