Nslookup screenshots: Troubleshooting DNS problems

By carareynolds August 28, 2006, 3:39 AM PDT

Image
1
of 8

Nslookup screenshots: Troubleshooting DNS problems

Starting nslookup

Nslookup is a DNS lookup and troubleshooting command-line tool included with Windows 2000 and Windows XP. In this The Right Tool for the Job article, Joshua Hoskins explains how to troubleshoot a variety of DNS problems with this extremely useful yet often overlooked tool. View a demonstration of the nslookup tool in this screenshot gallery.

Basic nslookup

This is a basic nslookup command. Enter the command nslookup followed by the domain or site whose IP address you wish to identify.

nslookup interactive mode

To enter the interactive mode of nslookup, type in the nslookup command with no options. While in interactive mode you have many more options available to you. To quit interactive mode, type exit on a line by itself and press enter.

nslookup help

To see the many options for nslookup, view the help display. Remember, you can display the help screen only while in interactive mode.

nslookup use specific dns server

You may choose to use a DNS server other than your primary DNS server. To do this, type nslookup, followed by the name of the domain you wish to query, and then the name or IP address of the DNS server you wish to use.

nslookup change server in interactive mode

While in interactive mode you can change the DNS server you are querying. Simply enter server followed by the name or IP address of the new DNS server you wish to use. This is useful if you want to verify DNS records across servers.

nslookup find name servers

While in interactive mode, you may also use the set type command to display different types of DNS records, such as the DNS servers of a domain. You do this by issuing the set type=ns. After that you will display the name servers of any server you query.

nslookup mx lookup

One common use for nslookup is to query mx (mail exchanger) records. If you are having mail delivery issues to a particular domain, you may wish to view these records to ensure that you are delivering mail to the correct server.

By carareynolds

Cara Reynolds an editor on TechRepublic's content team. She has been working in educational, licensed, and Web publishing for more years than she cares to admit and hosts the Right Tool for the Job blog on TechRepublic.

Account Information

Contact carareynolds

Your message has been sent
|
See all of carareynolds's content

Poor mental health can affect work performance in the form of burnout, absenteeism, turnover, workplace violence and substance abuse. On the other hand, when workers have good mental health, they are better able to cope with the stresses of life, realize their own abilities, learn and work well and contribute actively to their communities. The ...

As worldwide energy needs and concerns about climate change continue to increase, environmentally responsible business practices are critical for the successful future of a company and the markets in which it operates. This IT Data Center Green Energy Policy, from TechRepublic Premium, is intended to meet green standards for IT data center operations, which includes ...

For many businesses, cloud services have become the de facto standard for quickly developing and deploying networks, applications and other technological infrastructures. This quick glossary of common cloud platform terms from TechRepublic Premium will help you get a handle on the vocabulary, so you can understand how these services may affect your business. From the ...