Ping Check Reference

All parameters, thresholds, and configuration options for the ping check in octoja.

Written By Erdinc Akay

Last updated 28 days ago

Configuration options for ICMP ping monitoring

The ping check monitors host reachability and latency by sending ICMP ping requests at regular intervals. Use it to detect network outages, high latency, or packet loss between the monitored device and one or more target hosts.

Configuration fields

FieldTypeRequiredDefaultDescription
Hosts to pinglist of stringsYes—IP addresses or hostnames to ping
Ping countintegerNo4Number of ping attempts per host (1–100; values outside this range are clamped)
Timeout (ms)msNo2000Time to wait for a reply in milliseconds (100–30000; values outside this range are clamped)
Warning latency (ms)msNo100Average round-trip time (per host) at or above which a warning is raised
Error latency (ms)msNo500Average round-trip time (per host) at or above which an error is raised
Warning packet loss (%)%No25Packet loss percentage that triggers a warning
Error packet loss (%)%No50Packet loss percentage that triggers an error

Metrics collected

  • Average round-trip time per host (ms)
  • Minimum RTT per host (ms)
  • Maximum RTT per host (ms)
  • Packet loss per host (%)
  • Success count and total count per host
  • DNS resolution status per host

Platform support

PlatformSupported
WindowsYes
LinuxYes
macOSYes

Notes

  • You can monitor multiple hosts in a single check. Each host is pinged independently and reported separately.
  • If a hostname cannot be resolved via DNS, the check reports that host as unresolved without sending any ping packets. Unresolved hosts are recorded with 100% packet loss and a critical status, which feeds into the worst-case overall check result.
  • ICMP ping requires the agent to have permission to send raw ICMP packets. On Linux, the agent runs as root (installed as a system service), so this is handled automatically.
  • The check evaluates the average round-trip time per host — a single slow ping does not trip the threshold if the host's average stays below it. If any host's average reaches the warning or error threshold, the overall check result reflects the worst status.
  • If a warning threshold is set higher than the matching error threshold (for latency or packet loss), the check silently swaps the two values before evaluation so the error tier always sits above the warning tier.

See also: Configure a Ping Check