Net::Ping - Check Whether a Host Is Online

use Net::Ping; $hostname = 'elvis'; # host to check $timeout = 10; # how long to wait for a response print "elvis is alive\n" if pingecho($hostname, $timeout);

pingecho() uses a TCP echo (not an ICMP one) to determine whether a remote host is reachable. This is usually adequate to tell whether a remote host is available to rsh(1), ftp(1), or telnet(1).

The parameters for pingecho() are:

• hostname
• The remote host to check, specified either as a hostname or as an IP address.
• timeout
• The timeout in seconds. If not specified it will default to 5 seconds.

WARNING: pingecho() uses alarm to implement the timeout, so don't set another alarm while you are using it.