Question

I have a database that I have created that I use to keep up with my list of static IPs on my network. I have a page that lists the ips in order, my script to list the ips and other data from the database works, but I want to add a script to ping each ip address and tell whether it’s up or not, here is the code I have to display everything:

$dbConn = connectToDb();

$sql= <<< END

SELECT *
FROM `ipadds` 
ORDER BY oct1 ASC, oct2 ASC, oct3 ASC, oct4 ASC;

END;

$result=mysql_query($sql) or die(mysql_error()); 



$options=""; 



while ($row=mysql_fetch_array($result)) {

    $oct1=$row['oct1']; 
    $oct2=$row['oct2']; 
    $oct3=$row['oct3']; 
    $oct4=$row['oct4']; 
    $SubnetMask=$row['SubnetMask']; 
    $Hostname=$row['Hostname']; 
    $MAC=$row['MAC']; 
    $Description=$row['Description']; 
    $DeviceType=$row['DeviceType']; 
    $Location=$row['Location']; 
    $Comments=$row['Comments']; 

    $options.="<tr><td><a href=editcomputer.php?queryID=$id><img src=images/edit.gif alt=print border=0></a> <a href=deletecomputer.php?queryID=$id><img src=images/edit-delete-icon.png alt=print border=0></a></td><td><a href='HTTP://$oct1.$oct2.$oct3.$oct4' target=_blank>$oct1.$oct2.$oct3.$oct4</a></td><td>$SubnetMask</td><td>$Hostname</td><td>$MAC</td><td>$Description</td><td>$DeviceType</td><td>$Location</td></tr>";

}
?> 
<center>

<font size=-1>

<img src="images/edit.gif"> - Edit Computer<br>

<img src="images/edit-delete-icon.png"> - Delete Computer<br>

</font>

<font size="2">

<table>

<tr>

<td>

<hr>

</td>

</tr>
<table cellpadding="15" border="1">
<tr>
<td>

</td>
<td>
<u>IP Address</u>
</td>
<td>
<u>Subnet Mask</u>
</td>
<td>
<u>Hostname</u>
</td>
<td>
<u>MAC Address</u>
</td>
<td>
<u>Description</u>
</td>
<td>
<u>Device Type</u>
</td>
<td>
<u>Location</u>
</td>

<?=$options?>
</table>

I want to add another row to my table and have it as a “Status” of Up or Down, any suggestions?

I found this code, it works all by itself and I specify the address, but can’t get it to work in my “while” statement:

function pingAddress($ip) {
    $pingresult = exec("ping -n 3 $ip", $outcome, $status);
    if (0 == $status) {
        $status = "alive";
    } else {
        $status = "dead";
    }
    echo "The IP address, $ip, is  ".$status;
}

pingAddress("ip addres of host here");

Answer 1

Without mentioning that you should not be using mysql_* functions (oops, I just did), all you have to do is change your function to return a value:

function pingAddress($ip) {
    $pingresult = exec("ping -n 3 $ip", $outcome, $status);
    if (0 == $status) {
        return true;
    } 
    return false;
} 

then in your loop:

while ($row=mysql_fetch_array($result)) {
    [...]
    if (pingAddress($ip) === true) {
        // IP is up
    }
    else {
        // IP is down
    }
}