ICMP(4) BSD Kernel Interfaces Manual ICMP(4)NAMEicmp — Internet Control Message Protocol
SYNOPSIS
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <netinet/in.h>
int
socket(AF_INET, SOCK_RAW, proto);
DESCRIPTION
ICMP is the error and control message protocol used by IP and the Inter‐
net protocol family. It may be accessed through a “raw socket” for net‐
work monitoring and diagnostic functions. The proto parameter to the
socket call to create an ICMP socket is obtained from getprotobyname(3).
ICMP sockets are connectionless, and are normally used with the sendto(2)
and recvfrom(2) calls, though the connect(2) call may also be used to fix
the destination for future packets (in which case the read(2) or recv(2)
and write(2) or send(2) system calls may be used).
Outgoing packets automatically have an IP header prepended to them (based
on the destination address). Incoming packets are received with the IP
header and options intact.
Types
ICMP messages are classified according to the type and code fields
present in the ICMP header. The abbreviations for the types and codes
may be used in rules in pf.conf(5). The following types are defined:
Num Abbrev. Description
0 echorep Echo reply
3 unreach Destination unreachable
4 squench Packet loss, slow down
5 redir Shorter route exists
6 althost Alternate host address
8 echoreq Echo request
9 routeradv Router advertisement
10 routersol Router solicitation
11 timex Time exceeded
12 paramprob Invalid IP header
13 timereq Timestamp request
14 timerep Timestamp reply
15 inforeq Information request
16 inforep Information reply
17 maskreq Address mask request
18 maskrep Address mask reply
30 trace Traceroute
31 dataconv Data conversion problem
32 mobredir Mobile host redirection
33 ipv6-where IPv6 where-are-you
34 ipv6-here IPv6 i-am-here
35 mobregreq Mobile registration request
36 mobregrep Mobile registration reply
39 skip SKIP
40 photuris Photuris
The following codes are defined:
Num Abbrev. Type Description
0 net-unr unreach Network unreachable
1 host-unr unreach Host unreachable
2 proto-unr unreach Protocol unreachable
3 port-unr unreach Port unreachable
4 needfrag unreach Fragmentation needed but DF bit
set
5 srcfail unreach Source routing failed
6 net-unk unreach Network unknown
7 host-unk unreach Host unknown
8 isolate unreach Host isolated
9 net-prohib unreach Network administratively
prohibited
10 host-prohib unreach Host administratively prohibited
11 net-tos unreach Invalid TOS for network
12 host-tos unreach Invalid TOS for host
13 filter-prohib unreach Prohibited access
14 host-preced unreach Precedence violation
15 cutoff-preced unreach Precedence cutoff
0 redir-net redir Shorter route for network
1 redir-host redir Shorter route for host
2 redir-tos-net redir Shorter route for TOS and network
3 redir-tos-host redir Shorter route for TOS and host
0 normal-adv routeradv Normal advertisement
16 common-adv routeradv Selective advertisement
0 transit timex Time exceeded in transit
1 reassemb timex Time exceeded in reassembly
0 badhead paramprob Invalid option pointer
1 optmiss paramprob Missing option
2 badlen paramprob Invalid length
1 unknown-ind photuris Unknown security index
2 auth-fail photuris Authentication failed
3 decrypt-fail photuris Decryption failed
MIB Variables
The ICMP protocol implements a number of variables in the net.inet.icmp
branch of the sysctl(3) MIB.
maskrepl (boolean) Enable/disable replies to ICMP Address Mask
Request packets. Defaults to false.
maskfake (unsigned integer) When maskrepl is set and this value is
non-zero, it will be used instead of the real address
mask when the system replies to an ICMP Address Mask
Request packet. Defaults to 0.
icmplim (integer) Bandwidth limit for ICMP replies in pack‐
ets/second. Used when icmplim_output is non-zero.
Defaults to 200.
icmplim_output (boolean) Enable/disable bandwidth limiting of ICMP
replies. Defaults to true.
drop_redirect (boolean) Enable/disable dropping of ICMP Redirect pack‐
ets. Defaults to false.
log_redirect (boolean) Enable/disable logging of ICMP Redirect pack‐
ets. Defaults to false.
bmcastecho (boolean) Enable/disable ICMP replies received via broad‐
cast or multicast. Defaults to false.
reply_src (str) An interface name used for the ICMP reply source in
response to packets which are not directly addressed to
us. By default continue with normal source selection.
reply_from_interface
(boolean) Use the IP address of the interface the packet
came through in for responses to packets which are not
directly addressed to us. If enabled, this rule is pro‐
cessed before all others. By default, continue with nor‐
mal source selection. Enabling this option is particu‐
larly useful on routers because it makes external tracer‐
outes show the actual path a packet has taken instead of
the possibly different return path.
quotelen (integer) Number of bytes from original packet to quote
in ICMP reply. This number is internally enforced to be
at least 8 bytes (per RFC792) and at most the maximal
space left in the ICMP reply mbuf.
ERRORS
A socket operation may fail with one of the following errors returned:
[EISCONN] when trying to establish a connection on a socket
which already has one, or when trying to send a data‐
gram with the destination address specified and the
socket is already connected;
[ENOTCONN] when trying to send a datagram, but no destination
address is specified, and the socket has not been con‐
nected;
[ENOBUFS] when the system runs out of memory for an internal
data structure;
[EADDRNOTAVAIL] when an attempt is made to create a socket with a net‐
work address for which no network interface exists.
SEE ALSOrecv(2), send(2), inet(4), intro(4), ip(4), pf.conf(5)HISTORY
The icmp protocol appeared in 4.3BSD.
BSD February 9, 2007 BSD
