Which command would you use to check the path taken by packets in a network?

The command that is used to check the path taken by packets in a network is traceroute. This utility works by sending out a series of packets with incrementing Time to Live (TTL) values. Each time a packet is transmitted with a specific TTL, it will be sent through the network, and when it reaches a router that decrements the TTL to zero, that router replies with an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) error message. This process allows traceroute to map out the path taken by packets to reach a destination by displaying the IP addresses of the routers along the way, along with the response times.

In contrast to this, other commands serve different purposes. For instance, ping is used to determine the reachability of a host on an IP network and measures the round-trip time for messages sent to the destination. The show route command typically refers to commands found in routing protocols that display the routing table of a device, but it does not trace the path of packets. Pathping combines aspects of ping and traceroute but is generally used for detailed analysis over time, showing packet loss and latency statistics—which makes it less direct for simply checking the path. Hence, traceroute remains the most effective command for visualizing the route packets take through