How to Use Linux dig Command (DNS Lookup)

Introduction

The dig command in Linux is used to gather DNS information. It stands for Domain Information Groper, and it collects data about Domain Name Servers. The dig command is helpful for troubleshooting DNS problems, but is also used to display DNS information.

This guide will help you understand and use the Linux dig command.

Prerequisites

• A system running Linux
• A user account with sudo or root privileges
• Access to a terminal window / command line

Install dig on Linux (Optional)

Most modern Linux systems include the dig command.

Verify that it’s installed by checking the software version. To do so, open a command line and enter the following:

dig -v

The system should respond with a numeric code. If the system can’t find the command specified, install dig by entering the following:

Debian / Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get install dnsutils

CentOS / RedHat:

sudo yum install bind-utils

Once the installation finishes, verify the installation with the following command:

dig -v

For more information on CentOS and RHEL, please refer to our article on How to Install dig on CentOS 7 and 8.

dig Syntax

The dig command is used as follows:

dig [server] [name] [type]

[server] – The hostname or IP address the query is directed to
[name] – The DNS (Domain Name Server) of the server to query
[type] – The type of DNS record to retrieve. By default (or if left blank), dig uses the A record type

The dig command resolves the hostname before proceeding with querying the name server.

How to Use the dig Command With Examples

Let's look at the basic usage of the dig command.

DNS Lookup

The dig command enables searching for a domain name. To perform a DNS lookup, open the terminal and type:

dig google.com

You should see something similar to the following:

The most important section is the ANSWER section:

• The first column lists the name of the server that was queried
• The second column is the Time to Live, a set timeframe after which the record is refreshed
• The third column shows the class of query – in this case, “IN” stands for Internet
• The fourth column displays the type of query – in this case, “A” stands for an A (address) record
•  The final column displays the IP address associated with the domain name

Other lines can be translated as follows:

The first line displays the version of the dig command.

The HEADER section shows the information it received from the server. Flags refer to the answer format.

The OPT PSEUDOSECTION displays advanced data:

• EDNS – Extension system for DNS, if used
• Flags – blank because no flags were specified
• UDP – UDP packet size

The QUESTION section displays the query data that was sent:

• First column is the domain name queried
• Second column is the type (IN = Internet) of query
• Third column specifies the record (A = Address), unless otherwise specified

The STATISTICS section shows metadata about the query:

• Query time – The amount of time it took for a response
• SERVER – The IP address and port of the responding DNS server. You may notice a loopback address in this line – this refers to a local setting that translates DNS addresses
• WHEN – Timestamp when the command was run
• MSG SIZE rcvd – The size of the reply from the DNS server

Specify DNS server

By default, dig uses the local configuration to decide which nameserver to query. Use the following command to specify Google’s domain server:

dig @8.8.8.8 google.com

The terminal prints out the following output:

ANY Option

To return all of the results of the query, use the following:

dig google.com ANY

The system will list all google.com DNS records that it finds, along with the IP addresses.

Short Answer Option

To display only the IP address associated with the domain name, enter the following:

dig google.com +short

The output displays the content as in the image below:

Detailed Answer Option

Run  +noall +answer with the dig command to access detailed information in the answers section:

dig google.com +noall +answer

The example below displays the expected output.

Trace Option

The +trace option lists each different server the query goes through to its final destination. Use this command option to identify the IP address where traffic is dropping.

dig google.com +trace

The output should be similar to the one seen below:

Reverse DNS Lookup

To look up a domain name by its IP address, type the following:

dig -x 172.217.14.238

The output displays content as in the image below:

The -x option allows you to specify the IP address instead of a domain name. This can be combined with other options:

dig +noall +answer -x 172.217.14.238

The example below displays the expected output.

Batch Mode for Reading Host Names From a File

To look up multiple entries, start by creating a file to store the domain names:

sudo nano domain_research.txt

See example on the image below:

Add several websites of interest as in the image below:

Save the file and exit. Now, specify the file using the -f option in the dig command:

dig -f domain_research.txt +short

See an example of the output of the command below:

Permanently Adjust Default Options

The information displayed by dig can be altered in the ~/.digrc file. Open the file for editing with the following command:

sudo nano ~/.digrc

Add the following lines:

+noall
+answer

See an example in the image below:

Write the file (ctrl–o) and exit (ctrl–x).

Run the dig command again:

dig google.com

You should only see the answers command, as if you had manually added +noall and +answer.

Conclusion

You should now be familiar with the dig command in Linux. This command can help you find more information about Domain Nameservers.

Next, we recommend learning more about best DNS practices for security and performance and how to flush DNS to delete all saved DNS lookup information.