whois

whois is a super handy, free command-line tool built with Perl that helps you look up domain names and IP addresses right from your Terminal on any GNU/Linux system. It’s open source, so anyone can use it without paying a dime!

History of whois

This software started back in 1999 as an intelligent whois client for Linux. Over the years, it has picked up some cool features. It now supports all sorts of protocol extensions, including RIPE, CRSNIC, and 6bone! Plus, it even handles the IPv6 protocol.

How does it work?

The best part? whois can automatically pick the right whois server for most queries. So whether you're checking on domains or netblocks, it's got you covered with its up-to-date database.

Getting Help with whois

If you're new to wihos, don’t worry! Like many command-line tools, it comes with different options to help you out. Just type whois --help in your terminal emulator app to see everything at once. Most of these options are flags supported by the whois.ripe.net site and other similar servers.

Features of whois

You can do quite a bit with this tool! For instance, you can connect to a specific server or find matches that are one level less or more specific. You can even search for the smallest match containing a mnt-irt attribute or find exact matches.

More Options Available!

If you want to see local copies of domain objects (even if they have referrals), or search through all mirrored databases—wihos lets you do that! You can request templates for certain object types, turn off recursive lookups for contact info, and even search mirrored databases from specific sources.

If you're interested in downloading this awesome software, check out wihos here!