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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 $
34 .\" $DragonFly: src/usr.bin/whois/whois.1,v 1.2 2003/06/17 04:29:33 dillon Exp $
41 .Nd "Internet domain name and network number directory service"
45 .Op Fl c Ar country-code | Fl h Ar host
50 utility looks up records in the databases maintained by several
51 Network Information Centers
54 The options are as follows:
55 .Bl -tag -width indent
57 Use the American Registry for Internet Numbers
60 It contains network numbers used in those parts of the world covered neither by
65 (Hint: All point of contact handles in the
67 whois database end with
70 .It Fl c Ar country-code
71 This is the equivalent of using the
73 option with an argument of
74 .Qq Ar country-code Ns Li .whois-servers.net .
76 Use the US Department of Defense
78 It contains points of contact for subdomains of
81 Use the US non-military federal government database, which contains points of
82 contact for subdomains of
85 Use the specified host instead of the default variant.
86 Either a host name or an IP address may be specified.
90 constructs the name of a whois server to use from the top-level domain
92 of the supplied (single) argument, and appending
93 .Qq Li .whois-servers.net .
94 This effectively allows a suitable whois server to be selected
95 automatically for a large number of
98 In the event that an IP
99 address is specified, the whois server will default to the American
100 Registry for Internet Numbers
109 that server will be queried also, provided that the
111 option is not specified.
113 If the query is not a domain name or IP address,
116 .Pa whois.crsnic.net .
118 Use the Network Solutions Registry for Internet Numbers
119 .Pq Pa whois.networksolutions.com
121 It contains network numbers and domain contact information for most of
122 .Pa .COM , .NET , .ORG
128 The registration of these domains is now done by a number of
129 independent and competing registrars and this database holds no information
130 on the domains registered by organizations other than Network Solutions, Inc.
134 .Pq Pa whois.internic.net
135 is no longer handled by Network Solutions, Inc.
137 .Pa http://www.internic.net/ .
139 (Hint: Contact information, identified by the term
141 can be looked up by prefixing
145 handle in the query.)
147 Use the Latin American and Caribbean IP address Regional Registry
150 It contains network numbers used in much of Latin America and the
153 Use the Route Arbiter Database
156 It contains route policy specifications for a large
157 number of operators' networks.
159 Use the Asia/Pacific Network Information Center
162 It contains network numbers used in East Asia, Australia,
163 New Zealand, and the Pacific islands.
168 will not attempt to lookup the name in the authoritative whois
169 server (if one is listed).
170 This option has no effect when combined with any other options.
172 Use the R\(aaeseaux IP Europ\(aaeens
175 It contains network numbers and domain contact information
178 Use the Russia Network Information Center
181 It contains network numbers and domain contact information
185 Use the IPv6 Resource Center
188 It contains network names and addresses for the IPv6 network.
191 The operands specified to
193 are treated independently and may be used
194 as queries on different whois servers.
196 Most types of data, such as domain names and
198 addresses, can be used as arguments to
200 without any options, and
202 will choose the correct whois server to query.
203 Some exceptions, where
205 will not be able to handle data correctly, are detailed below.
207 To obtain contact information about an
208 administrator located in the Russian
214 option as shown in the following example, where
216 is substituted with the actual contact identifier.
218 .Dl "whois -c RU CONTACT-ID"
220 (Note: This example is specific to the
225 can be queried by using a similar syntax.)
227 The following example demonstrates how to obtain information about an
229 address or hostname using the
231 option, which directs the query to
234 .Dl "whois -6 IPv6-IP-Address"