The dig command is a powerful DNS lookup utility that helps you query DNS servers and troubleshoot DNS-related issues.

Basic Usage

Here are some common ways to use the dig command:

# Basic DNS lookup
dig example.com

# Query specific record type
dig example.com MX

# Query specific DNS server
dig @8.8.8.8 example.com

# Short answer only
dig example.com +short
        

Useful Options

Some helpful dig command options:

• +short - Display brief output
• +nocomments - Remove comment lines
• +nocmd - Remove command line from output
• +nostat - Remove statistics

Common Record Types

• A - IPv4 addresses
• AAAA - IPv6 addresses
• MX - Mail servers
• NS - Nameservers
• TXT - Text records
• CNAME - Canonical names

References

• dig man page
• DNS Explained by Cloudflare