RFC 792 (rfc792) - Page 2 of 21

Internet Control Message Protocol

                                                          September 1981
RFC 792



Message Formats

   ICMP messages are sent using the basic IP header.  The first octet of
   the data portion of the datagram is a ICMP type field; the value of
   this field determines the format of the remaining data.  Any field
   labeled "unused" is reserved for later extensions and must be zero
   when sent, but receivers should not use these fields (except to
   include them in the checksum).  Unless otherwise noted under the
   individual format descriptions, the values of the internet header
   fields are as follows:

   Version

      4

   IHL

      Internet header length in 32-bit words.

   Type of Service

      0

   Total Length

      Length of internet header and data in octets.

   Identification, Flags, Fragment Offset

      Used in fragmentation, see [1].

   Time to Live

      Time to live in seconds; as this field is decremented at each
      machine in which the datagram is processed, the value in this
      field should be at least as great as the number of gateways which
      this datagram will traverse.

   Protocol

      ICMP = 1

   Header Checksum

      The 16 bit one's complement of the one's complement sum of all 16
      bit words in the header.  For computing the checksum, the checksum
      field should be zero.  This checksum may be replaced in the
      future.