Seminar 10: Exploration of the Hierarchy of DNS Servers Using DIG Tool
Objective:
- Exploration of the DIG tool functionality for DNS server query.
- Looking up different information for various domain names.
Approaches and available tools:
Querying the DNS name server can be approached in two ways:
- Using online DNS lookup tool. For instance Dig web interface, nslookup
- Using command-line/terminal with(out) supporting solution. For instance BIND
Description:
The dig command, which stands for Domain Information Groper, is a versatile tool that allows you to query DNS name servers and retrieve the responses they provide. By performing DNS lookups, it provides information about the queried domain name and displays the corresponding results received from the queried name server(s).
Installation of DIG:
To install DIG tool on a Windows computer, follow the steps below:
- Download BIND stable version 9.16 using this link
- Extract the BIND folder from the and check the box tools only
- Check out the installation guide using this link: https://help.dyn.com/how-to-use-binds-dig-tool/
Linux/Mac users can access the DIG tool directly from the terminal.
Usage
- The DIG can be invoked from the command-line/terminal using the command:
- server - name or IP address of the name server to be queried.
- name: name of the resource record that is to be looked up
- type: indicates what type of query is required - ANY, A, MX, SIG, etc. type can be any valid query type. If no type argument is supplied, dig will perform lookup for an A record. Check here for other available record types.
See the screenshot of the result returned for the "dig cs.ut.ee AAAA"
EXERCISE:
Use the DIG tool to explore the hierarchy of DNS servers for the following entities (minimum of two domains for each):
- Educational institution (domain names with .edu)
- Credentialed professionals (domain names with .pro)
- Non-commercial organisation (domain names with .org)
EXERCISE DELIVERABLE:
The expected deliverable for the exercise is a PDF file containing the query and the screenshot of the result of the query.
References: