How to fetch the nameservers of a domain?

To get the nameservers of a domain, you can use the nslookup or dig command-line tools. Both are available on most Unix-like operating systems, including Linux and macOS. On Windows, nslookup is available by default.

Using nslookup

nslookup -type=ns example.com

Using dig

dig ns example.com

Using host

host -t ns example.com

Explanation

• nslookup -type=ns example.com: This command uses nslookup to query the DNS records for the specified domain (example.com) and returns the nameserver (NS) records.

• dig ns example.com: This command uses dig to perform a DNS lookup for the nameserver records of the specified domain.

• host -t ns example.com: This command uses host to query the nameserver records for the specified domain.

Example Output

Here’s an example output using dig:

; <<>> DiG 9.10.6 <<>> ns example.com
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 18303
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 4, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;example.com.			IN	NS

;; ANSWER SECTION:
example.com.		86400	IN	NS	ns1.example.com.
example.com.		86400	IN	NS	ns2.example.com.
example.com.		86400	IN	NS	ns3.example.com.
example.com.		86400	IN	NS	ns4.example.com.

;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
ns1.example.com.	172800	IN	A	192.0.2.1

;; Query time: 38 msec
;; SERVER: 8.8.8.8#53(8.8.8.8)
;; WHEN: Thu Jul 18 14:55:15 EDT 2024
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 118

This output shows the nameservers (ns1.example.com, ns2.example.com, etc.) for the domain example.com.