Name

whois − DARPA Internet user name directory service

Syntax

whois [ −h servername ] name

Description

The whois command allows you to look up people, hosts, and organizations in the database kept by the Network Information Center (NIC) at SRI International. The name can be the last name of a registered user, or the name of a registered Internet host, or other things recognized by the whois server. Not all users, and only a few Internet hosts, are registered with the NIC.  If the name argument contains white space or other special characters, you must surround it with double quote (") marks to prevent its interpretation by the shell. 

The WHOIS server at the NIC will provide more information on doing complex searches if you do

whois "?"

(note the quotes around the question mark), or even more information if you do

whois help

Options

−h servernameSpecifies the whois server on a host other than the default (NIC.DDN.MIL). 

Examples

whois cerf
whois dec.com
whois -h nic.ddn.mil knuth
whois smith

Note that the last example, at least, will match many records (and may take fairly long to complete).  The whois server at the NIC will automatically provide information on how to single out one record. Remember to put quotes around strings that contain ‘!’ characters.

See Also

RFC 812:  Nicname/Whois