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<body bgcolor="white" text="black" link="#0000FF" vlink="#840084" alink="#0000FF"><div class="refentry" lang="en">
<a name="id2482688"></a><div class="titlepage"></div>
<div class="refnamediv">
<h2>Name</h2>
<p>host &#8212; DNS lookup utility</p>
</div>
<div class="refsynopsisdiv">
<h2>Synopsis</h2>
<div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">host</code>  [<code class="option">-aCdlnrTwv</code>] [<code class="option">-c <em class="replaceable"><code>class</code></em></code>] [<code class="option">-N <em class="replaceable"><code>ndots</code></em></code>] [<code class="option">-R <em class="replaceable"><code>number</code></em></code>] [<code class="option">-t <em class="replaceable"><code>type</code></em></code>] [<code class="option">-W <em class="replaceable"><code>wait</code></em></code>] [<code class="option">-4</code>] [<code class="option">-6</code>] {name} [server]</p></div>
</div>
<div class="refsect1" lang="en">
<a name="id2549466"></a><h2>DESCRIPTION</h2>
<p>
<span><strong class="command">host</strong></span>
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,
<span><strong class="command">host</strong></span>
prints a short summary of its command line arguments and options.
</p>
<p>
<em class="parameter"><code>name</code></em> 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 <span><strong class="command">host</strong></span> will by default
perform a reverse lookup for that address.
<em class="parameter"><code>server</code></em> is an optional argument which is either
the name or IP address of the name server that <span><strong class="command">host</strong></span>
should query instead of the server or servers listed in
<code class="filename">/etc/resolv.conf</code>.
</p>
<p>
The <code class="option">-a</code> (all) option is equivalent to setting the
<code class="option">-v</code> option and asking <span><strong class="command">host</strong></span> to make
a query of type ANY.
</p>
<p>
When the <code class="option">-C</code> option is used, <span><strong class="command">host</strong></span>
will attempt to display the SOA records for zone
<em class="parameter"><code>name</code></em> 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.
</p>
<p>
The <code class="option">-c</code> option instructs to make a DNS query of class
<em class="parameter"><code>class</code></em>.  This can be used to lookup Hesiod or
Chaosnet class resource records.  The default class is IN (Internet).
</p>
<p>
Verbose output is generated by <span><strong class="command">host</strong></span> when the
<code class="option">-d</code> or <code class="option">-v</code> option is used.  The two
options are equivalent.  They have been provided for backwards
compatibility.  In previous versions, the <code class="option">-d</code> option
switched on debugging traces and <code class="option">-v</code> enabled verbose
output.
</p>
<p>
List mode is selected by the <code class="option">-l</code> option.  This makes
<span><strong class="command">host</strong></span> perform a zone transfer for zone
<em class="parameter"><code>name</code></em>.  Transfer the zone printing out the NS, PTR
and address records (A/AAAA).  If combined with <code class="option">-a</code>
all records will be printed.  
</p>
<p>
The <code class="option">-i</code>
option specifies that reverse lookups of IPv6 addresses should
use the IP6.INT domain as defined in RFC1886.
The default is to use IP6.ARPA.
</p>
<p>
The <code class="option">-N</code> option sets the number of dots that have to be
in <em class="parameter"><code>name</code></em> for it to be considered absolute.  The
default value is that defined using the ndots statement in
<code class="filename">/etc/resolv.conf</code>, or 1 if no ndots statement is
present.  Names with fewer dots are interpreted as relative names and
will be searched for in the domains listed in the <span class="type">search</span>
or <span class="type">domain</span> directive in
<code class="filename">/etc/resolv.conf</code>.
</p>
<p>
The number of UDP retries for a lookup can be changed with the
<code class="option">-R</code> option.  <em class="parameter"><code>number</code></em> indicates
how many times <span><strong class="command">host</strong></span> will repeat a query that does
not get answered.  The default number of retries is 1.  If
<em class="parameter"><code>number</code></em> is negative or zero, the number of
retries will default to 1.
</p>
<p>
Non-recursive queries can be made via the <code class="option">-r</code> option.
Setting this option clears the <span class="type">RD</span> &#8212; recursion
desired &#8212; bit in the query which <span><strong class="command">host</strong></span> makes.
This should mean that the name server receiving the query will not
attempt to resolve <em class="parameter"><code>name</code></em>.  The
<code class="option">-r</code> option enables <span><strong class="command">host</strong></span> to mimic
the behaviour of a name server by making non-recursive queries and
expecting to receive answers to those queries that are usually
referrals to other name servers.
</p>
<p>
By default <span><strong class="command">host</strong></span> uses UDP when making queries.  The
<code class="option">-T</code> option makes it use a TCP connection when querying
the name server.  TCP will be automatically selected for queries that
require it, such as zone transfer (AXFR) requests.
</p>
<p>
The <code class="option">-4</code> option forces <span><strong class="command">host</strong></span> to only
use IPv4 query transport.  The <code class="option">-6</code> option forces
<span><strong class="command">host</strong></span> to only use IPv6 query transport.
</p>
<p>
The <code class="option">-t</code> option is used to select the query type.
<em class="parameter"><code>type</code></em> can be any recognised query type: CNAME,
NS, SOA, SIG, KEY, AXFR, etc.  When no query type is specified,
<span><strong class="command">host</strong></span> automatically selects an appropriate query
type.  By default it looks for A records, but if the
<code class="option">-C</code> option was given, queries will be made for SOA
records, and if <em class="parameter"><code>name</code></em> is a dotted-decimal IPv4
address or colon-delimited IPv6 address, <span><strong class="command">host</strong></span> will
query for PTR records.  If a query type of IXFR is chosen the starting
serial number can be specified by appending an equal followed by the
starting serial number (e.g. -t IXFR=12345678).
</p>
<p>
The time to wait for a reply can be controlled through the
<code class="option">-W</code> and <code class="option">-w</code> options.  The
<code class="option">-W</code> option makes <span><strong class="command">host</strong></span> wait for
<em class="parameter"><code>wait</code></em> seconds.  If <em class="parameter"><code>wait</code></em>
is less than one, the wait interval is set to one second.  When the
<code class="option">-w</code> option is used, <span><strong class="command">host</strong></span> will
effectively wait forever for a reply.  The time to wait for a response
will be set to the number of seconds given by the hardware's maximum
value for an integer quantity.
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1" lang="en">
<a name="id2549874"></a><h2>FILES</h2>
<p>
<code class="filename">/etc/resolv.conf</code>
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1" lang="en">
<a name="id2549886"></a><h2>SEE ALSO</h2>
<p>
<span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">dig</span>(1)</span>,
<span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">named</span>(8)</span>.
</p>
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