Microsoft DOS nslookup command

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About nslookup
Availability
Syntax
Examples

About nslookup

MS-DOS utility that enables a user to look up an IP address of a domain or host on a network.

Users who are using earlier versions of Microsoft Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows ME and need the options available with the nslookup command will need to download an alternative, third-party program.

Availability

The nslookup.exe command is an external command that is available in the below Microsoft operating systems.

Windows NT
Windows 2000
Windows XP
Windows 7

Index

Category:
MS-DOS

Companies:
Microsoft

Related Pages:
CH000444

Resolved

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Syntax

Commands: (identifiers are shown in uppercase, [] means optional)

NAME

print info about the host/domain NAME using default server

NAME1 NAME2

as above, but use NAME2 as server

help or ?

print info on common commands

set OPTION

set an option

all	print options, current server and host
[no]debug	print debugging information
[no]d2	print exhaustive debugging information
[no]defname	append domain name to each query
[no]recurse	ask for recursive answer to query
[no]search	use domain search list
[no]vc	always use a virtual circuit
domain=NAME	set default domain name to NAME
srchlist=N1[/N2/.../N6]	set domain to N1 and search list to N1,N2, etc.
root=NAME	set root server to NAME
retry=X	set number of retries to X
timeout=X	set initial time-out interval to X seconds
type=X	set query type (ex. A,ANY,CNAME,MX,NS,PTR,SOA,SRV)
querytype=X	same as type
class=X	set query class (ex. IN (Internet), ANY)
[no]msxfr	use MS fast zone transfer
ixfrver=X	current version to use in IXFR transfer request

server NAME

set default server to NAME, using current default server

lserver NAME

set default server to NAME, using initial server

finger [USER]

finger the optional NAME at the current default host

root

set current default server to the root

ls [opt] DOMAIN [> FILE]

list addresses in DOMAIN (optional: output to FILE)

-a	list canonical names and aliases
-d	list all records
-t TYPE	list records of the given type (e.g. A,CNAME,MX,NS,PTR etc.)

view FILE

sort an 'ls' output file and view it with pg

exit

exit the program

Examples

This command is often used to perform a reverse lookup on an IP address as shown in the below example. The first section specifies the server and address of that server that provided you with the domain name and IP address displayed in the second section.

nslookup 204.228.150.3

Server: ns.computerhope.com
Address: 1.1.1.1

Name: www.computerhope.com
Address: 204.228.150.3

nslookup

Running nslookup without specifying an IP address or domain name will s

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