Internet Control Message Protocol
The Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) is one of the core protocols of the Internet Protocol Suite. It is chiefly used by the operating systems of networked computers to send error messages indicating, for example, that a requested service is not available or that a host or router could not be reached. ICMP can also be used to relay query messages.[1] It is assigned protocol number 1.[2]
ICMP[3] differs from transport protocols such as TCP and UDP in that it is not typically used to exchange data between systems, nor is it regularly employed by end-user network applications (with the exception of some diagnostic tools like ping and traceroute).
ICMP for Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) is also known as ICMPv4. IPv6 has a similar protocol, ICMPv6.
| Internet protocol suite |
|---|
| Application layer |
| Transport layer |
| Internet layer |
| Link layer |
Contents |
[edit] Technical details
Internet Control Message Protocol is part of the Internet Protocol Suite as defined in RFC 792. ICMP messages are typically generated in response to errors in IP datagrams (as specified in RFC 1122) or for diagnostic or routing purposes. ICMP errors are always reported to the original source IP address of the originating datagram.[1]
An example ICMP error message is the Time To Live Exceeded message. Every machine (such as an intermediate router) that forwards an IP datagram has to decrement the time to live (TTL) field of the IP header by one. If the TTL reaches 0, an ICMP Time to live exceeded in transit message is sent to the source of the datagram.
Although ICMP messages are contained within standard IP datagrams, ICMP messages are usually processed as a special case, distinguished from normal IP processing, rather than processed as a normal sub-protocol of IP. In many cases, it is necessary to inspect the contents of the ICMP message and deliver the appropriate error message to the application that generated the original IP packet, the one that prompted the sending of the ICMP message.
Many commonly-used network utilities are based on ICMP messages. The tracert (traceroute), Pathping commands are implemented by transmitting UDP datagrams with specially set IP TTL header fields, and looking for ICMP Time to live exceeded in transit (above) and "Destination unreachable" messages generated in response. The related ping utility is implemented using the ICMP "Echo request" and "Echo reply" messages.
[edit] ICMP segment structure
[edit] Header
The ICMP header starts after the IPv4 header. All ICMP packets will have an 8-byte header and variable-sized data section. The first 4 bytes of the header will be consistent. The first byte is for the ICMP type. The second byte is for the ICMP code. The third and fourth bytes are a checksum of the entire ICMP message. The contents of the remaining 4 bytes of the header will vary based on the ICMP type and code.[1]
ICMP error messages contain a data section that includes the entire IP header plus the first 8 bytes of data from the IP datagram that caused the error message. The ICMP datagram is then encapsulated in a new IP datagram.[1]
| Bits | 0–7 | 8–15 | 16–23 | 24–31 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Type | Code | Checksum | |
| 32 | Rest of Header | |||
- Type – ICMP type as specified below.
- Code – Subtype to the given type.
- Checksum – Error checking data. Calculated from the ICMP header+data, with value 0 for this field. The checksum algorithm is specified in RFC 1071.
- Rest of Header – Four byte field. Will vary based on the ICMP type and code.
[edit] List of permitted control messages (incomplete list)
| Type | Code | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 0 – Echo Reply[4] | 0 | Echo reply (used to ping) |
| 1 and 2 | Reserved | |
| 3 – Destination Unreachable[5] | 0 | Destination network unreachable |
| 1 | Destination host unreachable | |
| 2 | Destination protocol unreachable | |
| 3 | Destination port unreachable | |
| 4 | Fragmentation required, and DF flag set | |
| 5 | Source route failed | |
| 6 | Destination network unknown | |
| 7 | Destination host unknown | |
| 8 | Source host isolated | |
| 9 | Network administratively prohibited | |
| 10 | Host administratively prohibited | |
| 11 | Network unreachable for TOS | |
| 12 | Host unreachable for TOS | |
| 13 | Communication administratively prohibited | |
| 4 – Source Quench | 0 | Source quench (congestion control) |
| 5 – Redirect Message | 0 | Redirect Datagram for the Network |
| 1 | Redirect Datagram for the Host | |
| 2 | Redirect Datagram for the TOS & network | |
| 3 | Redirect Datagram for the TOS & host | |
| 6 | Alternate Host Address | |
| 7 | Reserved | |
| 8 – Echo Request | 0 | Echo request (used to ping) |
| 9 – Router Advertisement | 0 | Router Advertisement |
| 10 – Router Solicitation | 0 | Router discovery/selection/solicitation |
| 11 – Time Exceeded[6] | 0 | TTL expired in transit |
| 1 | Fragment reassembly time exceeded | |
| 12 – Parameter Problem: Bad IP header | 0 | Pointer indicates the error |
| 1 | Missing a required option | |
| 2 | Bad length | |
| 13 – Timestamp | 0 | Timestamp |
| 14 – Timestamp Reply | 0 | Timestamp reply |
| 15 – Information Request | 0 | Information Request |
| 16 – Information Reply | 0 | Information Reply |
| 17 – Address Mask Request | 0 | Address Mask Request |
| 18 – Address Mask Reply | 0 | Address Mask Reply |
| 19 | Reserved for security | |
| 20 through 29 | Reserved for robustness experiment | |
| 30 – Traceroute | 0 | Information Request |
| 31 | Datagram Conversion Error | |
| 32 | Mobile Host Redirect | |
| 33 | Where-Are-You (originally meant for IPv6) | |
| 34 | Here-I-Am (originally meant for IPv6) | |
| 35 | Mobile Registration Request | |
| 36 | Mobile Registration Reply | |
| 37 | Domain Name Request | |
| 38 | Domain Name Reply | |
| 39 | SKIP Algorithm Discovery Protocol, Simple Key-Management for Internet Protocol | |
| 40 | Photuris, Security failures | |
| 41 | ICMP for experimental mobility protocols such as Seamoby [RFC4065] | |
| 42 through 255 | Reserved |
(Sources: IANA ICMP Parameters [1] and Computer Networking – A Top-Down Approach by Kurose and Ross) //
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Forouzan, Behrouz A. (2007). Data Communications And Networking (Fourth ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill. pp. 621–630. ISBN 0-07-296775-7.
- ^ "Protocol Numbers". http://www.iana.org/assignments/protocol-numbers/protocol-numbers.xml. Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. http://www.iana.org/assignments/protocol-numbers/protocol-numbers.xml. Retrieved 2011-06-23.
- ^ Postel, J. (September 1981). Internet Control Message Protocol. IETF. RFC 792. http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc792.
- ^ http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc792#page-14
- ^ http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc792#page-4
- ^ http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc792#page-6
![[1]](http://freebie.fatpipe.org/~mjb/Drawings/UDP_ICMP_Headers.png){kind=link}