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TLDR: host (tldr-pages)

Lookup Domain Name Server.

  • Lookup A, AAAA, and MX records of a domain
    host {{domain}}
  • Lookup a field (CNAME, TXT, ...) of a domain
    host -t {{field}} {{domain}}
  • Reverse lookup an IP
    host {{ip_address}}
  • Specify an alternate DNS server to query
    host {{domain}} {{8.8.8.8}}
host
NAME SYNOPSIS DESCRIPTION OPTIONS IDN SUPPORT FILES SEE ALSO AUTHOR COPYRIGHT
HOST(1)                                        BIND 9                                        HOST(1)



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     This option specifies that only IPv4 should be used for query transport. See also  the
              -6 option.

       -6     This  option specifies that only IPv6 should be used for query transport. See also the
              -4 option.

       -a     The -a ("all") option is normally equivalent to -v -t ANY. It also affects the  behav‐
              ior of the -l list zone option.

       -A     The  -A  ("almost all") option is equivalent to -a, except that RRSIG, NSEC, and NSEC3
              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     This  option  indicates that named should check consistency, meaning that host queries
              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     This option prints debugging traces, and is equivalent to the -v verbose option.

       -l     This option tells named to list the zone, meaning the host  command  performs  a  zone
              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     This option specifies a non-recursive query; setting this option clears the RD (recur‐
              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     This option tells named not to send the query to the next nameserver if any server re‐
              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 This  option  specifies TCP or UDP. By default, host uses UDP when making queries; the
              -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     This  option  sets  verbose  output, and is equivalent to the -d debug option. Verbose
              output can also be enabled by setting the debug option in /etc/resolv.conf.

       -V     This option prints the version number and exits.

       -w     This option sets "wait forever": the query timeout is set to the maximum possible. See
              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), named(8).

AUTHOR
       Internet Systems Consortium

COPYRIGHT
       2026, Internet Systems Consortium




9.18.39-0ubuntu0.22.04.4-Ubuntu              2025-08-13                                      HOST(1)

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