Ping check

Ping is the simplest check to test that an endpoint is available. Target servers must be reachable from the probe’s network and be configured to reply to ICMP echo requests. The time for the endpoint to respond is used to measure latency from each probe location.

Options

The list of common options to all check types:

Option	Description
Enabled	Whether the check is enabled or not.
Job name	Refer to the check name. Check metrics include a `job` label with the value of this option.
Target	Target of the check request. Check metrics include an `instance` label with the value of this option.
Probe locations	The locations where the check should run from. Check metrics include a `probe` label with the value of the probe location running the check.
Frequency	The frequency the check should run in seconds. The value can range from 10 to 3600 seconds. Only the `sm_check_info` metric includes the `frequency` label.
Timeout	Maximum execution time for the check. The value can range from 1 to 60 seconds.
Custom labels	(Optional) Custom labels applied to check metrics. Refer to Custom labels for querying instructions.

Additionally, Ping checks have the following options:

Option	Description
IP version	The IP version to use: `V4` (IPv4 only), `V6` (IPv6 only), or `Any` (prefers IPv6, falls back to IPv4). With `Any`, if no IPv6 (AAAA) record exists, the check uses IPv4 (A) records. The check doesn’t retry with a different IP version if the initial connection fails.
Don’t fragment	Set the DF-bit in the IP header. Only works with IPv4.
Publish full set of metrics	Whether to publish additional metrics to create histograms (used for Apdex scores or heatmaps). Default is false to reduce the number of active series.

These last options don’t produce any additional labels in the resulting check metrics.

Metrics

Checks store their results as Prometheus metrics, including the list of common metrics:

Metric	Description
`probe_all_duration_seconds`	Returns how long the probe took to complete in seconds (histogram).
`probe_duration_seconds`	Returns how long the probe took to complete in seconds.
`probe_all_success`	Displays whether or not the probe was a success (summary).
`probe_success`	Displays whether or not the probe was a success.
`sm_check_info`	Provides information about a single check configuration.

Additionally, Ping checks produce the following metrics:

Metric	Additional labels	Description
`probe_dns_lookup_all_time_seconds`	None	Histogram of the DNS lookup duration.
`probe_dns_lookup_time_seconds`	None	Returns the time taken for the DNS lookup in seconds.
`probe_icmp_all_duration_seconds`	`phase`	Histogram of ICMP request duration by phase.
`probe_icmp_duration_rtt_max_seconds`	None	Maximum round-trip time.
`probe_icmp_duration_rtt_min_seconds`	None	Minimum round-trip time.
`probe_icmp_duration_rtt_stddev_seconds`	None	Standard deviation of the round-trip time.
`probe_icmp_duration_seconds`	`phase`	Duration of the ICMP request by phase.
`probe_icmp_packets_received_count`	None	Number of ICMP packets received.
`probe_icmp_packets_sent_count`	None	Number of ICMP packets sent.
`probe_icmp_reply_hop_limit`	None	Hop limit of the reply packet (TTL for IPv4).
`probe_ip_addr_hash`	None	Specifies the hash of the IP address. It’s useful to detect if the IP address changes.
`probe_ip_protocol`	None	Specifies whether the probe IP protocol is IPv4 or IPv6.