What utility traces a packet from your computer to an internet host?

Traceroute is the utility specifically designed to trace the path that packets take from one computer to a specified internet host. It works by sending a series of packets with incrementally increasing Time to Live (TTL) values. Each time a packet reaches a router, the router decreases the TTL by one. When the TTL reaches zero, the router drops the packet and sends an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) "Time Exceeded" message back to the originating computer. This process helps identify each hop along the way to the destination, allowing users to see the route and the time taken for each segment of the journey.

In contrast to traceroute, nslookup and dig are tools primarily used for querying Domain Name System (DNS) records to obtain domain name or IP address mapping, not for tracing packet paths. Ping, while useful for checking the reachability of a host and measuring round-trip time, does not provide detailed path information between the source and destination. It simply sends ICMP Echo Request packets and listens for Echo Reply packets. Thus, traceroute is the appropriate tool for tracing the route of packets through the network.