Knowledgebase

Traceroute is a network diagnostic tool that helps you track the path your internet traffic takes from your computer to a specific destination, such as a website or server. This guide will show you how to run a traceroute on Windows, macOS, and Linux to help identify network issues and delays.

Step-by-step Instructions

Windows

1. Press the Windows Key on your keyboard or click the Start menu.

2. Type cmd into the search bar.

3. Right-click on 'Command Prompt' and select 'Run as administrator' to open the command window.

4. In the command prompt window, type:

   tracert example.com

   Replace example.com with the domain or IP address you wish to test.

5. Press Enter. The traceroute results will be displayed in the window, showing each hop along the route.

6. To save the results, right-click inside the command prompt, select 'Mark', highlight the text, and press Enter to copy. You can then paste it into a document.

macOS

1. Open Finder, go to Applications, then Utilities.

2. Double-click on Terminal to launch it.

3. In the terminal window, type:

   traceroute example.com
   

   Replace example.com with your desired domain or IP address.

4. Press Return. The traceroute will begin and display results for each hop.

5. To copy the results, highlight the text with your mouse, then press Command + C to copy and paste where needed.

Linux

1. Open your terminal application. This can usually be found in the applications menu or by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T.

2. Type the following command:

   traceroute example.com
   

   Replace example.com with the relevant domain or IP address.

3. Press Enter. If you see an error saying 'traceroute: command not found', you may need to install it first by running:

   sudo apt-get install traceroute
   

   Then repeat step 2.

4. The traceroute results will display in the terminal window. You can copy them by highlighting with your mouse and pressing Ctrl + Shift + C.

Additional Notes and Troubleshooting Tips

• On Linux you may need to install the traceroute package

• On some networks, traceroute results may show asterisks (*) indicating a timeout or that the router did not respond. This is normal and can happen due to firewall restrictions.
  

• On Windows, the command is tracert, while on macOS and Linux it is traceroute.

• If you are troubleshooting website access issues, include the full traceroute results when contacting UK2 support for faster assistance.

• For more detailed results, you can use specific IP addresses instead of domain names.

If you encounter any issues running traceroute or interpreting the results, please contact UK2 support for further assistance.