Filed under: Terminal Tips
Terminal Tip: using whois
All you have to do is open Terminal.app (/Applications/Utilities/) and type in "whois" and space followed by a URL. For instance, the following command would give you the whois information for tuaw.com: whois tuaw.com.
You can do this for almost any website; however, some domain names use some form of a hiding service from their registrar that allows them to hide their contact information. Be forewarned that you shouldn't use information like this to stalk people!
Please note that if you have Terminal-itis, or are scared of the Terminal, you can use Apple's Network Utility in Mac OS X to do a whois query. Just open Network Utility.app (in the /Applications/Utilities/) and click the "whois" tab. From there you can enter a URL and do a query, all within a pretty "Aqua-licious" user interface.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Chris Newton said 9:26AM on 3-13-2008
You can also use safari:
http://whois.sc/whatevs.com
It also provides some additional useful information about the site, SEO, etc.
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jus10 said 9:30AM on 3-13-2008
The problem is spammers got to the whois information a long time ago. I know my site has a domain privacy service operating on it and many other people's as well.
I'm somewhat annoyed I have to disable a section of the privacy as I'm going to requesting a registrar change pretty soon.
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Peter Zich said 9:52AM on 3-13-2008
You mean /Applications/Utilities/
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a ham sandwich said 10:10AM on 3-13-2008
wow tuaw! the Chrysler building!
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unruhschuh said 10:32AM on 3-13-2008
Why bother to use the Terminal? Mac OS X comes with the "Network Utility" which has:
* Informations about Network interfaces
* Netstat
* AppleTalk
* ping
* Lookup
* Traceroute
* Whois
* Finger
* Port scan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_Utility
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unruhschuh said 10:33AM on 3-13-2008
oops I should have read the whole article ;)
Bender Bending Rodriguez said 11:56AM on 3-13-2008
That is a good Terminal tip. It's faster than using the great Network Utility.
However, I still find GoDaddy.com to give the more info. Though,i would never use them for anything else.
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Charlie Chambers said 12:07PM on 3-13-2008
All you have to do is open Terminal.app and type in "whois" and space followed by a URL.
..
You can do this for almost any website; ...
N.B.: This method will neither work for URLs nor websites. You can only use domain names.
~user>> whois http://www.tuaw.com
Whois Server Version 2.0
Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net
for detailed information.
No match for "HTTP://WWW.TUAW.COM".
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songdogtech said 12:30PM on 3-13-2008
I use this Applescript to send an IP to dnsstuff.com from the clipboard which returns the whois info in a Safari window (or your default browser):
set front_app to (path to «constant afdregfp» as Unicode text)
set name_ to name of (info for (path to «constant afdregfp»))
tell application front_app
activate
tell application "System Events"
set this_text to (get the clipboard) as string
open location "http://www.dnsstuff.com/tools/whois.ch?ip=" & this_text
end tell
end tell
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sno2 said 3:05PM on 3-13-2008
Does anyone know of a way to search whois/registration info for certain fields? For example, finding all domain registered with a specific zip code or email address or between dates?
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Brian said 12:06PM on 3-14-2008
You can do a whois domain.com | grep -i entersearchfield or awk if you're really fancy...
sno2 said 12:14PM on 3-14-2008
Thanks Brian. Although, what I'd really like is some sort of database information. Meaning, if I enter a search term (such as a zip code 90210), a list of registered domains with the search term would be returned to me. Suggestions? Thanks much.
Not an Asshat said 11:25PM on 3-13-2008
Coming tomorrow! Double-clicking to launch an application that's not in your Dock!
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Luigi193 said 9:05PM on 3-14-2008
Whois from terminal is SO MUCH better then using Network Utility!!! So much faster...
I am new to terminal, but am realllly loving it lately!
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