Online nslookup is a web based DNS client that queries DNS records for a given domain name. It allows you to view all the DNS records for a website. It provides the same information as command line tools like dig and nslookup, from the convenience of your web browser.
Nslookup.io does not cache the DNS responses it shows, but the DNS servers that are queried usually do respond with a cached record set. Except for authoritative DNS servers. They never serve cached DNS records.
How does online nslookup work?
Using nslookup online is very simple. Enter a domain name in the search bar above and hit 'enter'. This will take you to an overview of DNS records for the domain name you specified. Behind the scenes, NsLookup.io will query a DNS server for DNS records without caching the results.
You can select from a range of DNS servers on the result page. These include popular public DNS servers, the authoritative DNS server for the given domain, and local DNS servers all around the world. By default, only A, AAAA, CNAME, TXT, NS, MX and SOA records are shown, but you can select additional record types.
Supported DNS record types
DNS has many record types that each serve a distinct purpose. However, some of these record types are no longer in use. Wikipedia has a list of obsolete record types. These obsolete types are not supported by nslookup.io. All the DNS record types that are known to be in active use are supported by nslookup:
- A lookup — IPv4 address
- AAAA lookup — IPv6 address
- AFSDB lookup — AFS database location
- APL lookup — Address prefix list
- AXFR lookup — Authoritative zone transfer
- CAA lookup — Certification authority authorization
- CDNSKEY lookup — Child copy of a DNSKEY
- CDS lookup — Child copy of DS
- CERT lookup — Cryptographic certificate
- CNAME lookup — Canonical name
- CSYNC lookup — Child-to-parent synchronization
- DHCID lookup — DHCP identifier
- DLV lookup — DNSSEC lookaside validation
- DNAME lookup — Delegation name
- DNSKEY lookup — Cryptographic key for DNSSEC
- DS lookup — Delegation signer
- EUI48 lookup — MAC address (EUI-48)
- EUI64 lookup — Mac address (EUI-64)
- HINFO lookup — Host information
- HIP lookup — Host identification protocol
- HTTPS lookup — HTTPS binding
- IPSECKEY lookup — Cryptographic key for IPsec
- IXFR lookup — Incremental zone transfer
- KEY lookup — Cryptographic key for DNSSEC (obsoleted by DNSKEY)
- KX lookup — Key exchange
- LOC lookup — Geographical location
- MX lookup — Mail exchange
- NAPTR lookup — Naming authority pointer
- NS lookup — Name server
- NSEC3 lookup — Next secure (version 3)
- NSEC3PARAM lookup — Parameter for NSEC3
- NSEC lookup — Next secure (obsoleted by NSEC3)
- NXT lookup — DNSSEC key (obsoleted by NSEC)
- OPENPGPKEY lookup — Public key for OpenPGP
- OPT lookup — EDNS option
- PTR lookup — Canonical name pointer
- RP lookup — Responsible person
- RRSIG lookup — Resource record signature for DNSSEC
- SIG lookup — Resource record signature for DNSSEC (obsoleted by RRSIG)
- SMIMEA lookup — S/MIME association
- SOA lookup — Start of authority
- SPF lookup — Sender Policy Framework
- SSHFP lookup — Public key fingerprint for SSH
- SVCB lookup — Service binding
- SRV lookup — Service locator
- TA lookup — Trust authority for DNSSEC
- TKEY lookup — Transaction key
- TLSA lookup — Certificate association for TLS
- TSIG lookup — Transaction signature
- TXT lookup — Human-readable text
- URI lookup — Uniform resource identifier
- ZONEMD lookup — Message digest for DNS zones
Use cases for online DNS lookup
There are many situations where online nslookup can be a useful tool. For example, when you are configuring the DNS records of your own domain, you might want to check whether you have configured them correctly. You can do this by entering the domain name at the top of this page.
Whenever you change DNS records, it takes a while for it to propagate through the entire domain name system. This takes time because DNS servers cache records in order to speed up DNS resolution. So whenever you change DNS records, you can check whether they have propagated yet by doing a DNS lookup.
There are of course more use cases for online nslookup, instead of using a CLI. Those include being able to share the results with a colleague or friend, and the ability to see multiple record types at the same time, without querying multiple times.
