Difficulty: Moderately Challenging
Step1
Investigate all hardware connections. Make sure all network cables are plugged in.
Step2
Make sure all network cables are plugged into a router and the router is turned on if you're connecting to a router.
Step3
Open a command window on your Unix system. Look under the Utilities menu on your Unix operating system.
Step4
Execute the "ping" command once the command window is open. Ping the host name of the machine that your network is having trouble reaching. A successful ping will come back with a "100% packet return." Some Unix systems will display "Host name is alive." Either result is good.
Step5
Investigate the routing table on the Unix system if the ping command comes back with "0% packet" or "the machine is not responding."
Step6
Execute the netstat -rn command to look at the routing table. The routing table will show you how the network traffic is resolved. Each line from the netstat command will show you one route defined on your network. The network problem might be that a route got dropped from the routing table.
Step7
Look for another common network problem if the above suggestions don't work. An interface might have been dropped. Invoke the ifconfig -a command. Look for interfaces that are up.
Step8
Run ifconfig up command for any interface that is down. This will enable that interface.
