Using arping command in ubuntu 12.04

I am configuring a pgpool instance to get a HA of postgresql services. I am following this configuration.

I found a command and I ran it manually in my console:

arping_cmd = 'arping -U $_IP_$ -w 1'

But it doesn't work, then I want to find a similar behaviour because I am on ubuntu 12.04. How can I do that ?

The $_IP_$ variable is replaced by the ip value in the configuration. The main problem is the arping command.

3 Answers

When running the arping command in the terminal, I get the following output:

$ arping -U 192.168.13.1 -w -1
arping: device (option -I) is required.
Usage: arping [-fqbDUAV] [-c count] [-w timeout] [-I device] [-s source] destination -f : quit on first reply -q : be quiet -b : keep broadcasting, don't go unicast -D : duplicate address detection mode -U : Unsolicited ARP mode, update your neighbours -A : ARP answer mode, update your neighbours -V : print version and exit -c count : how many packets to send -w timeout : how long to wait for a reply -I device : which ethernet device to use -s source : source ip address destination : ask for what ip address

The solution is in the first line after running the command. Use -I and -s to fix your problem. -I specifies the interface to do the arping on and -s is to specify the source your are doing the arping from. It's crappy, I know, but update your command to look like the below:

arping_cmd = 'arping -U $_IP_$ -w 1 -I ethX -s SOURCE_IP'

where ethx is your ethernet and SOURCE_IP is the IP you are going to do the arping from.

Hope this helps, Cheers

I had a similar problem on Fedora:

$ arping 192.168.1.162
arping: Suitable device could not be determined. Please, use option -I.
...

My solution was:

$ arping $ip_addr -I $(ip route get $ip_addr | cut -d\ -f 3 |xargs)

Where ip_addr would contain the IP to be pinged.

To brake it down:

ip route get 192.168.1.162

would return the route and interface used by kernel for the specified ip:

192.168.1.162 dev eth1 src 192.168.1.1

then use:

cut -d\ -f 3

to split the string by delimiter '\ ' (escaped space) and return 3-th substring:

eth1

then use xargs to remove all whitespaces around interface.

Hope it will be helpfull.

I get the same error as the submitter, saying that "-U" is not a valid option:

root@pgpool-2:/var/log# arping -U 192.168.13.1 -w -1
arping: invalid option -- 'U'
ARPing 2.11, by Thomas Habets <>
usage: arping [ -0aAbdDeFpqrRuv ] [ -w <us> ] [ -S <host/ip> ] [ -T <host/ip ] [ -s <MAC> ] [ -t <MAC> ] [ -c <count> ] [ -i <interface> ] <host/ip/MAC | -B>
For complete usage info, use --help or check the manpage.

I'm on Ubuntu 14.04 and there is no mention of "-U" in the manpage:

root@pgpool-2:/var/log# man arping | grep '\-U'
root@pgpool-2:/var/log#

I changed mine to this:

arping_cmd = 'arping -v $_IP_$ -w 1 -c 100'

So basically:

• -U doesn't exist, so remove it
• Add -v to get verbose output, which may be helpful
• Add -c 100 so that it eventually finishes... otherwise it runs forever