whois(1)whois(1)NAMEwhois - Internet username directory service
SYNOPSISwhois [-h server] name...
The whois command looks up user, host, and organization names in the
Network Information Center (NIC) database.
OPTIONS
Specifies a whois server other than the default server rs.internic.net.
DESCRIPTION
The name argument can specify the following: The name of a registered
user The name of a registered Internet host The name of some other
entity recognized by the whois server By default, the whois command
queries the host rs.internic.net.
The operands specified to the whois command are concatenated together
(separated by white-space) and presented to the whois the server. The
default action, unless directed otherwise with a special name is to do
a very broad search, looking for matches to name in all types of
records and most fields (such as name, nicknames, host name, and net‐
work address) in the database. For more information as to what name
operands have special meaning, and how to guide the search, use the
special name help.
EXAMPLES
To display the NIC database entry for the organization osf.org, enter:
whois osf.org Open Software Foundation (OSF-DOM) 11 Cambridge Center
Cambridge, MAS 02142
Domain Name: OSF.ORG . . .
SEE ALSO
DARPA Internet Request for Comment: NICKNAME/WHOIS (RFC 812)
whois(1)
