ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol)
- Network layer core protocol
- Reports on success/failure of data delivery
- Can indicate:
- When part of a network is congested
- When data fails to reach its destination
- When data has been discarded because TTL has expired
- Announces transmission failures to sender
- Does not correct detected errors
- Provides critical information for troubleshooting network problems
- ICMPv6 on IPv6 networks perform the functions of ICMP and ARP on IPv4 networks
Packet
Field | Length | Function |
---|
Type | 8 bits | Indicate type of ICMP message |
Code | 8 bits | Indicates subtype of message |
Checksum | 16 bits | Allows receiving node to determine if packet became corrupted during transmission |
Rest of header | 32 bits | Varies depending on type/subtype |
Data | Variable | Usually contains IP header and first 8 bytes of data portion of IP packet that triggered ICMP message |
Networking Computer Science