ICMP Ping Health Checks
Monitor host reachability with configurable ping checks and packet loss detection.
Overview
ICMP Ping health checks verify that a host is reachable at the network level by sending ICMP Echo Request packets and measuring the responses. This is the most basic form of host monitoring and is useful for detecting network-level outages, routing problems, and host availability issues.
Ping checks are lightweight and fast, making them ideal for monitoring infrastructure components like servers, routers, switches, and load balancers where you need to know whether the host is reachable, regardless of the services running on it.
Configuration
| Parameter | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Host | The domain name or IP address to ping | Required |
| Packet Count | The number of ICMP Echo Request packets to send per check | 3 |
How It Works
When a ping health check executes, upti.my performs the following steps:
- Resolves the hostname to an IP address (if a domain name is provided)
- Sends the configured number of ICMP Echo Request packets to the resolved IP
- Waits for ICMP Echo Reply packets from the target host
- Calculates round-trip time statistics and packet loss percentage
- Determines reachability status based on the results
A host is considered reachable if at least one ICMP Echo Reply is received. The check provides detailed statistics including minimum, maximum, and average round-trip times, as well as packet loss percentage for detecting intermittent connectivity issues.
💡 Packet Count
A higher packet count gives more reliable results by averaging out network jitter. For most use cases, 3 to 5 packets provide a good balance between accuracy and check duration. Use more packets if you need to detect intermittent packet loss.
Response Data
Each ICMP Ping health check execution captures the following data:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Resolved IP | The IP address resolved from the provided hostname |
| Packets Sent | Number of ICMP Echo Request packets sent |
| Packets Received | Number of ICMP Echo Reply packets received |
| Packet Loss % | Percentage of packets that were lost in transit |
| Min RTT | Minimum round-trip time across all packets |
| Max RTT | Maximum round-trip time across all packets |
| Avg RTT | Average round-trip time across all packets |
| Reachability Status | Whether the host is reachable or unreachable |
| DNS Resolution Errors | Any errors encountered during hostname resolution |
Example Configuration
{
"host": "server.example.com",
"packet_count": 5,
"timeout_seconds": 10,
"interval_seconds": 60
}Understanding the Results
Packet Loss
Occasional packet loss (under 5%) is normal on the internet and usually does not indicate a problem. Sustained packet loss above 10% may indicate network congestion, routing issues, or a degraded host. Complete packet loss (100%) means the host is unreachable.
Round-Trip Time
RTT values vary based on geographic distance and network conditions. Typical values for same-region checks are under 10ms, while cross-continent pings may exceed 100ms. A large gap between min and max RTT indicates network instability or jitter.
ℹ️ ICMP vs. TCP Checks
ICMP Ping checks verify host-level reachability, while TCP checks verify that a specific service port is open. Some hosts may block ICMP traffic for security reasons. If ping checks fail but the service is running, try a TCP check instead.
⚠️ ICMP Blocking
Some cloud providers and firewalls block ICMP traffic by default. If your ping checks consistently fail, verify that ICMP is allowed through your network security rules. AWS Security Groups, for example, do not allow ICMP by default.