whois(1) Unsupported whois(1)
Name
whois - DARPA Internet user name directory service
Syntax
whois [ -h servername ] name
Description
The command allows you to look up people, hosts, and organizations in the database kept by the Network Information Center (NIC) at SRI
International. The name can be the last name of a registered user, or the name of a registered Internet host, or other things recognized
by the whois server. Not all users, and only a few Internet hosts, are registered with the NIC. If the name argument contains white space
or other special characters, you must surround it with double quote (") marks to prevent its interpretation by the shell.
The WHOIS server at the NIC will provide more information on doing complex searches if you do
whois "?"
(note the quotes around the question mark), or even more information if you do
whois help
Options
-h servername Specifies the whois server on a host other than the default (NIC.DDN.MIL).
Examples
whois cerf
whois dec.com
whois -h ns.nic.ddn.mil knuth
whois smith
Note that the last example, at least, will match many records (and may take fairly long to complete). The whois server at the NIC will
automatically provide information on how to single out one record. Remember to put quotes around strings that contain `!' characters.
See Also
RFC 812: Nicname/Whois
whois(1)
