LINUX COMMANDS

whois[options] query[@server[:port]]
jwhois [options] query[@server[:port]]

Search a whois database for a domain name, IP address, or NIC name. The information returned varies, but usually contains administrative and technical contacts so that you can find a person to handle problems at that domain. By default, the command
returns information on .com, .net, and .edu domains, but other hosts can be queried for other domains using host or the -h option.

Linux Commad Options:
-- Indicate the end of whois options. A subsequent string that begins with a hyphen on the command line is taken as a query string.
-a, --raw
Do not rewrite query according to configuration before sending to server.
-c file, --config=file
Specify a configuration file to use instead of the default /etc/jwhois.conf.
-d, --disable-cache
Disable reading and writing to the cache.
-f, --force-lookup
Force the lookup query to go to the host, even if it is available from the cache.
-h host, --host=host
Query the whois server on the specified host. Same as host on the command line. By default, queries the server in the environment
variable NICNAMESERVER or WHOISSERVER if either is set; otherwise queries whois.internic.net.
--help
Print help message and exit.
-i, --display-redirections
Display every step in a redirection. The default is to display only the last step.

-n, --no-redirect
Disable redirection from one server to the next.
-p port, --port=port
Connect to the specified port. Same as port on the command line. Default is 43.
-r, --rwhois
Force use of the rwhois protocol, instead of HTTP or whois.
--rwhois-display=display
Request receiving rwhois servers to display the results in the specified display instead of the default.
--rwhois-limit=limit
Request receiving rwhois servers to limit the number of matches to the specified limit.
-s, --no-whoisservers
Disable built-in support for whois-servers.net.
-v Verbose. Print debugging information while running. Specify
-vv to increase verbosity.
--version
Print version information and exit.

Examples:

whois linux.com         Lookup whois info for hostname or ip address