Description
Diagnostics
Files

Arguments
Author
See
Also

host [server]

Look 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, one or more domains are appended
to the name (this behavior depends on the state of the set

options domain, srchlist, defname,
and search). Answers from a name server’s cache are
labeled ``non-authoritative.’’

server <I>domain</I>

lserver <I>domain</I>

Change the default server to domain. lserver
uses the initial server to look up information about domain
while server uses the current default server. When
server is used while the current name service being
pointed to is either NIS or /etc/hosts, then the
switch policy will be overridden until a reset is
issued.

root

Changes the default server to the server for the root of the
domain name space. Currently, the host ns.nic.ddn.mil
is used (this command is a synonym for lserverns.nic.ddn.mil).
The name of the root server can be changed with the set
root command.

policy

Prints out the policy read from the switch configuration file.
The number of name services specified in the file are shown, as
well as the order and criteria on how the name services are to be
used. The four statuses of the criteria are represented by the
four positions within the square brackets. The order of the
statuses are : SUCCESS, NOTFOUND, UNAVAIL and TRYAGAIN. The two
actions of the criteria are represented by the two possible
letters used in the four status positions : R for
return and C for continue. However, if no criteria is
specified between two sources, then the default actions are
assigned to the statuses :


SUCCESS=&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;return<BR>NOTFOUND=&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;continue<BR>UNAVAIL=&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;continue<BR>TRYAGAIN=&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;continue

finger [name] [>
filename]

finger [name] [>>
filename]

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. >
and >> can be used to redirect output in the
usual manner.

ls [option] domain [>

filename]

ls [option] domain [>>

filename]

List the information available for domain, optionally
creating or appending to filename. The default output
contains host names and their Internet addresses. option
can be one of the following :

-t<I> querytype</I>

lists all records of the specified type (see querytype
below).

-a

lists aliases of hosts in the domain (synonym for

-t
			CNAME

).

-d

lists all records for the domain (synonym for -t ANY).

-h

lists CPU and operating system information for the domain
(synonym for -t HINFO).

-s

lists well-known services of hosts in the domain (synonym for
-t WKS).

When
output is directed to a file, # characters are
printed for every 50 records received from the server.

view<I> filename</I>

Sorts and lists the output of previous ls
command(s) using more (see more(1)
).

help

?

Prints a brief summary of commands.

exit

Exits the program.

reset

Returns to the use of the configured name service switch policy
and resets to use the original nameservers.

set keyword[=value]

This command is used to change state information that affects
the lookups. Valid keywords are :

all

Prints the current values of the various options to set.
Information about the current default server and host is also
printed.

cl[ass]=value

[no]deb[ug]

Turn debugging mode on. More information is printed about the
packet sent to the server and the resulting answer. (Default =
nodebug)

[no]d2

Turn exhaustive debugging mode on. Essentially all fields of
every packet are printed. (Default = nod2)

[no]def[name]

If set, append the default domain name to a single-component
lookup request (i.e., one that does not contain a period
character). (Default = defname)

do[main]=name

Change 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
different list. Use the set all command
to display the list. (Default = value from hostname,
/etc/resolv.conf or LOCALDOMAIN)

[no]ig[nore]

Ignore truncation errors. (Default = noignore)

q[uerytype]=value

ty[pe]=value

po[rt]=value

Change the default TCP/UDP name server port to value.
(Default = 53)

[no]rec[urse]

Tell the name server to query other servers if it does not have
the information. (Default = recurse)

ret[ry]=number

Set the number of retries to number. When a reply to a
request is not received within a certain amount of time (changed
with set timeout), 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)

ro[ot]=host

Change the name of the root server to host. This affects
the root command. (Default = ns.nic.ddn.mil)

[no]sea[rch]

If the lookup request contains at least one period but doesn’t
end with a trailing period, append the domain names in the domain
search list to the request until an answer is received. See
hostname(5)
. (Default = search)

srchl[ist]=<I>name1/name2/</I>...

Change the default domain name to name1 and the domain
search list to name1, name2, etc. A maximum of 6
names separated by slashes (/) can be specified. For
example,

<CODE>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)

[no]swtr[ace]

When set, this flag causes <B><FONT COLOR="#ff0000">nslookup</FONT></B>
to print out information about the sources used for resolving a
name or an address lookup. This flag traces the behavior generated
by the switch policy. (Default = noswtrace)

t[imeout]=number

Change the initial timeout interval for waiting for a reply to
number seconds. Each retry doubles the timeout period.
(Default = 5 seconds)

[no]v[c]

Always use a virtual circuit when sending requests to the
server. (Default = novc)

Time-out

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 response from
server

No name server is running on the server machine.

No records

The server does not have resource records of the current query
type for the host, although the host name is valid. The query type
is specified with the set querytype
command.

Non-existent domain

The host or domain name does not exist.

Connection refused

Network is unreachable

The connection to the name server could not be made at the
present time.

Server failure

The name server found an internal inconsistency in its database
and could not return a valid answer.

Refused

The name server refused to service the request.

Format error

The name server found that the request packet was not in the
proper format.

/etc/resolv.conf

Initial domain name and name server addresses

$HOME/.nslookuprc

User’s initial options