How to Verify Internet Domain Registration Information with InterNIC

ID: Q169213

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows NT Workstation versions 3.5, 3.51, 4.0
Microsoft Windows NT Server versions 3.5, 3.51, 4.0

SUMMARY

The InterNIC provides a service to search for information on second-level domains including contact e-mail addresses, postal addresses, and telephone numbers that are registered with the InterNIC. The service is available through the WHOIS search from the InterNIC web site, WHOIS clients, interactive telnet sessions, and e-mail. The InterNIC database provides information about .com, .gov, .net, .edu, and .org domains.

MORE INFORMATION

The WHOIS service is an online database. It has information on sites, networks, networking organizations, domains, and the associated contacts. This is known as the InterNIC database. As applications are processed with domain or IP number by the InterNIC, the names of the administrative and technical contacts for registered domains are entered into the database. The information in the InterNIC database can be valuable in resolving problems between two domains.

For example, WHOIS can help determine who to contact if there is a problem with Domain Name Service (DNS) zone transfers that cannot be resolved. WHOIS can show the DNS Server administrator the name and phone number of the administrator at a destination host.

NOTE: There can be a delay between the time when information is modified on the Internet root servers and when information is modified on the WHOIS server. For this reason, you may wish to direct queries to the root servers themselves via Nslookup or Dig to confirm information obtained via WHOIS.

WHOIS Client

The WHOIS client program accesses the InterNIC database directly and is usually included with UNIX systems. There are also clients available for other platforms including Windows and Windows NT.

If you have shell account access to the Internet that includes the WHOIS client, type the following:

whois domain.com

where domain.com is the name of the Internet domain of the host that you are interested in.

NOTE: The InterNIC registers secondary domain names only. For best results, do not include Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) on the query. FQDNs include the higher level domains associated with an Internet site. Only secondary domain names will return contact information.

Example:

Incorrect: www.microsoft.com
Correct: microsoft.com

Direct Telnet Session

All systems that have access to the Internet must have the ability to use a standard telnet client to connect to the InterNIC to run the WHOIS client from their system. Networks that restrict access to the Internet through use of a firewall will not be able to use this method if TCP port 23 (standard telnet port) access is blocked.

Microsoft Exchange Server administrators may run the Windows NT Telnet client from the computer that is running the IMC. Any telnet client from any host connected to the Internet should work.

In telnet, connect to internic.net. Once connected you can run WHOIS commands as listed in the client instructions given earlier.

World Wide Web

The Web Interface to WHOIS is a searchable database through a web page. To access with any World Wide Web (WWW) client, connect to:

http://rs.internic.net/cgi-bin/whois

Electronic Mail

If you are unable to access the methods above but have access to Internet mail you can send your query to:

mailserv@internic.net

Enter your command in the subject line or as the first line of the body of the message. All other text is ignored. You must prefix your command with the word WHOIS just like the client examples given earlier. Requests through electronic mail are processed automatically once per day.

Other Top Level Domains

The InterNIC provides registration information for .com, .edu, .net, .org, and .gov domains only. However, the WHOIS client works with other top-level domains. Top level domains that do not provide compatibility with WHOIS may provide other tools to research domains.

Other Registries

.US Domain Registry - Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA):

http://www.isi.edu:80/in-notes/usdnr/

.CA Domain - CA*net Canadian IP Address Registry and the Canadian Domain Name Registry:

http://www.canet.ca/canet/index.html

NIC-Mexico - Mexico Registration:

http://www.nic.mx/

RIPE NCC Europe Registration:

http://www.ripe.net/

APNIC (Asia Pacific Network Information Center):

http://www.apnic.net/

Some information above was provided by Network Solutions, Inc., the sponsor of InterNIC registration services. Additional information is available on the InterNIC web page at http://rs.internic.net/ and RFC 1400 - "Transition and Modernization of the Internet Registration Service" (ftp://rs.internic.net/rfc/rfc1400.txt).


Keywords          : kbnetwork nthowto nttcp NTSrvWkst 
Version           : WinNT:3.5,3.51,4.0
Platform          : winnt 
Issue type        : kbinfo

Last Reviewed: February 18, 1999