Bind 9 Administrator Reference Manual

Chapter 3. Nameserver Configuration
dig [@server] domain
[query-type] [query-class] [+query-option] [-dig-option] [%comment]
The usual simple use of dig will take the form
dig @server domain query-type query-class
For more information and a list of available commands and options, see the dig man page.
host
The host utility provides a simple DNS lookup using a command-line interface for looking up
Internet hostnames. By default, the utility converts between host names and Internet addresses, but
its functionality can be extended with the use of options.
host [-aCdlrTwv] [-c class] [-N ndots] [-t type] [-W timeout] [-R retries] hostname
[server]
For more information and a list of available commands and options, see the host man page.
nslookup
nslookup is a program used to query Internet domain nameservers. nslookup has two modes:
interactive and non-interactive. Interactive mode allows the user to query nameservers for
information about various hosts and domains or to print a list of hosts in a domain. Non-interactive
mode is used to print just the name and requested information for a host or domain.
nslookup [-option...] [host-to-find | - [server]]
Interactive mode is entered when no arguments are given (the default nameserver will be used) or
when the first argument is a hyphen (‘-’) and the second argument is the host name or Internet
address of a nameserver.
Non-interactive mode is used when the name or Internet address of the host to be looked up is given
as the first argument. The optional second argument specifies the host name or address of a
nameserver.
Due to its arcane user interface and frequently inconsistent behavior, we do not recommend the use
of nslookup. Use dig instead.
20