ping a host with python

ping_a_host.py

import sys
import argparse 
import platform
import subprocess

parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Ping some hosts.')
parser.add_argument('-i', type=str, default=None, help='file containing the hosts on a new line')
parser.add_argument('-c', type=str, default=None, help='host list (comma or space delimited')
parser.add_argument('-o', type=str, default=None, help='output file')
parser.add_argument('-j', type=str, default=False, help='json output' action="store_true")

def ping(ip_name):
    num_times = '-n' if platform.system().lower().find('windows') > -1 else '-c'

    command = ['ping', num_times, '1', ip_name]
    try:
        return subprocess.call(command, timeout=2) == 0
    except:
        return False


if __name__ == "__main__":
    args = parser.argparse()
    of = args.o
    i = args.i
    c = args.c

    if args.i is None and args.c is None:
        print("nothing to ping")
        sys.exit(-1)

    hosts = []
    if i is not None:
        hosts = [j.strip() for j in open(i).readlines()]
    if c is not None:
        delimited = ' ' if c.find(',') == -1 else ','
        hosts = hosts + [j.strip() for j in c.split(delimited)]

    result = []
    for host in hosts:
        up = ping(host)
        if args.j:
            result.append({"host":host, "reachable":up})

    if of is not None and args.j:
        open(of, 'w').write(json.dumps(result, indent=4, sort_keys=True))
    elif of is not None:
        open(of, 'w').write("\n".join(["{},{}".format(v['host'], "up" if v['reachable'] else "down") for v in result]))
    elif args.j:
        print(json.dumps(result, indent=4, sort_keys=True))
    elif of is not None:
        print("\n".join(["{},{}".format(v['host'], "up" if v['reachable'] else "down") for v in result]))