File: inetutils.info,  Node: whois invocation,  Next: ftp invocation,  Prev: traceroute invocation,  Up: Top

10 'whois': User interface to WHOIS data bases.
***********************************************

The functionality of a world wide Internet is dependent on stored node
information of different kinds.  Registrars keep much relevant material
in WHOIS data bases.  This utility 'whois' is able to query those
sources for general and for particular properties of most domains.

   For many domains there are names of suitable data base servers hard
coded into 'whois', ready to query for domain relevant information.
Since servers' names do change from time to time, this utility might
occasionally need some guidance using a suitable command line option.

Synopsis:

     whois [OPTION...] OBJECT...

10.1 Command line options
=========================

'-a'
     Search all data bases.

'-F'
     Fast and raw output.  Implies '-r'.

'-g SOURCE:FIRST-LAST'
     Find updates for an object from provider SOURCE, starting from the
     version with serial key FIRST, and ending with serial key LAST.

'-h HOST'
'--server=HOST'
     Connect to server HOST.

'-H'
     Hide legal disclaimers.

'-i ATTR[,ATTR2...]'
     Do an inverse lookup for specified attributes.  Use a comma
     separated list for multiple attributes.

'-l'
     One level less specific lookup.  Applies to RPSL only.

'-L'
     Find all less specific matches.

'-m'
     Find more specific matches, one level deeper.

'-M'
     Find all more specific matches.

'-p PORT'
     Connect to server port PORT.

'-q {version|sources}'
     Query specified server info.  Applies to RPSL only.

'-r'
     Turn off recursive lookups.

'-R'
     Force output to show local copy of the domain object, even if it
     contains a referral.

'-s SOURCE[,SOURCE2...]'
     Search the data base at SOURCE.  A comma separated list queries
     multiple providers.

'-S'
     Tell server to refrain from syntactic sugar.

'-t TYPE'
     Request a template for objects of type TYPE.  Use the value 'all'
     for a list of possible types.

'-T TYPE[,TYPE2...]'
     Search only for objects of type TYPE.  A comma separated list
     allows for multiple types.

'-V'
'--verbose'
     Verbosely explain all actions taken.

'-x'
     Search only for exact matches.  Applicable only to RPSL.

10.2 Environment variables
==========================

'whois' holds an internal list of information servers and their assigned
data bases.  Queries are examined against this list to select the most
plausible server, but the hint can always be overruled on the command
line by use of the option '-h'.  If neither of these have a say, then
the default server to ask is 'whois.internic.net', but this name is in
turn overruled by a server name in the environment variable
'WHOIS_SERVER'.

'LANG'
     When the server 'whois.nic.ad.jp' is queried, and only then, any
     non-Japanese locale in 'LANG' will ask the server to reply with
     English text, not Japanese.

'WHOIS_HIDE'
     When set, the effect on 'whois' is as if the option '-H' had been
     given.

'WHOIS_SERVER'
     Data base server to query when internal hinting is inconclusive.
     When unset, 'whois.internic.net' is used as default server.