traceroute6 - macOS

Overview

traceroute6 is a powerful command-line tool for diagnosing network connectivity and latency over IPv6 networks. It sends a series of probe packets to the specified destination, measuring the time taken for each hop along the path. This information can be invaluable for identifying network congestion, errors, and performance bottlenecks.

Syntax

traceroute6 [options] <destination>

Options/Flags

| Flag | Description | Default |
|—|—|—|
| -a | Resolve all intermediate addresses. | False |
| -f | Specify the initial TTL value. | 1 |
| -I | Bind traceroute to a specific interface. | Default interface |
| -m | Specify the maximum number of hops to traverse. | 30 |
| -n | Do not resolve intermediate addresses. | False |
| -p | Specify the port to probe. | 33434 |
| -q | Reduce verbosity of output. | False |
| -s | Specify the source IP address. | Auto-selected |
| -t | Trace only to the specified TTL value. | Unlimited |
| -v | Increase verbosity of output. | False |

Examples

Basic usage:

traceroute6 www.example.com

Trace only the first 10 hops:

traceroute6 -m 10 www.example.com

Resolve all intermediate addresses:

traceroute6 -a www.example.com

Bind to a specific network interface:

traceroute6 -I en0 www.example.com

Trace to a specific port:

traceroute6 -p 80 www.example.com

Common Issues

  • Destination unreachable: Ensure that the destination hostname or IP address is valid and reachable.
  • Permission denied: Verify that you have sufficient privileges to run traceroute6.
  • Bind failed: Specify the correct network interface using the -I option.

Integration

  • ping6: Combine with ping6 to test latency and packet loss along the path.
  • tcptraceroute: Trace the path using TCP instead of ICMP.
  • nslookup: Resolve IP addresses to hostnames for easier interpretation of results.
  • ifconfig
  • netstat
  • ping
  • tcpdump