Linux in a Nutshell, Third Edition

Name

nslookup

Synopsis

nslookup [-option...] [host_to_find | - [server ]]

Description

TCP/IP command. Query Internet domain name servers. nslookup has two modes: interactive and noninteractive. 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. It is entered either when no arguments are given (default name server will be used) or when the first argument is a hyphen and the second argument is the hostname or Internet address of a name server. Noninteractive mode is used to print just the name and requested information for a host or domain. It is used when the name of the host to be looked up is given as the first argument. Any of the keyword=value pairs listed under the interactive set command can be used as an option on the command line by prefacing the keyword with a -. The optional second argument specifies a name server.

Options

All of the options under the set interactive command can be entered on the command line, with the syntax - keyword[= value].

Interactive commands

exit

Exit nslookup.

finger [name] [>|>>filename]

Connect with finger server on current host, optionally creating or appending to filename.

help, ?

Print a brief summary of commands.

host [server]

Look up information for host using the current default server or using server if specified.

ls -[ahd] domain [>|>>filename]

List information available for domain, optionally creating or appending to filename. The -a option lists aliases ...