liboping(3) liboping liboping(3)

# [NAME](#NAME)

liboping - Library to send ICMPv4/ICMPv6 echo packets to multiple hosts

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

This is an overview of liboping, a C library to send ICMP ECHO\_REQUEST packets to remote hosts and measure the time it takes for replies to be received. This method, often simply called "ping", is a common way to measure network latency and/or host reachability.

The goals of this library are to provide the above functionality in a platform and protocol independent manner. The interface is simple, object oriented and (hopefully) ANSI-C compliant.

# [GENERAL USAGE](#GENERAL_USAGE)

There are two main types that are used by applications. Both are "opaque types", meaning they are structures that are **not** completely defined in the header file, so you cannot access the structures' members. You don't need to, don't do it. These structures are subject to change without notice.

"pingobj\_t"

A ping-object. You can set specific options for this object, add and remove hosts to/from it and send ICMP packets to all associated hosts. This is often called a "handle".

"pingobj\_iter\_t"

An iterator over the hosts associated with a "pingobj\_t" object. This iterator can be used to query more information about a host, for example the hostname, the measured latency or the current ICMP sequence.

Upon startup you usually create one or more "pingobj\_t" objects and add hosts to it using the "ping\_host\_add" method (see below). You periodically send "echo requests" using the "ping\_send" method, iterate over all hosts using "ping\_iterator\_get" and "ping\_iterator\_next". For each host you call "ping\_iterator\_get\_info" to read the current latency and do something with it.

If an error occurs you can use "ping\_get\_error" so get information on what failed.

# [LINKING WITH LIBOPING](#LINKING_WITH_LIBOPING)

Depending on you platform you don't need any extra libraries (e.g. GNU/Linux) or "libsocket" (using "-lsocket") if the "socket" function is not in the C-library. The latter is the case for the Solaris operating system.

# [SYMBOL NAMES](#SYMBOL_NAMES)

All "official" function or method names are prefixed with "ping\_". Don't use any other functions or methods. Although no such functions should exist.

# [THREAD SAFETY](#THREAD_SAFETY)

liboping has been designed to be as thread safe a possible. However, this has not been tested and may need some additional work. Use at your own risk and please report back any problems or success messages. Thank you :)

# [SEE ALSO](#SEE_ALSO)

[**ping\_construct**(3)](/man/os/liboping/ping_construct.3), [**ping\_setopt**(3)](/man/os/liboping/ping_setopt.3), [**ping\_host\_add**(3)](/man/os/liboping/ping_host_add.3), [**ping\_send**(3)](/man/os/liboping/ping_send.3), [**ping\_get\_error**(3)](/man/os/liboping/ping_get_error.3), [**ping\_iterator\_count**(3)](/man/os/liboping/ping_iterator_count.3), [**ping\_iterator\_get**(3)](/man/os/liboping/ping_iterator_get.3), [**ping\_iterator\_get\_info**(3)](/man/os/liboping/ping_iterator_get_info.3), [**ping\_iterator\_get\_context**(3)](/man/os/liboping/ping_iterator_get_context.3)

# [LICENSE](#LICENSE)

liboping is licensed under the LGPL 2.1 or later.

# [AUTHOR](#AUTHOR)

liboping is written by Florian "octo" Forster <ff at octo.it>. Its homepage can be found at <http://noping.cc/>.

Copyright (c) 2006-2017 by Florian "octo" Forster.

2026-08-31 1.10.0

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Document: liboping(3) from liboping 1.10.0-r6 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://github.com/octo/liboping.git