nslookup(8) System Manager's Manual nslookup(8)
NAME
nslookup - Queries Internet name servers interactively
SYNOPSIS
nslookup [-option ...] [host-to-find |- [server]]
DESCRIPTION
The nslookup command is a program that is used to query Internet domain name servers. The nslookup command has two modes: interactive and
noninteractive. Noninteractive mode is used to print just the name and requested information for a host or domain. Noninteractive mode is
invoked when the name or Internet address of the host to be looked up is given as the first argument. The optional second argument speci-
fies the hostname or address of a name server. Interactive mode allows the user to query name servers for information about various hosts
and domains or to print a list of hosts in a domain. Interactive mode is invoked when you specify nslookup without arguments (the default
name server will be used), or when the first argument you specify is a - (dash) and the second argument is the hostname or Internet address
of a name server.
The options listed under the set command can be specified in the .nslookuprc file in the user's home directory if they are listed one per
line. Options can also be specified on the command line if they precede the arguments and are prefixed with a - (dash). For example, to
change the default query type to host information, and the initial time-out to 10 seconds, enter: nslookup -query=hinfo -timeout=10
Interactive Commands
Commands may be interrupted at any time by entering <Ctrl-c>. To exit, enter <Ctrl-d> (EOF) or type exit. The command line length must be
less than 256 characters. To treat a built-in command as a hostname, precede it with an escape character (backslash). Note that an
unrecognized command will be interpreted as a hostname.
Looks up information for host using the current default server or using server if specified. If host is an Internet address and the query
type is A or PTR, the name of the host is returned. If host is a name and does not have a trailing period, the default domain name is
appended to the name. (This behavior depends on the state of the set options domain, srchlist, defname, and search). To look up a host not
in the current domain, append a . (dot) to the name. Changes the default server to domain. lserver uses the initial server to look up
information about domain, while server uses the current default server. If an authoritative answer cannot be found, the names of servers
that might have the answer are returned. Changes the default server to the server for the root of the domain name space. Currently, the
host ns.internic.net is used. (This command is a synonym for lserver ns.internic.net.) The name of the root server can be changed with
the set root command. Connects with the finger server on the current host. The current host is defined when a previous lookup for a host
was successful and returned address information (see the set querytype=A command). name is optional. The> and >> (redirection symbols)
can be used to redirect output in the usual manner. Lists the information available for domain, optionally creating or appending to file-
name. The default output contains hostnames and their Internet addresses. option can be one of the following: Lists all records of the
specified type (see querytype later in this reference page). Lists aliases of hosts in the domain. This option is a synonym for -t CNAME.
Lists all records for the domain. This option is a synonym for -t ANY. Lists CPU and operating system information for the domain. This
option is a synonym for -t HINFO. Lists well-known services of hosts in the domain. This option is a synonym for -t WKS. When output is
directed to a file, # (number signs) are printed for every 50 records received from the server. Sorts and lists the output of previous ls
command(s) with more. Prints a brief summary of commands. Exits the program. This command is used to change state information that
affects the lookups. Valid keywords are: Prints the current values of the frequently used options to set. Information about the current
default server and host is also printed. Changes the query class to one of: The Internet class. The Chaos class. The MIT Athena Hesiod
class. Wildcard (any of the above). The class specifies the protocol group of the information. (Default = IN, abbreviation = cl) Turns
debugging mode on. A lot more information is printed about the packet sent to the server and the resulting answer. (Default = nodebug,
abbreviation = [no]deb) Turns exhaustive debugging mode on. Essentially all fields of every packet are printed. (Default = nod2) Changes
the default domain name to name. The default domain name is appended to a lookup request depending on the state of the defname and search
options. The domain search list contains the parents of the default domain if it has at least two components in its name. For example, if
the default domain is CC.Berkeley.EDU, the search list is CC.Berkeley.EDU and Berkeley.EDU. Use the set srchlist command to specify a dif-
ferent list. Use the set all command to display the list. (Default = value from hostname, /etc/resolv.conf or LOCALDOMAIN, abbreviation =
do) Changes the default domain name to name1 and the domain search list to name1, name2, and so on. A maximum of 6 names separated by /
(slashes) can be specified: For example: set srchlist=lcs.MIT.EDU/ai.MIT.EDU/MIT.EDU sets the domain to lcs.MIT.EDU and the search list to
the three names. This command overrides the default domain name and search list of the set domain command. Use the set all command to
display the list. (Default = value based on hostname, /etc/resolv.conf or LOCALDOMAIN, abbreviation = srchl) If set, appends the default
domain name to a single-component lookup request (that is, one that does not contain a dot). (Default = defname, abbreviation = [no]def)
If the lookup request contains at least one . (dot) but does not end with a trailing dot, appends the domain names in the domain search
list to the request until an answer is received. (Default = search, abbreviation = [no]sea) Changes the default TCP/UDP name server port
to value. (Default = 53, abbreviation = po) Changes the type of information query to one of: The host's IPv4 address. The host's IPv6
address. The canonical name for an alias. The host CPU and operating system type. The mailbox or mail list information. The mail
exchanger. The Naming AUthority PoinTeR that contains rules for mapping parts of Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) to domain names. The
name server for the named zone. The hostname if the query is an Internet address; otherwise the pointer to other information. The
domain's start-of-authority information. The host that can provide a specific resolution service. The text information. The user infor-
mation. The supported well-known services. Other types (ANY, AXFR, MB, MD, MF, NULL) are described in the RFC1035 document. (Default =
A, abbreviations = q, ty) Tells the name server to query other servers if it does not have the information. (Default = recurse, abbrevia-
tion = [no]rec) Sets the number of retries to number. When a reply to a request is not received within a certain amount of time (changed
with set time-out), the timeout period is doubled and the request is resent. The retry value controls how many times a request is resent
before giving up. (Default = 4, abbreviation = ret) Changes the name of the root server to host. This affects the root command. (Default
= ns.internic.net., abbreviation = ro) Changes the initial timeout interval for waiting for a reply to number seconds. Each retry doubles
the timeout period. (Default = 5 seconds, abbreviation = ti) Always use a virtual circuit when sending requests to the server. (Default =
novc, abbreviation = [no]v) Ignore packet truncation errors. (Default = noignoretc, abbreviation = [no]ig)
EXIT VALUES
In noninteractive mode, nslookup can return the following values: A match was found. No match was found, or an error occurred.
ERRORS
If the lookup request was not successful, an error message is printed. Possible errors are: The server did not respond to a request after
a certain amount of time (changed with set timeout=value) and a certain number of retries (changed with set retry=value). No name server
is running on the server machine. The server does not have resource records of the current query type for the host, although the hostname
is valid. The query type is specified with the set querytype command. The host or domain name does not exist. The connection to the name
or finger server could not be made at the current time. This error commonly occurs with ls and finger requests. The name server found an
internal inconsistency in its database and could not return a valid answer. The name server refused to service the request. The name
server found that the request packet was not in the proper format. It may indicate an error in nslookup.
FILES
Specifies the command path Initial domain name and name server addresses User's initial options Summary of commands
RELATED INFORMATION
Commands: named(8)
Functions: resolver(4)
Files: resolv.conf(4)
Specifications: RFC1034, RFC1035 delim off
nslookup(8)