dig

Basic Queries

Simple Query

dig [domain]

Short Answer

dig [domain] +short

Query Specific Nameserver

dig @[nameserver] [domain]

Record Types

A Record (IPv4)

dig [domain] A

AAAA Record (IPv6)

dig [domain] AAAA

MX Record (Mail Exchanger)

dig [domain] MX

NS Record (Name Server)

dig [domain] NS

CNAME Record (Canonical Name)

dig [domain] CNAME

TXT Record

dig [domain] TXT

SOA Record (Start of Authority)

dig [domain] SOA

PTR Record (Reverse DNS)

dig -x 8.8.8.8

ANY (All Records)

dig [domain] ANY

Query Options

Show Only Answer

dig [domain] +noall +answer

Show Query Statistics

dig [domain] +stats

Trace DNS Path

dig [domain] +trace

Short Format

dig [domain] +short

No Comments

dig [domain] +nocomments

No Statistics

dig [domain] +nostats

TCP Instead of UDP

dig [domain] +tcp

Advanced Options

Set Timeout

dig [domain] +time=5

Set Retry Attempts

dig [domain] +tries=3

Query Port

dig @[nameserver] -p 5353 [domain]

Disable Recursion

dig [domain] +norecurse

Enable DNSSEC

dig [domain] +dnssec

Multiple Queries

Query Multiple Domains

dig [domain] google.com yahoo.com

Query Multiple Record Types

dig [domain] A MX NS

Reverse DNS Lookup

IPv4 Reverse Lookup

dig -x 8.8.8.8

IPv6 Reverse Lookup

dig -x 2001:4860:4860::8888

Common Use Cases

Check Mail Server

dig [domain] MX +short

Verify DNS Propagation

dig @8.8.8.8 [domain]
dig @1.1.1.1 [domain]

Find Authoritative Nameserver

dig [domain] NS +short

Get All DNS Records

dig [domain] ANY +noall +answer

Check SPF Record

dig [domain] TXT | grep spf

Check DMARC Record

dig _dmarc.[domain] TXT +short

Trace DNS Resolution Path

dig [domain] +trace

Output Format Options

Minimal Output

dig [domain] +noall +answer +nocomments

JSON Format (with jq)

dig [domain] +json | jq

Only IP Addresses

dig [domain] A +short

Batch Queries

Query from File

dig -f domains.txt

Query Multiple Nameservers

for ns in 8.8.8.8 1.1.1.1; do
  echo "--- $ns ---"
  dig @$ns [domain] +short
done

Common Nameservers

Comparison with nslookup

Query a domain with dig.

dig [domain] +short

Query the same domain with nslookup.

nslookup [domain]

dig provides more detailed and flexible output than nslookup.