XCLN: How to use RPCPing to test RPC Communication

ID: Q167260

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

The RPC Ping Utility can be used to confirm the RPC connectivity between the computer running Microsoft Exchange Server and any of the supported Microsoft Exchange Client workstations on the network. This utility can be used to check if the Microsoft Exchange Server services are responding to RPC requests from the client workstations via the network.


MORE INFORMATION

There are two components in the RPC Ping Utility: a server-side component and a client-side component.

The executable file of each component is listed below: 


   Server Component: Rpings.exe (for the Microsoft Exchange Windows NT
   Server)

   Client Component: Rpingc32.exe (for Microsoft Windows NT and Windows95)
                     Rpingc16.exe (for Microsoft Windows 3.1x clients)
                     Rpingdos.exe (for Microsoft DOS clients)

Rpings.exe

Rpings.exe is the server-side RPC ping utility.

Rpings contains two RPC functions Echo and Stats called by the client-side RPC ping utilities Rpingc16, Rpingc32 or Rpingdos.

Run Rpings without any options to use all available protocol sequences.

Rpings.exe

Command Line Syntax: 

   RPINGS [-p Protocol Sequence]

   Protocol sequences can be set using these friendly names
       -p namedpipes
       -p tcpip
       -p ipx/spx
       -p netbios
       -p vines

   enter '@q' to exit rpings.

where
Protocol Sequence - Is the supported transport mechanisms of RPC such as:

namedpipes NCA connection over Named Pipes (ncacn_np)

tcpip NCA connection over TCP/IP (ncacn_ip_tcp) netbios NCA connection over Netbios on Netbeui (ncacn_nb_nb) ipx/spx NCA connection over SPX (ncacn_spx) vines NCA connection over Banyan Vines (ncacn_vns_spp)

Rpingc32.exe, Rpingc16.exe, and Rpingdos.exe

Rpingc32 is the 32-bit version of the client-side of the RPC Ping Utility. Rpingc16 and Rpingdos.exe are the 16-bit versions of the client side. They will connect and bind to the specified destination RPC server and display the status, available protocol sequences with end points and quality of the RPC connection.

Both the Rpingc32.exe and Rpingc16.exe utilities are set up to run in the Windows environment. Rpingdos.exe utility runs in the MS-DOS environment.

Rpingc32.exe and Rpingc16.exe

Options: 

   Exchange Server:  The name of the Exchange Server to ping
   Protocol Sequence:   The following options are available:
               Any (default)
               Named Pipes
               IPX/SPX
               TCP/IP
               Netbios
               Vines
   End Point:        The following End Points on the Exchange Server are
   available:
               Rping (default, all)
               Store (the Exchange Store)
               Admin (the Exchange Admin)

   Number of Pings:  Continuous
            Stop at ___

   Mode:          Ping Only (character echoed by RPINGS)
             End Point Search (enumerates all endpoints available)

   Run with Security:   verifies that authenticated RPCs work

Rpingdos.exe

Syntax: 

   RPINGDOS [-p Protocol Sequence] -n Network Address [-e End Point] [-c
   xxx] [-s]

       -p [protocol_sequence] defaults to named pipes
       -n [network_address] is required
       -e [endpoint] endpoint to find, defaults to rping
       -c [xxx] number of pings, defaults to 1.
       -s run an endpoint search

   Protocol sequences can be set using these friendly names
       -p namedpipes
       -p tcpip
       -p ipx/spx
       -p netbios
       -p vines

The RPCPING utility and files can be found on the Exchange Server CD in the Support\Rpcping directory. 


Keywords          : kbusage XCLN 
Version           : WinNT:4.0,5.0
Platform          : winnt 
Issue type        :

Last Reviewed: April 13, 1999