Lab Objectives

To familiarise yourself with:

• Basic network information required for computers to communicate and transmit data.
• Network commands used to retrieve network-specific information.

Instructions
• Use the workstations in the FCI labs to complete the lab work.
• Ensure that your workstation is connected to the NUST Network.
• You may also use your laptop connected to the NUST Network.

Section A
1. Type ipconfig /all at the command prompt and record the settings of your Ethernet Adapter LAN connection
below:

IP Address: _____________________________________________________________
MAC Address: __________________________________________________________
Subnet Mask: __________________________________________________________
Default Gateway: _______________________________________________________
DNS Server 1: __________________________________________________________
DNS Server 2: __________________________________________________________
DHCP Server: __________________________________________________________

2. Explain the purposes of each setting.

IP Address:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

MAC Address:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Subnet Mask:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Default Gateway:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

DNS Server 1:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

DNS Server 2:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

DHCP Server:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________

3. Type ipconfig at the command prompt. Do the results look the same as with the command above? What is
different, and explain why.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Explain what will happen if you remove the Gateway on your computing device.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

5. How did your workstation obtain the IP Address, Subnet mask, and Default gateway (Assignment)? How do
you tell this?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

a) What is the alternative method of assigning your workstation the above information? Action it and write down
the steps.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

6. Which specific hardware on your workstation is assigned the MAC address? Can the MAC address be changed?
If yes, how?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
7. Explain the term MAC Address Spoofing.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

7. From the MAC address retrieved, identify the bits identify the Organisational Unit Identifier (OUI) and Vendor
OUI: ________________________________________________________________________________________

Vendor: ______________________________________________________________________________________

8. Describe another method to retrieve the MAC address, IP address, and subnet mask without using the
command line.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Section B
1.
a) Compare ALL your results from section A (1) to that of two fellow students. Make sure the comparison is made
block by block/octet by octet.

Own Info Student 1 Student 2

IP Address: ____________________ ___________________ __________________

MAC Address: __________________ ___________________ __________________
Subnet mask: ___________________ ___________________ __________________
Default gateway: ________________ ___________________ __________________
DHCP server: ___________________ ___________________ __________________
DNS server: _____________________ ____________________ ___________________

b) Are the results the same? If not, what are the differences? (NB: ONLY compare results with students connected
to the same network)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
c) Motivate why some of the addresses are the same and why some differ.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
2.
a) On your command prompt, type arp –a and list the MAC address your computer has learned.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

b) Ping your neighbour’s workstation and issue the arp –a command again. The default gateway's MAC address
should be in this list, as should the MAC address of the computer you just pinged; why?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
c) What is the purpose of the arp -a and ping commands?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Section C
Using the virtual machine, download Debian from e-learning (you can also use any distribution of your choice) to
complete the section below. Most of the commands below can also run-on Windows.

Download Debian hard disk image on e-learning; the credentials are below.
Debian: Username: root
Password: toor

Centos: (download Centos OVA image from this link https://www.filemail.com/d/cjpnfpmfhwpkqeq ) available for
seven(7) days only, from the 20TH Feb 2023.
Username: root
Password: Pa$$w0rd

Linux Command Function

ifconfig An ifconfig command is a tool used to display
also: ifcfg, ifup, ifdown, and configure network interfaces. This
command will display information about the
network card, IP address, broadcast address,
and network mask. It also shows how many
packets were received and transmitted. There is
also information about the loopback device (lo).

ping The ping command allows the user to test

whether a network connection is active, the
speed of that connection, and how a network
behaves given specific data loads.
 arp The arp command is used to view the information
currently in the ARP table (Address Resolution
Protocol). This table maps the IP address of
machines on your network segment with their MAC
address.

hostname The hostname command tells you what the

hostname of your machine is set to. The hostname
is determined from several sources, such as the
/etc/hosts file. On Ubuntu, the /etc/hostname file
is used to set your machine's hostname.

nslookup These commands query the DNS database to

determine information about network hosts. If you
supply the IP address, the command gives the
hostname. If you supply the hostname, the
command gives you the IP address. All three
commands use the /etc/resolv.conf file to determine
the DNS server(s).

traceroute This program prints the route along which an IP

packet travels from the local host to reach the
destination host. It also shows each hop along
the connection route from a local to remote host
and gives all the intermediate routers.

Use the information in the table above to answer the following questions. For each question, write down
the Linux command/file name which provided you with the answer.

1. How many hops are there from your network to the Google web server?
_________________________________________________________________________________________

2. What is the IP address of the NUST web server?

_________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Determine your hostname/computer name.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Determine your IP, MAC, and DNS server address

__________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Open the following file: /etc/network/interfaces. Explain the information displayed.

__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________

6. Explain what an interface is.

__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
7. Create a second loopback interface lo:1. Assign IP address 172.21.21.2 and the subnet mask 255.255.0.0.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
8. Explain what a loopback address is.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
9. How do you activate the loopback address(lo:1) you just created?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________

10. How do you test connectivity to the lo:1

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Lab Ends