Net::Ping, pingecho - check a host for upness use Net::Ping; print "'jimmy' is alive and kicking\n" if pingecho('jimmy', 10) ; This module contains routines to test for the reachability of remote hosts. Currently the only routine implemented is pingecho(). pingecho() uses a TCP echo (not an ICMP one) to determine if the remote host is reachable. This is usually adequate to tell that a remote host is available to rsh(1), ftp(1), or telnet(1) onto.

Parameters
The remote host to check, specified either as a hostname or as an IP address. The timeout in seconds. If not specified it will default to 5 seconds. pingecho() uses alarm to implement the timeout, so don't set another alarm while you are using it.