whois, fwhois - query a whois or nicname database


SYNOPSIS

       whois [-v] [-r|-n] [-h server] [-p port] [-t timeout] [--]
       query[@server[:port]]


DESCRIPTION

       whois formats and sends queries to any RFC954 whois server
       and prints the results to standard output.


OPTIONS

       -h server
              The  name  of the server to query.  If no server is
              specified, the environment variables  NICNAMESERVER
              and  WHOISSERVER  are checked for server names, and
              if neither is set, whois.crsnic.net is queried.

       -p port
              Change the port the whois client connects to.   The
              default  is  whois  but any valid service name will
              do.  If you get bored you can try using finger  and
              see what happens.

       -t     Set  a  time  limit for each query, after which the
              client will exit rather than wait.  The time  limit
              includes  every  part  of the query, including name
              resolution.

       -r     Force recursion.  If the first server response con­
              tains a line similar to

              Whois Server: hostname

              whois  will  retry  the same query with hostname as
              the server.  This is the default when  the  default
              server is being queried.

       -n     Disable  recursion,  even  if the default server is
              being queried.

       -v     Be verbose in the query.  This causes the client to
              print  the  query string it will send to the server
              before sending it.

       --     Don't interpret subsequent -p, -h, -r, or -v  flags
              given as arguments.


BUGS

       None known, but it's a simple enough protocol that I don't
       think there are going to be any problems.


AUTHOR

       Nalin Dahyabhai <nalin@redhat.com>


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