Nslookup

nslookup is a member of the BIND name server software. Andrew Cherenson created nslookup as a class project at UC Berkeley in 1986 and it first shipped in 4.3-Tahoe BSD{{cite web|url=https://www.unix.com/man-page/bsd/1/nslookup/|title=4.3BSD Manual}}

In the development of BIND 9, the Internet Systems Consortium planned to deprecate nslookup in favor of host and dig. This decision was reversed in 2004 with the release of BIND 9.3{{cite web|url=https://lists.isc.org/pipermail/bind-announce/2004-September/000155.html|title=BIND 9.3.0 is now available|publisher=Isc.org|date=2004-09-23|access-date=2015-01-13}} and nslookup has been fully supported since then.

Unlike dig, nslookup does not use the operating system's local Domain Name System resolver library to perform its queries, and thus may behave differently. Additionally, vendor-provided versions may include the output of other sources of name information, such as host files, and Network Information Service. Some behaviors of nslookup may be modified by the contents of resolv.conf.{{cite web|url=http://docstore.mik.ua/orelly/networking_2ndEd/dns/ch12_01.htm|title=DNS and BIND, Fourth Edition: Chapter 12. nslookup and dig|publisher=O'Reilly|access-date=20 July 2010}}

The Linux version of nslookup is the original BSD version written by Andrew Cherenson.{{Cite web|url=https://linux.die.net/man/1/nslookup|title=nslookup(1) - Linux man page|website=linux.die.net}}

The ReactOS version was developed by Lucas Suggs and is licensed under the GPL.{{Cite web|url=https://github.com/reactos/reactos|title=reactos/reactos|website=GitHub|date=3 January 2022}}

nslookup operates in interactive or non-interactive mode. When used interactively by invoking it without arguments or when the first argument is - (minus sign) and the second argument is a hostname or Internet address of a name server, the user issues parameter configurations or requests when presented with the nslookup prompt (>). When no arguments are given, then the command queries the default server. The - (minus sign) invokes subcommands which are specified on the command line and should precede nslookup commands. In non-interactive mode, i.e. when the first argument is a name or Internet address of the host being searched, parameters and the query are specified as command line arguments in the invocation of the program. The non interactive mode searches the information for a specified host using the default name server.{{cite web |url=http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/pseries/v5r3/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.aix.cmds/doc/aixcmds4/nslookup.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130103083758/http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/pseries/v5r3/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.aix.cmds/doc/aixcmds4/nslookup.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-01-03 |title=pSeries and AIX Information Center |publisher=Publib.boulder.ibm.com |access-date=2012-09-05 }}

• dig, a utility that interrogates DNS servers directly for troubleshooting and system administration purposes.
• host is a simple utility for performing Domain Name System lookups.
• List of DNS record types - possible types of records stored and queried within DNS
• Root name server - top-level name servers providing top level domain name resolution
• whois
• BIND name server

{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite book|first=Daniel J.|last=Barrett|year=2012|title=Macintosh Terminal Pocket Guide: Take Command of Your Mac|publisher=O'Reilly|isbn=978-1449328986}}
• {{Cite book|first=William R.|last=Stanek|year=2008|title=Windows Command-Line Administrator's Pocket Consultant, 2nd Edition|publisher=Microsoft Press|isbn=978-0735622623}}

{{Wikiversity}}

{{Wikibooks|Guide to Windows Commands}}

Microsoft Windows

• [https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb490721.aspx nslookup] – Microsoft TechNet library
• [https://support.microsoft.com/kb/200525/ Using NSlookup.exe], Microsoft Knowledge Base

Unix-like OSs

• {{man|1|nslookup|die.net}}
• [https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/bind9/-/tree/main/bin/dig nslookup source code in ISC Gitlab repository (Mozilla Public License)]

{{Unix commands}}

{{Windows commands}}

Category:DNS software

Category:Internet Protocol based network software

Category:OS/2 commands

Category:Unix network-related software

Category:Windows communication and services

Category:Windows administration