How to Use IP Tools

                                      Author - Weedo

Contents:

1. What are IP tools?
2. What can I use IP Tools for?
3. What IP tools should I use?
4. How do I use IP Tools?
5. Misc. Info

What are IP Tools?

     An IP Tool is usually an application that sends Unix commands to the ISP of the IP your want. It also can do queries to different servers such as whois or finger servers. IP Tools functions varries between apps, I think IP Netmonitor 1.6 (Included) and AGNetTools (Included) are the most complete and easy to use so far.

What can I use IP tools for?

     You can use IP Tools to get information about an IP, know more about a server, trace e-mail, test somebody's connectivity, look for interesting ports, etc. If you want to start hacking or just are interested in tracing e-mail or such, you will need good IP tools (like the two ones that is included in this archive), and learn how to use them. 

What IP tools should I use?

     Almost any IP Tool could do it but since some IP tools don't have all the functions you need, IP Netmonitor and AGNetTools are really the two bests.

How do I use IP Tools?

   Here are the most common ways to use IP tools and defenitions for almost all of them:

     DNS (Domain Name Server):
Looks for a name registered to your ISP or to a name server,  an IP that looks like this: 207.113.46.61, could also be ppp34-vide.videotron.aqueb.ca

                                             DNS Lookup in AGNetTools

     Ping Scan (AGNetTools):
Scan IP's from the first IP you tell the program to the last. 234.44.56.78 to 234.44.56.80 will display four IP's, from 234.44.56.78 to 234.44.56.78. It will also do a DNS on each and tell you the time that the IP has taken to send back the ping. If an IP doesnt exist, it will display: «IP not found».

     Test connectivity (Or ping):
Will send the remote machine ICMP packets from 32 to 56 bytes and wait for the machine to send them back. If the machine doesn"t send back a ping at all, it means its probably crashed or that his connection to the internet is closed. If the pings takes more than 10 seconds your machine will say they weren't sent back.

                                               Ping window in AGNetTools

     Monitor:
Scan your machine for ICMP packets received and/or for your TCP activity. Can be useful if you think you are being pingflooded.

     Port Scan (AGNetTools): Will scan the specified IP for different ports you can choose. If I want to know if kennet23-ppp.annex3.accent.net has a hotline server, I would scan his IP from 5500 to 5501.

     Service Scan (AGNetTools): Scan multiple IP's for a specified port. Good to look for Unix or Hotline servers.

                                     Service Scan in AGNetTools

     Finger: Do a finger query to an ISP for a specified IP. Usually doesn't display much stuff. You can almost everytime get the IP's router this way.

                                           Finger in AGNetTools

     Whois: Works almost only on registered domain names like www.yahoo.com or such and give you information about them.

     Trace Route: Sends a ping to an IP and tell you all the IP's your ping pass trough. Very useful to know where somebody lives since you will usually see his town or a place near where he lives written in one of these IP's.

    Name Server Lookup: Will do lots of different queries to a specified IP. Doesn't give alot of interesting stuff, but you can usually get the IP's router and some other info this way.

   You will also see a TCP Info window that will tell you useful information about you TCP connection like your IP, your subnet, router, etc.

Misc. Info

     On IRC, you will get somebody's IP if you do a /whois on him. It will display something like that: MrSpoo@ppp-trackme.down.net or MrSpoo@206.163.45.51. In the two cases, the ip is the text after the "@". In this /whois, the IP would be ppp-trackme.down.net or 206.163.43.51 .

     On Hotline, the IP will be given when you do a User info on somebody. You can also use IP tools on http servers such as yahoo or lycos or any server running on the internet.

     Remember that most of the IP's are dynamic, that mean they change each time the user re-login to his ISP. If somebody screwed up your server and you decide to pingflood him, at least make sure it is his IP you are pingflooding. But even if you have an old IP and that the user's IP changed, you should be able to get basic information, such as a DNS.

     This article only explains the basic of IP tools, if you think I forgot something important please e-mail me at WeeDo@Bigfoot.com.

WeeDo