Linux whois Guide

Complete beginner-friendly guide to whois on Linux, covering Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other distributions including domain information, IP lookups, and network queries.

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Table of Contents

1. whois Installation
2. whois Basics
3. Domain Queries
4. IP Queries
5. Troubleshooting

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whois Installation

Install whois

Arch/CachyOS:

# Install whois
sudo pacman -S whois

Debian/Ubuntu:

sudo apt install whois

Fedora:

sudo dnf install whois

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whois Basics

Query Domain

Basic usage:

# Query domain
whois example.com

# Shows domain registration information

IP Address

IP lookup:

# Query IP address
whois 8.8.8.8

# Shows IP address information

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Domain Queries

Domain Information

Registration details:

# Domain information
whois example.com

# Shows:
# - Registrar
# - Registration date
# - Expiration date
# - Name servers
# - Contact information

Specific Server

Use server:

# Use specific whois server
whois -h whois.example.com example.com

# -h = host (specific whois server)

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IP Queries

IP Information

IP details:

# IP address information
whois 8.8.8.8

# Shows:
# - IP range
# - Organization
# - Country
# - Network information

IPv6

IPv6 lookup:

# IPv6 address
whois 2001:4860:4860::8888

# Shows IPv6 information

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Troubleshooting

whois Not Found

Check installation:

# Check whois
which whois

# Install if missing
sudo pacman -S whois

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Summary

This guide covered whois usage, domain information, and IP lookups for Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other distributions.

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Next Steps

• dig Guide - DNS queries
• host Guide - DNS lookups
• Network Utilities - Network tools
• whois Documentation: man whois

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This guide covers Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other Linux distributions. For distribution-specific details, refer to your distribution's documentation.