nc missing option -z

[inode0]

On Tue, Feb 12, 2013 at 8:21 PM, Suvayu Ali <fatkasuvayu+linux at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I used to use netcat to check if a particular host is up or if I have
> internet connection before I run a few scripts.  I would use the -z
> option in particular.  But now I see that has been removed:
>
>   $ nc -z imap.gmail.com 993 && sync-my-email.sh
>   ncat: invalid option -- 'z'
>
> Here is the excerpt from the old manual page:
>
>   -z Specifies that nc should just scan for listening daemons, without
>      sending any data to them.  It is an error to use this option in
>      conjunction with the -l option.
>
> Any ideas what happened to it?  What can I use as replacement?

Something like this perhaps.

$ 2>/dev/null >/dev/tcp/imap.gmail.com/993 && sync-my-email.sh

John