Linux and Unix host Command Examples

The host command is a utility that performs DNS lookups. It can be used to resolve domain names to IP addresses or vice versa, or to perform other types of DNS queries.

Here are some examples of how you can use the host command:

• To resolve a domain name to an IP address:

host www.example.com

This will return the IP address of the domain www.example.com.

• To resolve an IP address to a domain name:

host 8.8.8.8

This will return the domain name associated with the IP address 8.8.8.8.

• To find the mail exchange (MX) records for a domain:

host -t MX example.com

This will return the MX records for the domain example.com, which specify the servers responsible for handling email for that domain.

• To perform a reverse DNS lookup:

host 8.8.8.8

This will return the domain name associated with the IP address 8.8.8.8.

• To query a specific DNS server:

host -t A www.example.com 8.8.8.8

This will query the DNS server at 8.8.8.8 for the A record (IP address) of www.example.com.

For more information about the host command and its available options, you can consult the host man page or use the host --help command.