host

Updated

July 31, 2026

Overview

host is a simple DNS lookup utility. Faster to type than dig for everyday A/AAAA/MX checks; use dig when you need full message sections or uncommon record types.

Syntax

host [options] name [server]
host [options] IP

Common Options

Option	Description
`-t type`	Record type (`A`, `AAAA`, `MX`, `TXT`, `NS`, `CNAME`, `SOA`, …)
`-a`	All records (ANY — often blocked)
`-v`	Verbose
`-W secs`	Wait
`-R n`	Retries
`-C`	SOA for zone check style queries

Examples with Explanations

host example.com
host -t MX example.com
host -t TXT example.com
host -t AAAA example.com
host 1.1.1.1
host example.com 8.8.8.8
host -v example.com

Script snippet

if host -W 2 example.com >/dev/null; then echo ok; fi