In Linux, which command is commonly used to test connectivity to a Windows share?

The command commonly used to test connectivity to a Windows share is smbclient -L //hostname. This command is part of the Samba suite, which allows Linux systems to communicate with SMB/CIFS protocols used by Windows for file sharing and other services. By executing smbclient -L //hostname, a user prompts the system to list all available shares on the specified Windows machine, providing an effective way to check if the system can reach the Windows share and what resources are available.

Using this command helps in troubleshooting connectivity issues specifically related to SMB shares, confirming not just network connectivity, but also permissions and visibility of shares.

Other commands in the choices serve different purposes. For example, ping is utilized for basic network connectivity testing between hosts at the IP layer but does not check for specific services or shares. The ftp command is used for transferring files over the File Transfer Protocol but does not relate to Windows shares directly. Finally, telnet can be employed to test connectivity to specific ports, but it is not specifically designed for accessing or checking Windows shares, making it less suitable for this purpose than smbclient.