You can use the ping command to check if another host is already using a specific IP address in Linux. The ping command sends an ICMP echo request packet to the specified IP address, and if the host is up and running, it will respond with an ICMP echo reply packet.
Syntax : ping <IP address>
Another way to check if the IP address is in use is by using the arping command, which sends ARP packets to the specified IP address and checks for a response.
Syntax: arping <IP address>
You can also use nmap command which is a network exploration tool and security scanner, it can be used to check whether a host is up and running, as well as other information such as open ports and services.
Syntax: nmap -sP <IP address>
Note that these commands may require superuser privileges to run.