# man > dict(host) [HOST(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/HOST/1/markdown) BIND 9 [HOST(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/HOST/1/markdown) ## NAME host - DNS lookup utility ## SYNOPSIS **host** [**-aACdlnrsTUwv**] [**-c** class] [**-N** ndots] [**-p** port] [**-R** number] [**-t** type] [**-W** wait] [**-m** flag] [ [**-4**] | [**-6**] ] [**-v**] [**-V**] {name} [server] ## DESCRIPTION **host** is a simple utility for performing DNS lookups. It is normally used to convert names to IP addresses and vice versa. When no arguments or options are given, **host** prints a short sum‐ mary of its command-line arguments and options. **name** is the domain name that is to be looked up. It can also be a dotted-decimal IPv4 address or a colon-delimited IPv6 address, in which case **host** by default performs a reverse lookup for that address. **server** is an optional argument which is either the name or IP address of the name server that **host** should query instead of the server or servers listed in **/etc/re**‐‐ **solv.conf**. ## OPTIONS ### -4 _-6_ option. ### -6 _-4_ option. ### -a ior of the _-l_ list zone option. ### -A records are omitted from the output. ### -c class This option specifies the query class, which can be used to lookup HS (Hesiod) or CH (Chaosnet) class resource records. The default class is IN (Internet). ### -C the SOA records for zone **name** from all the listed authoritative name servers for that zone. The list of name servers is defined by the NS records that are found for the zone. ### -d ### -l transfer of zone **name** and prints out the NS, PTR, and address records (A/AAAA). Together, the _-l_ _-a_ options print all records in the zone. ### -N ndots This option specifies the number of dots (**ndots**) that have to be in **name** for it to be considered absolute. The default value is that defined using the **ndots** statement in **/etc/resolv.conf**, or 1 if no **ndots** statement is present. Names with fewer dots are in‐ terpreted as relative names, and are searched for in the domains listed in the **search** or **domain** directive in **/etc/resolv.conf**. ### -p port This option specifies the port to query on the server. The default is 53. ### -r sion desired) bit in the query. This means that the name server receiving the query does not attempt to resolve **name**. The _-r_ option enables **host** to mimic the behavior of a name server by making non-recursive queries, and expecting to receive answers to those queries that can be referrals to other name servers. ### -R number This option specifies the number of retries for UDP queries. If **number** is negative or zero, the number of retries is silently set to 1. The default value is 1, or the value of the **attempts** option in **/etc/resolv.conf**, if set. ### -s sponds with a SERVFAIL response, which is the reverse of normal stub resolver behav‐ ior. ### -t type This option specifies the query type. The **type** argument can be any recognized query type: CNAME, NS, SOA, TXT, DNSKEY, AXFR, etc. When no query type is specified, **host** automatically selects an appropriate query type. By default, it looks for A, AAAA, and MX records. If the _-C_ option is given, queries are made for SOA records. If **name** is a dotted-decimal IPv4 address or colon-delimited IPv6 address, **host** queries for PTR records. If a query type of IXFR is chosen, the starting serial number can be specified by ap‐ pending an equals sign (=), followed by the starting serial number, e.g., _-t_ _IXFR=12345678_. ### -T, -U _-T_ option makes it use a TCP connection when querying the name server. TCP is automat‐ ically selected for queries that require it, such as zone transfer (AXFR) requests. Type **ANY** queries default to TCP, but can be forced to use UDP initially via _-U_. ### -m flag This option sets memory usage debugging: the flag can be **record**, **usage**, or **trace**. The _-m_ option can be specified more than once to set multiple flags. ### -v output can also be enabled by setting the **debug** option in **/etc/resolv.conf**. ### -V ### -w also the _-W_ option. ### -W wait This options sets the length of the wait timeout, indicating that **named** should wait for up to **wait** seconds for a reply. If **wait** is less than 1, the wait interval is set to 1 second. By default, **host** waits for 5 seconds for UDP responses and 10 seconds for TCP connec‐ tions. These defaults can be overridden by the **timeout** option in **/etc/resolv.conf**. See also the _-w_ option. ## IDN SUPPORT If **host** has been built with IDN (internationalized domain name) support, it can accept and display non-ASCII domain names. **host** appropriately converts character encoding of a domain name before sending a request to a DNS server or displaying a reply from the server. To turn off IDN support, define the **IDN**___**DISABLE** environment variable. IDN support is disabled if the variable is set when **host** runs. ## FILES ### /etc/resolv.conf ## SEE ALSO [**dig(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/dig/1/markdown)**, [**named(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/named/8/markdown)**. ## AUTHOR Internet Systems Consortium ## COPYRIGHT 2026, Internet Systems Consortium 9.18.39-0ubuntu0.22.04.4-Ubuntu 2025-08-13 [HOST(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/HOST/1/markdown) [DICT(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/DICT/1/markdown) [DICT(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/DICT/1/markdown) ## NAME dict - DICT Protocol Client ## SYNOPSIS **dict** _word_ **dict** _[options]_ _[word]_ **dict** _[options]_ _dict://host:port/d:word:database_ **dict** _[options]_ _dict://host:port/m:word:database:strategy_ ## DESCRIPTION **dict** is a client for the Dictionary Server Protocol (DICT), a TCP transaction based query/re‐ sponse protocol that provides access to dictionary definitions from a set of natural language dictionary databases. Exit status is 0 if operation succeeded, or non-zero otherwise. See **EXIT** **STATUS** section. ## OPTIONS ### -h --host Specifies the hostname for the DICT server. Server/port combinations can be specified in the configuration file. If no servers are specified in the configuration file or on the command line, **dict** will fail. If IP lookup for a server expands to a list of IP addresses (as dict.org does currently), then each IP will be tried in the order listed. ### -p --port Specifies the port (e.g., 2628) or service (e.g., dict) for connections. The default is 2628, as specified in the DICT Protocol RFC. Server/port combinations can be spec‐ ified in the configuration file. ### -d --database Specifies a specific database to search. The default is to search all databases (a "*" from the DICT protocol). Note that a "!" in the DICT protocol means to search all of the databases until a match is found, and then stop searching. ### -m --match Instead of printing a definition, perform a match using the specified strategy. ### -s --strategy Specify a matching strategy. By default, the server default match strategy is used. This is usually "exact" for definitions, and some form of spelling-correction strategy for matches ("." from the DICT protocol). The available strategies are dependent on the server implementation. For a list of available strategies, see the -S or --strats option. ### -C --nocorrect Usually, if a definition is requested and the word cannot be found, spelling correc‐ tion is requested from the server, and a list of possible words are provided. This option disables the generation of this list. ### -c --config Specify the configuration file. The default is to try _~/.dictrc_ and _/etc/dictd/dict.conf_, using the first file that exists. If a specific configuration file is specified, then the defaults will not be tried. ### -D --dbs Query the server and display a list of available databases. ### -S --strats Query the server and display a list of available search strategies. ### -H --serverhelp Query the server and display the help information that it provides. ### -i --info Request information on the specified database (usually the server will provide origi‐ nation, descriptive, or other information about the database or its contents). ### -I --serverinfo Query the server and display information about the server. ### -M --mime Send _OPTION_ _MIME_ command to the server. **NOTE:** Server's capabilities are not checked. ### -f --formatted Enables formatted output, i.e. output convenient for postprocessing by standard UNIX utilities. No, it is not XML ;-) Also error and warning messages like " No matches...", " Invalid strategy..." etc. are sent to stderr, not to stdout. **Format:** -I, -i, -H and similar: hostport line1 line2 ... -S: hostportstrategy1short description1 hostportstrategy2short description2 ... -D: hostportdatabase1database description1 hostportdatabase2database description2 ... -m: hostportdatabase1match1 hostportdatabase2match2 ... ### -a --noauth Disable authentication (i.e., don't send an AUTH command). ### -u --user Specifies the username for authentication. ### -k --key Specifies the shared secret for authentication. ### -V --version Display version information. ### -L --license Display copyright and license information. ### -4 ### -6 **--help** Display help information. ### -v --verbose Be verbose. ### -r --raw Be very verbose: show the raw client/server interaction. ### --pipesize Specify the buffer size for pipelineing commands. The default is 256, which should be sufficient for general tasks and be below the MTU for most transport media. Larger values may provide faster or slower throughput, depending on MTU. If the buffer is too small, requests will be serialized. Values less than 0 and greater than one mil‐ lion are silently changed to something more reasonable. **--client** _text_ Specifies additional text to be sent using the CLIENT command. **--debug** _flag_ Set a debugging flag. Valid flags are: **verbose** The same as **-v** or **--verbose**. **raw** The same as **-r** or **--raw**. **scan** Debug the scanner for the configuration file. **parse** Debug the parser for the configuration file. **pipe** Debug TCP pipelining support (see the DICT RFC and RFC1854). **serial** Disable pipelining support. **time** Perform transaction timing. ## CONFIGURATION The configuration file currently has a very simple format. Lines are used to specify servers, for example: server dict.org or, with options: server dict.org { port 8080 } server dict.org { user username secret } server dict.org { port dict user username secret } the **port** and **user** options may be specified in any order. The **port** option is used to specify an optional port (e.g., 2628) or service (e.g., dict) for the TCP/IP connection. The **user** option is used to specify a username and shared secret to be used for authentication to this particular server. Servers are tried in the order listed until a connection is made. ## EXIT STATUS 0 Successful completion 20 No matches found 21 Approximate matches found 22 No databases available 23 No strategies available 30 Unexpected response code from server 31 Server is temporarily unavailable 32 Server is shutting down 33 Syntax error, command not recognized 34 Syntax error, illegal parameters 35 Command not implemented 36 Command parameter not implemented 37 Access denied 38 Authentication failed 39 Invalid database 40 Invalid strategy 41 Connection to server failed ## CREDITS **dict** was written by Rik Faith () and is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License. If you need to distribute under other terms, write to the au‐ thor. The main libraries used by this programs (zlib, regex, libmaa) are distributed under differ‐ ent terms, so you may be able to use the libraries for applications which are incompatible with the GPL -- please see the copyright notices and license information that come with the libraries for more information, and consult with your attorney to resolve these issues. ## BUGS If a **dict:** URL is given on the command line, only the first one is used. The rest are ig‐ nored. If a **dict:** URL contains a specifier for the nth definition or match of a word, it will be ig‐ nored and all the definitions or matches will be provided. This violates the RFC, and will be corrected in a future release. If a **dict:** URL contains a shared secret, it will not be parsed correctly. When _OPTION_ _MIME_ command is sent to the server _(-M_ _option)_ , server's capabilities are not checked. ## FILES _~/.dictrc_ User's **dict** configuration file _/etc/dictd/dict.conf_ System **dict** configuration file ## SEE ALSO [**dictd**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/dictd/8/markdown), [**dictzip**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/dictzip/1/markdown), **,** **RFC** **2229** 15 February 1998 [DICT(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/DICT/1/markdown)