NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

     dnsquery -- query domain name servers using resolver

SYNOPSIS    [Toc]    [Back]

     dnsquery [-n nameserver] [-t type] [-c class] [-r retry] [-p period] [-d]
	      [-s] [-v] host

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

     The dnsquery program is a general interface to nameservers via BIND
     resolver library calls.  The program supports queries to the nameserver
     with an opcode of QUERY.  This program is intended to be a replacement or
     supplement to programs like nstest, nsquery and nslookup.	All arguments
     except for host and nameserver are treated without case-sensitivity.

OPTIONS    [Toc]    [Back]

     -n nameserver
		 The nameserver to be used in the query.  Nameservers can
		 appear as either Internet addresses of the form (w.x.y.z or
		 xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx) or can appear as
		 domain names.	(Default: as specified in /etc/resolv.conf.)

     -t type	 The type of resource record of interest.  Types include:
		       A	address
		       NS	nameserver
		       CNAME	canonical name
		       PTR	domain name pointer
		       SOA	start of authority
		       WKS	well-known service
		       HINFO	host information
		       MINFO	mailbox information
		       MX	mail exchange
		       RP	responsible person
		       MG	mail group member
		       AFSDB	DCE or AFS server
		       ANY	wildcard

		 Note that any case may be used.  (Default: ANY.)

     -c class	 The class of resource records of interest.  Classes include:
		       IN	Internet
		       HS	Hesiod
		       CHAOS	Chaos
		       ANY	wildcard

		 Note that any case may be used.  (Default: IN.)

     -r retry	 The number of times to retry if the nameserver is not
		 responding.  (Default:  4.)

     -p period	 Period to wait before timing out.  (Default: RES_TIMEOUT.)

     -d 	 Turn on debugging.  This sets the RES_DEBUG bit of the
		 resolver's options field.  (Default:  no debugging.)

     -s 	 Use a stream rather than a packet.  This uses a TCP stream
		 connection with the nameserver rather than a UDP datagram.
		 This sets the RES_USEVC bit of the resolver's options field.
		 (Default:  UDP datagram.)

     -v 	 Synonym for the ``-s'' flag.

     host	 The name of the host (or domain) of interest.

FILES    [Toc]    [Back]

     /etc/resolv.conf	 to get the default ns and search lists
     <arpa/nameser.h>	 list of usable RR types and classes
     <resolv.h> 	 list of resolver flags

DIAGNOSTICS    [Toc]    [Back]

     If the resolver fails to answer the query and debugging has not been
     turned on, dnsquery will simply print a message like:
	   Query failed (rc = 1): Unknown host

     The value of the return code is supplied by h_errno.

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

     nslookup(8), nstest(1), nsquery(1), named(8), resolver(5).

AUTHOR    [Toc]    [Back]

     Bryan Beecher

BUGS    [Toc]    [Back]

     Queries of a class other than IN can have interesting results since ordinarily
 a nameserver only has a list of root nameservers for class IN
     resource records.

     Dnsquery uses a call to inet_addr() to determine if the argument for the
     ``-n'' option is a valid Internet address.  Unfortunately, inet_addr()
     seems to cause a segmentation fault with some (bad) IP addresses (e.g.,
     1.2.3.4.5).

4th Berkeley Distribution	March 10, 1990	     4th Berkeley Distribution