# Host (Unix)

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> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Host_(Unix).md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Host_(Unix)
> Source revision: 1353620239
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Unix program for DNS lookups}}
{{Lowercase title}}
{{Infobox Software 
| name                   = host
| logo                   = 
| screenshot             = 
| screenshot size        = 
| caption                = 
| developer              = [Internet Systems Consortium](/source/Internet_Systems_Consortium) (ISC)
| released               = 
| latest release version = 
| latest release date    = 
| operating system       = [Unix](/source/Unix), [Unix-like](/source/Unix-like)
| genre                  = [Command](/source/Command_(computing))
| license                = [Mozilla Public License 2.0](/source/Mozilla_Public_License)
| website                = 
}}
'''host''' is a simple utility for performing [Domain Name System](/source/Domain_Name_System) lookups.

==Origin==
It was developed by the [Internet Systems Consortium](/source/Internet_Systems_Consortium) (ISC), and is released under the [Mozilla Public License 2.0](/source/Mozilla_Public_License).<ref>{{Cite web|title=BIND 9 Adopts the MPL 2.0 License with BIND 9.11.0 - Internet Systems Consortium|url=https://www.isc.org/blogs/bind9-adopts-the-mpl-2-0-license-with-bind-9-11-0/|access-date=2020-07-18|website=www.isc.org|date=27 June 2016 }}</ref>

==Modes==
When applied to a [fully qualified domain name](/source/fully_qualified_domain_name) (FQDN) the host command will return information associated with that name such as its [IP address](/source/IP_address) and mail handling host.  It can also be used to list all members of a [domain](/source/Domain_name).<ref name="Jang-USA"/>  The host command is also able to perform [reverse IP lookups](/source/Reverse_DNS_lookup) to find the FQDN associated with an IP address.<ref name="Herrmann"/>

==Example==
{{sxhl|
$ host example.com
example.com has address 93.184.216.34
example.com has IPv6 address 2606:2800:220:1:248:1893:25c8:1946
example.com mail is handled by 0 .
|console}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}
* [BIND](/source/BIND) name server
* [dig](/source/Dig_(command)), a utility interrogates DNS servers directly for troubleshooting and system administration purposes.
* [nslookup](/source/nslookup), another utility that can be used to obtain similar information
* [Root name server](/source/Root_name_server) - top-level name servers providing top level domain name resolution
* [List of DNS record types](/source/List_of_DNS_record_types) - possible types of records stored and queried within DNS
* [whois](/source/whois)

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="Jang-USA">{{cite book|title=Ubuntu Server Administration|first=Michael|last=Jang|date=2009|isbn=978-0-07-159892-7|publisher=McGraw Hill|page=372}}</ref>
<ref name="Herrmann">{{cite book|title=LPIC–2 Sicher zur erfolgreichen Linux-Zertifizierung|first=Harald|last=Maaẞen|isbn=978-3-8362-2694-3|publisher=Galileo Computing|pages=304–305|date=2014|lang=de}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
* {{cite web|url=https://bind9.readthedocs.io/en/latest/manpages.html#host-dns-lookup-utility|title=host - DNS lookup utility|date=2021|publisher=[Internet Systems Consortium](/source/Internet_Systems_Consortium)}}

{{Unix commands}}

Category:Free network-related software
Category:DNS software
Category:Software using the ISC license

{{network-software-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Host (Unix)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Host_(Unix)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Host_(Unix)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.