The commands listed belows are some that we use often, but many more exist. Check the man pages and documentation for more details and information.
 
 To enter under nslookup Interactive mode, use the command:
 
 | 
 Default Server:  deep.openna.com
 Address:  208.164.186.1
 > help
 $Id: nslookup.help,v 8.4 1996/10/25 18:09:41 vixie Exp $
 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; see nslookup(1) for details
 set OPTION	- set an option
 all	- print options, current server and host
 [no]debug	- print debugging information
 [no]d2	- print exhaustive debugging information
  | 
 
 To run in non-interactive mode, use the command:
 
| 
 [root@deep] /# nslookup www.redhat.com
  | 
 | 
 Server:  deep.openna.com
 Address:  208.164.186.1
 Non-authoritative answer:
 Name:    www.portal.redhat.com
 Addresses:  206.132.41.202, 206.132.41.203
 Aliases:  www.redhat.com
  | 
 Where 
www.redhat.com is the host name or Internet address of the name server to be looked up.
 
Example 21-1. dnsquery
   
| 
 [root@deep] /# dnsquery www.redhat.com
  | 
 | 
 ;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 40803
 ;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 4, ADDITIONAL: 4
 ;;      www.redhat.com, type = ANY, class = IN
 www.redhat.com.         	2h19m46s IN CNAME  www.portal.redhat.com.
 redhat.com.             	2h18m13s IN NS  	ns.redhat.com.
 redhat.com.             	2h18m13s IN NS  	ns2.redhat.com.
 redhat.com.             	2h18m13s IN NS  	ns3.redhat.com.
 redhat.com.             	2h18m13s IN NS  	speedy.redhat.com.
 ns.redhat.com.          	1d2h18m8s IN A  	207.175.42.153
 ns2.redhat.com.         	1d2h18m8s IN A  	208.178.165.229
 ns3.redhat.com.         	1d2h18m8s IN A  	206.132.41.213
 speedy.redhat.com.      	2h18m13s IN A   	199.183.24.251
  | 
 Where <host> is the name of the host you want to query.
 
Example 21-2. Look up host names
   
| 
 [root@deep] /# host redhat.com
  | 
 | 
 redhat.com has address 207.175.42.154
  | 
 Where <FQDN, domain names, host names, or host numbers> is either FDQN 
www.redhat.com, domain names 
redhat.com, host names 
www or host numbers 
207.175.42.154.
 
 To find all of the information about a host maintained by the DNS, use the command:
 
| 
 [root@deep] /# host -a <domain names >
  | 
 Example 21-3. Using host
   
| 
 [root@deep] /# host -a redhat.com
  | 
 | 
 Trying null domain
 rcode = 0 (Success), ancount=6
 The following answer is not authoritative:
 The following answer is not verified as authentic by the server:
 redhat.com      8112 IN NS      ns.redhat.com
 redhat.com      8112 IN NS      ns2.redhat.com
 redhat.com      8112 IN NS      ns3.redhat.com
 redhat.com      8112 IN NS      speedy.redhat.com
 redhat.com      8112 IN A        207.175.42.154
 redhat.com      11891 IN         SOA     ns.redhat.com noc.redhat.com(
 2000021402	;serial (version)
 3600    	;refresh period
 1800    	;retry refresh this often
 604800  	;expiration period
 86400   	;minimum TTL
 )
 For authoritative answers, see:
 redhat.com      8112 IN NS      ns.redhat.com
 redhat.com      8112 IN NS      ns2.redhat.com
 redhat.com      8112 IN NS      ns3.redhat.com
 redhat.com      8112 IN NS      speedy.redhat.com
 Additional information:
 ns.redhat.com   94507	IN        	A       207.175.42.153
 ns2.redhat.com  94507 	IN	A       208.178.165.229
 ns3.redhat.com  94507 	IN        	A       206.132.41.213
 speedy.redhat.com       	8112 IN 	A       199.183.24.251
  | 
 This option can be used to find all of the information that is maintained by the domain server about this host, in our example 
redhat.com.
 
 To list a complete domain, use the command:
 
| 
 [root@deep] /# host -l <domain names >
  | 
 Example 21-4. List a complete domain
   
| 
 [root@deep] /# host -l openna.com
  | 
 | 
 openna.com name server deep.openna.com
 openna.com name server mail.openna.com
 localhost.openna.com has address 127.0.0.1
 deep.openna.com has address 208.164.186.1
 mail.openna.com has address 208.164.186.2
 www.openna.com has address 208.164.186.3
  | 
 This option, in the official master file format, will give a complete download of the zone data for the domain name 
openna.com. This command should be used only if it is absolutely necessary.