dig Reference Guide

This document serves as a quick reference for the dig command-line tool, its syntax, and its output. View How to Use dig to learn how to use dig.

Basic syntax and options

The basic syntax for a dig command is:

dig [options] [name] [type]

[name]: The domain name you want to query (e.g., dnsimple.com).
[type]: The record type you want to query (e.g., A, MX, CNAME). If no type is specified, dig queries for A records.
[options]: Flags to modify the query.

Common options:

+short: Returns only the answer, in a concise format.
@server: Specifies a different DNS server to query (e.g., @8.8.8.8 for Google’s public DNS).
+trace: Traces the DNS query from the root name servers down to the authoritative servers.

Common queries

Query for an A record: dig dnsimple.com A
Query for an MX record: dig dnsimple.com MX
Query for a CNAME record: dig www.dnsimple.com CNAME
Query for all records: dig dnsimple.com ANY

The ANY query type

An ANY query is a request to a DNS server for all available records for a given domain name. While it’s a valid DNS query, it has been deprecated in recent RFCs due to its use in DDoS attacks. Because of this, many DNS providers, including DNSimple, limit their functionality for security and performance reasons.

DNSimple’s systems will respond to ANY queries, but the response may be incomplete. For troubleshooting, we recommend using a tool like dig to query for specific record types (e.g., A, MX, CNAME) individually, as this gives you a more precise and reliable response.

Breakdown of a dig response

A standard dig output is divided into several sections:

HEADER: Provides information about the query and response, like the status code. A status of NOERROR indicates a successful query.
QUESTION SECTION: Repeats the query, confirming the domain and record type requested.
ANSWER SECTION: The most important section. This contains the actual DNS records that were found for the query.
AUTHORITY SECTION: Lists the authoritative name servers for the domain.
ADDITIONAL SECTION: Provides other records that may be relevant to the query, like the IP addresses of the authoritative name servers listed in the AUTHORITY section.

Have more questions?

If you have additional questions or need any assistance troubleshooting your DNS, just contact support, and we’ll be happy to help.