Knowledge Base
DNS
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- Parent Category: Knowledge base
- Category: DNS
Example usage
$ dig @ns74.domaincontrol.com simontech.me -t AXFR
Common dig Commands
Below are some common dig commands to retrieve DNS information about a hostname. You can run any of the examples in a terminal to see the output.
| Command | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|
dig <hostname> |
dig example.com |
Returns the A records found at a hostname. |
dig <hostname> any |
dig example.com any |
Returns all records for a hostname, including NS and SOA records. |
dig @<name server address> <hostname> <record type> |
dig @ns1.digitalocean.com example.com MX |
Queries a hostname's name server directly instead of your ISP's resolver. Include the record type parameter to retrieve records of a specific type at a hostname. DigitalOcean's name server addresses are: ns1.digitalocean.com, ns2.digitalocean.com, and ns3.digitalocean.com |
dig <hostname> <record type> |
dig example.com NS |
Only returns the records of a specified type at a hostname. |
dig <hostname> +short |
dig example.com +short |
Only returns the IP addresses for all A records at a hostname. |
dig <hostname> +trace |
dig example.com +trace |
Adding +trace instructs dig to resolve the query from the root name server and return information from each server queried in the delegation chain. |
dig commands return one or multiple sections of information about the hostname's DNS records depending on the syntax of your query.
; $ dig example.com <<>> DiG 9.10.6 <<>> example.com ;; global options: +cmd ;; Got answer: ;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 50169 ;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 2, ADDITIONAL: 5 ;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION: ; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 4096 ;; QUESTION SECTION: ;example.com. IN A ;; ANSWER SECTION: example.com. 6108 IN A 93.184.216.34 ;; AUTHORITY SECTION: example.com. 52437 IN NS b.iana-servers.net. example.com. 52437 IN NS a.iana-servers.net. ;; ADDITIONAL SECTION: a.iana-servers.net. 195 IN A 199.43.135.53 a.iana-servers.net. 195 IN AAAA 2001:500:8f::53 b.iana-servers.net. 195 IN A 199.43.133.53 b.iana-servers.net. 195 IN AAAA 2001:500:8d::53
To install dig for Windows, go to BIND’s website and download the most current version of BIND 9. Extract the downloaded file and double click the BINDinstall icon in the newly created directory.
On the BIND 9 Installer screen, verify that the target directory is set to C:\Program Files\ISC BIND 9 (or C:\Program Files (x86)\ISC BIND 9 if you are using an x86 architecture) and select the Tools Only check box. Then click Install.
Once you've installed BIND 9, you need to add BIND to your system's paths to make dig available from the command line. To add the path to your system, open the Windows Control Panel and then open your System Properties. In the Advanced tab, click Environment Variables.
Under System Variables, select the Path variable and then click Edit.
In the Edit environment variable screen, click New and enter the new path C:\Program Files\ISC BIND 9\bin (or C:\Program Files (x86)\ISC BIND 9 if you are using an x86 architecture). Once you've added the path, click OK.
In the Edit Variables window, click OK. In the System properties window, click OK.
Once you've added the path variable, open a new Command Prompt window and verify dig's installation by running the dig -v command. dig should return version information about itself. If the command returns anything other than version information, verify your path variable configuration.