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The dig utility
dig (domain information groper) — utility (DNS client) for working with domain records. Used to query DNS servers and obtain records for requested domain.
Main options
+short— short answer (without request and service information).+noall +answer— detailed answer (no request).@server— query to specific DNS server.record— to get information about a specific record, just specify its name.-x IP address— reverse DNS lookup.+trace— domain query route trace.-f path/to/file— query information for multiple domains at once, listed in file.
Frequently used options can be set by default.
Query and answer
The simplest query:
dig hosting.xyzAnswer with explanatory comments:
; <<>> DiG 9.11.3-1ubuntu1.9-Ubuntu <<>> hosting.xyz # dig version and query text
;; global options: +cmd # global parameters
;; Got answer: # technical details about received answer
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 25243 # header including operation code and action status
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1
;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 1452
;; QUESTION SECTION: # query section
;hosting.xyz. IN A # by default, an A record is requested
;; ANSWER SECTION: # answer section
hosting.xyz. 900 IN A 185.39.224.54 # IP address for A record
;; Query time: 17 msec # query statistics
;; SERVER: 1.1.1.1#53(1.1.1.1) # address of server that returned response
;; WHEN: Thu Oct 24 14:45:14 EEST 2019 # date and time
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 59Options
Short answer
To get a short answer, use +short:
dig hosting.xyz +shortAnswer:
185.39.224.54Detailed answer
To get only the answer section, use +noall (disables all results) and +answer (enables answer section):
dig hosting.xyz +noall +answerAnswer:
; <<>> DiG 9.11.3-1ubuntu1.9-Ubuntu <<>> hosting.xyz +noall +answer
;; global options: +cmd
hosting.xyz. 734 IN A 185.39.224.54Query to specific DNS server
To get a response from a specific DNS server, use @server option (server is name or IP of specific DNS server):
dig hosting.xyz @8.8.8.8Answer:
; <<>> DiG 9.11.3-1ubuntu1.9-Ubuntu <<>> hosting.xyz @8.8.8.8
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 14828
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1
;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 512
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;hosting.xyz. IN A
;; ANSWER SECTION:
hosting.xyz. 608 IN A 185.39.224.54
;; Query time: 26 msec
;; SERVER: 8.8.8.8#53(8.8.8.8) # here you can see that the response was returned by the server specified in the command
;; WHEN: Thu Oct 24 15:05:58 EEST 2019
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 59Query information about a specific entry
To get information about a specific record, add its name (A, AAAA, CNAME, TXT, MX, NS):
dig hosting.xyz mx +noall +answerAnswer:
; <<>> DiG 9.11.3-1ubuntu1.9-Ubuntu <<>> hosting.xyz mx +noall +answer
;; global options: +cmd
hosting.xyz. 900 IN MX 20 alt1.aspmx.l.google.com.
hosting.xyz. 900 IN MX 10 aspmx.l.google.com.Reverse DNS lookup
To determine hostname by IP address (PTR record), use -x key:
dig -x 185.39.224.54 +noall +answerAnswer:
; <<>> DiG 9.11.3-1ubuntu1.9-Ubuntu <<>> -x 185.39.224.54 +noall +answer
;; global options: +cmd
54.224.39.185.in-addr.arpa. 3250 IN PTR hosting.xyz.Domain query route trace
When tracing, try to use the
+nodnssec key to avoid cluttering output with information unnecessary for your case.
To view detailed information about request processing and determine which server at which stage returned which response, use +trace option:
dig hosting.xyz a +traceAnswer:
; <<>> DiG 9.11.3-1ubuntu1.9-Ubuntu <<>> ukraine.com.ua a +trace
;; global options: +cmd
. 6839 IN NS h.root-servers.net.
. 6839 IN NS i.root-servers.net.
. 6839 IN NS j.root-servers.net.
. 6839 IN NS k.root-servers.net.
. 6839 IN NS l.root-servers.net.
. 6839 IN NS m.root-servers.net.
. 6839 IN NS a.root-servers.net.
. 6839 IN NS b.root-servers.net.
. 6839 IN NS c.root-servers.net.
. 6839 IN NS d.root-servers.net.
. 6839 IN NS e.root-servers.net.
. 6839 IN NS f.root-servers.net.
. 6839 IN NS g.root-servers.net.
. 6839 IN RRSIG NS 8 0 518400 20191106050000 20191024040000 22545 . VMJm6mjyJGRlIHIZFqe63o28rV9XrZpMEOjhFIW094xMFd7s2LL49Dfq +gaiZ549QmIfHUNnTAg9ZGeNHgxs+AFobw5/4ag6oieqo6wJdnwLEIcr AdMeHFz6UJ6FA5MKGWTTY/oBfdfCujbCgTxeMKK1sBwrBLrZ70yfH57x 9/tjVsAYagE5sEi+leATrOtBtJf1FfJqa9wD1ps5GAiOODtI7E+FDFsI 6ZvnTqp0d4qnIcNhf1UiUyvhYoFo7OqnJjDo15h/JMMfG1/9Ope1lAba 9Cdg+ufcIpbfIn63ppq6t/gFGsNUO/+E0rTDno2PdKu0w4rmVxN9ouY/ Hs1/Rw==
;; Received 717 bytes from 1.1.1.1#53(1.1.1.1) in 17 ms # current DNS server (1.1.1.1) returned root zone . NS list
ua. 172800 IN NS in1.ns.ua.
ua. 172800 IN NS sns-pb.isc.org.
ua. 172800 IN NS pch.ns.ua.
ua. 172800 IN NS ho1.ns.ua.
ua. 172800 IN NS cd1.ns.ua.
ua. 86400 IN DS 56514 10 2 BDD7A310534F76B2B6B25C94F816F9B9F260A2E35F526A9287E3307F B2CD16D8
ua. 86400 IN RRSIG DS 8 1 86400 20191106050000 20191024040000 22545 . PHQOb4/tp5HtTwtiQ0IebMKNLAoI1GII/AWckr7t05TyiwBIgby7LAQL xXAUwHDtVA3I7CFtAD+0Oma07ncWBcs3j4L5zFm69R4vZO0nd7uiBty9 hdyM6HssNMujDfmxKIT7LSkVqKOtA9RELwibjjpU5oao8ZpQr8l8e4JQ wK+5A4A14ZZXUk6MFeG9P0QtWOdfBfnq+Ei8DfHCrmG1KpHQVE9F96Fm ItP5GEh7Upx7sV6CvnLYYYTvlwGZyI6eYIaEOW6hhufp2Gs7rSvfKpI3 /CUYZeO9ZstXxowgQno9qShAzSO2nOdfRF6GMVWIrfRr3q7ov8jFxGUO 7a+PsA==
;; Received 729 bytes from 192.112.36.4#53(g.root-servers.net) in 43 ms # a list of NS records for .UA zone was received from one of root zone servers
com.ua. 36036 IN NS k.ns.com.ua.
com.ua. 36036 IN NS ba1.ns.ua.
com.ua. 36036 IN NS ho1.ns.com.ua.
com.ua. 36036 IN NS nix.ns.ua.
com.ua. 36036 IN NS sns-pb.isc.org.
com.ua. 36036 IN DS 51391 13 2 0B165D1C0B8481335BF9AA08B6D4A989FAA387E50CB20012B9679FDA C8DCC523
com.ua. 36036 IN RRSIG DS 10 2 36036 20191123103100 20191024103100 39635 ua. kTcOwmqs1zfsgT3/EN/98p4FtRBgziggjAAK2tVm3jo+rpzKu213c9s5 jC17CrEULnG5sNry8SVrf8VpfIho89eb9D0+waSu9QTtjOjhuO/JIYJf 1HCkAug3GUcg+Fhspaasam07yadA+rjhBoLo1PSzIJatP5nSo3CRdQBv sFw=
;; Received 1181 bytes from 74.123.224.40#53(in1.ns.ua) in 180 ms # NS list for .COM.UA zone received from .UA zone server
ukraine.com.ua. 28800 IN NS ns1.ukraine.com.ua.
ukraine.com.ua. 28800 IN NS ns2.ukraine.com.ua.
ukraine.com.ua. 28800 IN NS ns3.ukraine.com.ua.
TQ2PJLFLEH6Q350I1RFS6O2279S9UJ6F.com.ua. 1800 IN NSEC3 1 1 10 08FA761AF54F7014 TQ3G5M4AQH5FQAAES9MGMV6PMBPK9APC NS SOA RRSIG DNSKEY NSEC3PARAM
TQ2PJLFLEH6Q350I1RFS6O2279S9UJ6F.com.ua. 1800 IN RRSIG NSEC3 13 3 1800 20191208104006 20191024104006 60182 com.ua. d+EcdzD+RIlQW3zgYKy3DdDu/fTH9BXbLphzBc0uehoTCHvkyaQhjF85 EJ7xjqqJ59Y7tHfbuVegW4Zoff+kvA==
3L3FI89Q3TEFK874E9180CD71K7GJ6QA.com.ua. 1800 IN NSEC3 1 1 10 08FA761AF54F7014 3L58G1AMG8IQ3NECEU3AD9LA8E8BR3I6 TXT RRSIG
3L3FI89Q3TEFK874E9180CD71K7GJ6QA.com.ua. 1800 IN RRSIG NSEC3 13 3 1800 20191208104006 20191024104006 60182 com.ua. xB5O1l8/ZgMUUdo5VxXO9PkFL43TBDktY9p0pphZscFkTs3XZTdb+h6e gDUpqSxPaVqPv4FczT/f4yOF5CNegA==
;; Received 608 bytes from 216.218.215.123#53(k.ns.com.ua) in 182 ms # received NS domain list from .COM.UA zone server
ukraine.com.ua. 900 IN A 185.39.224.54
;; Received 59 bytes from 91.222.136.245#53(ns2.ukraine.com.ua) in 13 ms # one of domain NS returned information about A recordQuery information for multiple domains
To get a response for multiple domains at once, create a plain text file with a list of domains (each domain on a new line) and specify key -f and path to file with domains in command instead of domain:
dig -f domains.txt MX +shortSet default options
When you frequently use the same options, to avoid entering them manually each time, you can create text file .digrc in user root directory and place them there in one line:
+noall +answer
As a result, each time you run dig, these options will be automatically added to the query.
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