Public bug reported: I came across this when I attempted to ping an unavailable host and specified a deadline for my test. Spite the deadline setting, ping didn't time out after specified time. However, it appears that -w is ignored also for available hosts.
Examples: [Unavailable host] dc@dc:~$ time ping -c 3 -w 10 1.2.3.4 PING 1.2.3.4 (1.2.3.4) 56(84) bytes of data. ^C --- 1.2.3.4 ping statistics --- 89 packets transmitted, 0 received, 100% packet loss, time 88238ms real 1m28.599s user 0m0.000s sys 0m0.020s [Available host] dc@dc:~$ time ping -c 100 -w 3 192.168.1.254 PING 192.168.1.254 (192.168.1.254) 56(84) bytes of data. 64 bytes from 192.168.1.254: icmp_req=1 ttl=64 time=14.8 ms 64 bytes from 192.168.1.254: icmp_req=2 ttl=64 time=6.75 ms 64 bytes from 192.168.1.254: icmp_req=3 ttl=64 time=10.7 ms 64 bytes from 192.168.1.254: icmp_req=4 ttl=64 time=6.97 ms 64 bytes from 192.168.1.254: icmp_req=5 ttl=64 time=9.65 ms 64 bytes from 192.168.1.254: icmp_req=6 ttl=64 time=7.69 ms 64 bytes from 192.168.1.254: icmp_req=7 ttl=64 time=4.22 ms 64 bytes from 192.168.1.254: icmp_req=8 ttl=64 time=7.10 ms 64 bytes from 192.168.1.254: icmp_req=9 ttl=64 time=9.33 ms 64 bytes from 192.168.1.254: icmp_req=10 ttl=64 time=6.59 ms 64 bytes from 192.168.1.254: icmp_req=11 ttl=64 time=12.1 ms 64 bytes from 192.168.1.254: icmp_req=12 ttl=64 time=5.80 ms ^C --- 192.168.1.254 ping statistics --- 12 packets transmitted, 12 received, 0% packet loss, time 11026ms rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 4.224/8.488/14.836/2.851 ms real 0m11.172s user 0m0.000s sys 0m0.004s The older version of iputils' (20020927) ping behaves as expected. ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04 Package: iputils-ping 3:20101006-1ubuntu1 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-24.38-generic 3.2.16 Uname: Linux 3.2.0-24-generic i686 ApportVersion: 2.0.1-0ubuntu7 Architecture: i386 Date: Sun May 20 15:16:57 2012 EcryptfsInUse: Yes InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Release i386 (20110427) ProcEnviron: TERM=xterm PATH=(custom, user) LANG=en_US.UTF-8 SHELL=/bin/bash SourcePackage: iputils UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to precise on 2012-04-27 (22 days ago) ** Affects: iputils (Ubuntu) Importance: Undecided Status: New ** Tags: apport-bug i386 precise -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1002037 Title: iputils' ping seems to ignore the deadline (-w) setting To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/iputils/+bug/1002037/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs