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32 .\" From: @(#)whois.1 8.1 (Berkeley) 6/6/93
33 .\" $FreeBSD: src/usr.bin/whois/whois.1,v 1.15.2.9 2002/11/17 15:05:55 mike Exp $
40 .Nd "Internet domain name and network number directory service"
44 .Op Fl c Ar country-code | Fl h Ar host
49 utility looks up records in the databases maintained by several
50 Network Information Centers
53 The options are as follows:
54 .Bl -tag -width indent
56 Use the American Registry for Internet Numbers
59 It contains network numbers used in those parts of the world covered neither by
64 (Hint: All point of contact handles in the
66 whois database end with
69 .It Fl c Ar country-code
70 This is the equivalent of using the
72 option with an argument of
73 .Qq Ar country-code Ns Li .whois-servers.net .
75 Use the US Department of Defense
77 It contains points of contact for subdomains of
80 Use the US non-military federal government database, which contains points of
81 contact for subdomains of
84 Use the specified host instead of the default variant.
85 Either a host name or an IP address may be specified.
89 constructs the name of a whois server to use from the top-level domain
91 of the supplied (single) argument, and appending
92 .Qq Li .whois-servers.net .
93 This effectively allows a suitable whois server to be selected
94 automatically for a large number of
97 In the event that an IP
98 address is specified, the whois server will default to the American
99 Registry for Internet Numbers
108 that server will be queried also, provided that the
110 option is not specified.
112 If the query is not a domain name or IP address,
115 .Pa whois.crsnic.net .
117 Use the Network Solutions Registry for Internet Numbers
118 .Pq Pa whois.networksolutions.com
120 It contains network numbers and domain contact information for most of
121 .Pa .COM , .NET , .ORG
127 The registration of these domains is now done by a number of
128 independent and competing registrars and this database holds no information
129 on the domains registered by organizations other than Network Solutions, Inc.
133 .Pq Pa whois.internic.net
134 is no longer handled by Network Solutions, Inc.
136 .Pa http://www.internic.net/ .
138 (Hint: Contact information, identified by the term
140 can be looked up by prefixing
144 handle in the query.)
146 Use the Latin American and Caribbean IP address Regional Registry
149 It contains network numbers used in much of Latin America and the
152 Use the Route Arbiter Database
155 It contains route policy specifications for a large
156 number of operators' networks.
158 Use the Asia/Pacific Network Information Center
161 It contains network numbers used in East Asia, Australia,
162 New Zealand, and the Pacific islands.
167 will not attempt to lookup the name in the authoritative whois
168 server (if one is listed).
169 This option has no effect when combined with any other options.
171 Use the R\(aaeseaux IP Europ\(aaeens
174 It contains network numbers and domain contact information
177 Use the Russia Network Information Center
180 It contains network numbers and domain contact information
184 Use the IPv6 Resource Center
187 It contains network names and addresses for the IPv6 network.
190 The operands specified to
192 are treated independently and may be used
193 as queries on different whois servers.
195 Most types of data, such as domain names and
197 addresses, can be used as arguments to
199 without any options, and
201 will choose the correct whois server to query.
202 Some exceptions, where
204 will not be able to handle data correctly, are detailed below.
206 To obtain contact information about an
207 administrator located in the Russian
213 option as shown in the following example, where
215 is substituted with the actual contact identifier.
217 .Dl "whois -c RU CONTACT-ID"
219 (Note: This example is specific to the
224 can be queried by using a similar syntax.)
226 The following example demonstrates how to obtain information about an
228 address or hostname using the
230 option, which directs the query to
233 .Dl "whois -6 IPv6-IP-Address"