Using BulkDNS Feature in Pinkie More Effectively!

In a way Bulk DNS, works pretty much like PingSweep. It does DNS lookup & ping but the difference is it doesn’t do that for a subnet or a range of consecutive IP Addresses. Instead, it works on a list of arbitrary hostnames and/or IP addresses.

This is particularly useful when you need to do verify and make sure the newly deployed devices are live and have the proper DNS setup. The BulkDNS feature can take input from a textbox or from a text file. Text file should have a list of either IP Addresses or Hostnames; each on a separate line.

Here’s a few tips to be more efficient with Bulk DNS:

  • Show Hostname First: This option, when checked will arrange for the Hostname column to show before IP Address.
  • Include Ping Time: If you just want to do DNS lookup, then leave this option unchecked. Check this option only if you wish to do DNS lookup and also ping the host to see if is on the network.
  • Include Row Number: If this option is checked, it will show the row number for each host on the BulkDNS result listview.
  • Copy Only Live Hosts: This option works with the Include Ping Time option. It will only copy the hosts that responded to ICMP requests. Checking this option will automatically enable Include Ping Time since it requires that work properly.
  • Copy To Clipboard: Click on Copy To Clipboard button will copy the BulkDNS result to the clipboard. Typically you would want to set the other options to your liking then click on this button to copy the BulkDNS result.
  • Copy IP Address: At times, you might just want to copy a particular IP Address. To do this, click on a row in the result listview. The selected host’s IP Address will be copied automatically.

Those are just a few ways to take advantage of the Bulk DNS feature in Pinkie. With that I hope you’ll have a better understanding of how it works and use it more in the future.

Using PingSweep Feature in Pinkie More Effectively!

PingSweep has been added to Pinkie since v1.08. And over the years, it’s been fine tuned and enhanced quite a bit.

Below are some tips to help take advantage of all the useful enhancements in Pinkie’s PingSweep feature:

  • Sweep a Subnet: To sweep a subnet, enter an IP Address, then select a subnet mask. Pinkie will automatically scan the subnet and also does DNS lookup for the addresses being scanned.
  • Sweep a Specific # of IPs: To sweep X number of address, enter the start Host Address then enter No. of Hosts and click on Start Ping Sweep button. Pinkie will scan from the Host Address up to X number of hosts and also does DNS lookup for them.
  • Copy PingSweep Result: At times, you might need to send the pingsweep result to someone else. To do that, just do an pingsweep then click on the Copy to Clipboard button. After that, you can paste it into your email or whatever application at your choosing.
  • Include Only Live Hosts: Check this option only if you want to copy the live hosts or those that responded to ICMP request.
  • Copy a Single Address: Click on a particular row in the result listview will copy its IP Address to the clipboard. I find this function is particularly useful when someone asks me for an IP Address that hasn’t been assigned.

There are some other enhancements in the works for PingSweep. Hopefully they will make it to the next release.

As always, if you need to enhance the PingSweep function to suite your need better, send in your request and I’ll check it out.

Using DNS Feature in Pinkie More Effectively!

DNS is a feature in Pinkie that uses the least amount of system resources. A DNS query happens very fast in a LAN environment. And that’s the reason why I have opted to enable the DNS lookup automatically every time a new host is pinged.

There are a few enhancements added to the DNS lookup in Pinkie that should make your work a little easier compared to the good old Command Prompt.

First off, Pinkie does the lookup automatically in the background. You don’t have to manually type the DNS query in the Command Prompt any more. Then there are the enhancements below:

  • Copy The IP Address: If you click on any IP address in the DNS result tab, the address will be copied to the clipboard automatically and you can paste it anywhere you like.
  • Force A DNS Lookup Manually: Right click on the host you to perform a DNS lookup, select DNS then click on Resolve. This will force Pinkie to do a DNS lookup.
  • Copy DNS Result: Right click on the host you want to copy, select DNS then click on Copy Result To Clipboard. After that you can paste it to another application.
  • For now, that should be sufficient. In the next release, if time permit, I’ll add some more enhancements that will be particularly useful in a large, enterprise environment.

    Hope you enjoy all of these enhancements to DNS. Let me know what you like or like not about them.