Test-NetConnection - Anyway to not do the ping test when testing a specific port?

Question

_{Thursday, September 3, 2015 7:05 PM}

Hi,

Is there a way to have Test-NetConnection not perform a ping test ? I am only trying to check if a specific port is opened and can't seem to find the option to remove the ping test.

RemotePort             : 53
InterfaceAlias         : Ethernet
SourceAddress          : 10.1.0.30
PingSucceeded          : False
PingReplyDetails (RTT) : 0 ms
TcpTestSucceeded       : True

Above a typical case where I know ping will fail and I'd rather not spend the time waiting for a timeout or getting a nifty warning message especially when running this in a bigger script. When you are testing thousands of firewall rules, the ping test requires time which increases the runtime of the script (by a LOT).

Regards,

All replies (5)

_{Thursday, September 3, 2015 7:13 PM ✅Answered}

Hi,

Based on the docs, it looks like the answer is no:

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn372891(v=wps.630).aspx

I think I have something in my script vault that might help you. I'll post back if I find it.

EDIT: This is what I've used in the past. Been quite a while since I've needed it:

$servers = 'Server1','Server2','Server3','Server4'
$portToCheck = '80'

foreach ($server in $servers) {
    
    try {       
        $null = New-Object System.Net.Sockets.TCPClient -ArgumentList $server,$portToCheck
        $props = @{
            Server = $server
            PortOpen = 'Yes'
        }
    }

    catch {
        $props = @{
            Server = $server
            PortOpen = 'No'
        }
    }

    New-Object PsObject -Property $props

}

_{Thursday, September 3, 2015 7:35 PM | 1 vote}

Thanks, thanks for confirming I did not mis read that TechNet doc. Might have been a hidden parameter :) It would be nice if they made it a parameter.

And thanks for the script, should be faster than the current way I do it.

Regards,

Edit:

$commandTCP = {
    param($1,$2);
    try {
        $null = New-Object System.Net.Sockets.TCPClient -ArgumentList $1,$2;
        $true;
    } catch {
        $false;
    }
} 

is faster than:

$commandTCP = {
    param($1,$2);
    test-netconnection -computername $1 -port $2 -informationlevel quiet;
} 

at least for me

Sweet and thanks again

_{Friday, September 4, 2015 2:01 AM}

Cheers, you're very welcome. Glad I could help out.

_{Tuesday, October 4, 2016 5:13 PM}

Hi,

Based on the docs, it looks like the answer is no:

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn372891(v=wps.630).aspx

I think I have something in my script vault that might help you. I'll post back if I find it.

EDIT: This is what I've used in the past. Been quite a while since I've needed it:

$servers = 'Server1','Server2','Server3','Server4'
$portToCheck = '80'

foreach ($server in $servers) {
    
    try {       
        $null = New-Object System.Net.Sockets.TCPClient -ArgumentList $server,$portToCheck
        $props = @{
            Server = $server
            PortOpen = 'Yes'
        }
    }

    catch {
        $props = @{
            Server = $server
            PortOpen = 'No'
        }
    }

    New-Object PsObject -Property $props

}

Nice - you can also use this as a function, so that it can be used just as test-netconnection is.

function Query-TCPPort {
    param([string]$Server, [int]$Port, [int]$Timeout=100)
     
    $Connection = New-Object System.Net.Sockets.TCPClient
        
        try {
            $Connection.SendTimeout = $Timeout
            $Connection.ReceiveTimeout = $Timeout
            $Connection.Connect($Server,$Port)
            return $true
            }

        catch {
            return $false
            }
    }

#Example:
Query-TCPPort -Server www.google.com -Port 80

EDIT: I just learned timeout is ignored unless we're actually sending data. :(

Mike Crowley | MVP
My Blog -- Baseline Technologies

_{Thursday, October 6, 2016 11:16 AM}

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the info on the timeout.

And true I could use it as a function. But what I am building is actually a tool to test/check the ACL rules remotely. So I have to send the port testing to the source server via an invoke-command which makes the function a bit un-necessary in my case.

Cheers