nslookup

When working on a network, validating and troubleshooting DNS (Domain Name System) issues is a common task. DNS is a critical component of the internet, responsible for translating human-readable domain names into machine-readable IP addresses. For system administrators and network engineers using Linux, having the right tools to diagnose DNS problems is vital. Among the most popular utilities for this purpose are dig and nslookup, which are part of the dnsutils package. In this article, we'll delve into what these tools can do, how to install them across various Linux distributions, and provide some basic usage examples to get you started. dig (Domain Information Groper): dig is a flexible command-line tool used for querying DNS servers.

DNS, or Domain Name System, is a fundamental part of the internet's infrastructure, quietly translating human-friendly domain names into machine-friendly IP addresses that computers use to identify each other on the network. For anyone delving into network administration, IT support, or just keen on understanding how the internet works, DNS lookups are an essential skill. Today, we’ll explore two primary tools used for DNS troubleshooting and analysis: nslookup and dig. Before we dive into the tools, let's briefly discuss what happens during a DNS lookup. When you type a website like example.com into your browser, your computer performs a DNS lookup to find the corresponding IP address.