Building and running a website has become a lot easier due to the availability of a lot of tools. Almost anyone with a little technical knowledge can start a site and work on it. However, things become a little complicated when you have to manage and sustain a website. There are a lot of technicalities involved in it including checking IP addresses of websites, dealing with DNS errors, etc.
To help with that, experts use the NSlookup. It is a command list that helps people check IP addresses attached to a website and more. Using this tool the right way can help site owners in many ways.
In this article, I am going to discuss what NSlookup actually is and how it can be helpful for you.
Let’s start.
What is NSlookup?
NSlookup stands for “Name Server Lookup.” It is a command line used to locate connections between a domain and its attached site’s IP address. Users can also perform a reverse DNS search here which lets them input an IP address to check a site’s domain. This system is being used by network admins for a lot of different purposes. They use it to fix server connections along with several other security purposes.
It’s also being used to deal with many clone websites that cyber criminals use for scams. There are a lot of sites that replace certain similar letters to make it look legitimate. For example, thereallifescreen.com will be written as thereall1fescreen.com by scammers. NSlookup is used to identify such sites by analyzing their different factors.
Why is NSlookup used?
As I mentioned earlier, there are several reasons why people use NSlookup. Here are the main ones:
- It is used to query DNS servers directly in order to find out issues that are associated with DNS. The commands used in it identify information related to sites including domain names, and IP addresses.
- NSlookup offers different types of records about a website including canonical names, email exchanges, etc.
- It translates IP addresses that help users find websites that are associated with these addresses.
- People utilize this system to check the responsiveness and accuracy of DNS servers.
Major Examples of NSlookup Commands
Here are the details of its examples:
· Name: shows data about the name and or hostname.
· Server name: sets a different default DNS server by utilizing the data of the first one.
· Root: sets the root as the current server.
· set type=<record type>: asks the system to display only a certain type of system such as A, MX, PTR, etc.
· Set debug: asks the system to turn on the debug mode and show detailed information about queries.
· Set recurse: asks the server to send requests to other servers in case it is unable to provide information.
· Exit: quits the system
· Help: shows a list of commands that can be used along with their functionalities.
How to Use NSlookup?
Using NSlookup is easy. It has a similar procedure for Windows, MacOS, and Linux with just a few changes. So, I am going to discuss the Windows method here.
- First of all, open the command prompt on your computer.
- You can easily find it through the search feature.
- After this, simply enter “nslookup” and hit enter.
- Now, input any command mentioned above to get your required data.
Online method:
You can also use the NSlookup website to find these types of information about domains as well. Here’s how to do it:
- Open the website using any Internet browser.
- Now, enter a domain in the designated place.
- Hit enter.
- Now, you can see all the relevant information about the entered domain.
Note: You cannot use an IP address to look for a domain in this method.
How NSlookup Can Be Helpful for You?
NSLookup can help you in the following ways:
DNS Diagnosis:
It can be useful for network troubleshooting. You can know if site connectivity errors are related to DNS, this system helps you know whether the issues are related to things like DNS configuration or not.
DNS records configuration:
The NSLookup can help you determine whether your DNS records are correctly configured and point to the appropriate IP.
Better Administration:
Users can check out server health using this system to determine its responsiveness and accuracy. Similarly, they can easily test the functionality of these servers to determine whether or not they are working fine.
Conclusion
NSlookup is a command line system that helps people find IP addresses related to a domain name. It is a proper process of checking different types of data associated with certain websites. There are many reasons why people utilize this system.
It lets them check out their site’s server and determine their proper functionality. Using this system is very easy and can be done using the above-mentioned steps. As a user, this system can help you with several things including their better administration and server diagnosis.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is the data provided by NSlookup authentic?
Yes. The data provided by this system is authentic.
Can it help with reverse lookups as well?
Yes. It can help with reverse lookup as well by allowing IP addresses to find domain names.
Can it help me get information about mail exchange?
Yes. NSlookup can help you get data about mail exchange as well.
