Which statement about ping options -6 and -4 is true?

Which statement about ping options -6 and -4 is true?

• A. Ping -6 and -4 have identical effects on all systems.
• B. Ping -6 forces IPv6; Ping -4 forces IPv4.
• C. Ping -6 uses IPv4; Ping -4 uses IPv6.
• D. Ping -6 and -4 only affect DNS resolution.

Answer: (B)

These options tell the ping command which IP protocol version to use for the test. Using -6 forces IPv6, while -4 forces IPv4. This matters because a host may have IPv4, IPv6, or both addresses, so the version chosen determines what address the tool attempts to reach and over which protocol it sends the echo requests. If you ping with -6, the destination is resolved to an IPv6 address (if available) and the test runs over IPv6; with -4, it uses an IPv4 address (if available) and runs over IPv4. The other statements aren’t accurate: the options don’t guarantee identical behavior across all systems, they don’t indicate that they only affect DNS resolution, and they don’t imply the wrong protocol.

These options tell the ping command which IP protocol version to use for the test. Using -6 forces IPv6, while -4 forces IPv4. This matters because a host may have IPv4, IPv6, or both addresses, so the version chosen determines what address the tool attempts to reach and over which protocol it sends the echo requests. If you ping with -6, the destination is resolved to an IPv6 address (if available) and the test runs over IPv6; with -4, it uses an IPv4 address (if available) and runs over IPv4. The other statements aren’t accurate: the options don’t guarantee identical behavior across all systems, they don’t indicate that they only affect DNS resolution, and they don’t imply the wrong protocol.