- How to Install and use WHOIS on Ubuntu 22.04 or 20.04
- Whois tool Installation on Ubuntu Linux
- 1. Open Terminal
- 2. Start with the Ubuntu APT update
- 3. Install WHOIS on Ubuntu 22.04 or 20.04
- 4. WHOIS commands on Ubuntu Linux
- 5. Command to Uninstall WHOIS from Ubuntu
- Leave a Comment Cancel reply
- Install Whois Ubuntu
- Installing whois on Ubuntu
- How Does the whois Command Work?
- Use of whois Command with Domain Name
- Use of whois Command with IP Address
- Conclusion
- About the author
- Karim Buzdar
- How To Install whois on Ubuntu 22.04
- One-liner install command
- What is whois and what are the ways to install it?
- Install whois using apt-get
- Install whois using apt
- Install whois using aptitude
- How to upgrade (update) a single package whois using apt-get?
- How To Uninstall whois from Ubuntu 22.04
- Uninstall whois and all its dependencies
- Remove whois with all configurations and data
- Remove whois completely (configurations, data and all of its dependencies)
- Extra info and code examples
- Conclusion
How to Install and use WHOIS on Ubuntu 22.04 or 20.04
To get some information about the existing domain name, you might have used some online WHOIS lookup tool. However, if you are a Ubuntu user then you can use your Command terminal to get information about Domain names or public IP addresses by installing the WHOIS protocol.
WHOIS is an easy-to-use protocol for querying databases that store registered users or assignees of an Internet resource. It’s a reliable way to access a range of information, from domain names to IP addresses.
The information WHOIS reveals the domain name’s creation and expiration dates, the registrar who manages the registration, and the contact information of the registrant, administrative contact, and technical contact. This information can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as verifying the authenticity of a website or identifying potential trademark infringement.
However, using WHOIS tools is not going to provide the information of every domain, but only the ones that are not using privacy protection. Actually, most domain registrars offer additional service that protects the information related to a domain such as a contact information of the registrant. So, if any domain user uses a privacy feature then instead of his details, the WHOIS lookup tool will display the registrar’s contact information instead.
WHOIS has been around since the early days of the internet and is still widely used today. However, there are ongoing debates about the privacy implications of publicly listing domain name registrant information. Some argue that it can be used for nefarious purposes, such as identity theft or harassment. Others argue that it’s necessary for transparency and accountability in the online world.
In any case, if you’re curious about the owner or contact information of a particular website or domain name, WHOIS is a valuable tool to have in your arsenal. Just be mindful of the potential privacy concerns and use the information responsibly.
Whois tool Installation on Ubuntu Linux
This tutorial is not just limited to Ubuntu 22.04 or 20.04, instead, the older versions and Linux based on Debian such as Linux Mint including POP OS, and MX Linux can use the commands given here.
1. Open Terminal
Go to your command terminal on Ubuntu 22.04 or 20.04 Linux, to open it you can use the keyboard shortcut i.e Ctrl+Alt+T.
2. Start with the Ubuntu APT update
WHOIS tool and its required dependencies are available to download and install using the base repository of Ubuntu and its Package manager APT. Therefore, first, run the system update command to install the available security updates. And also to rebuild the APT package cache.
3. Install WHOIS on Ubuntu 22.04 or 20.04
Now, finally use the APT and install the WHOIS lookup tool on your respective Ubuntu Linux distro. You don’t need to add any third-party repository to get this tool.
4. WHOIS commands on Ubuntu Linux
WHOIS is a command-line utility, hence unlike the web-based tool, here we use our Linux command terminal to retrieve the information related to the domain names, IP addresses, and other network-related.
Some basic WHOIS commands that you can use in the terminal:
For example:
- To use WHOIS for getting information about an IP address, use the following syntax:
For example:
- It is just not limited to standard domain or IP address, even we can extract the information of some specific WHOIS server set up by an ICANN, for that use the following syntax:
whois -h whois.server.com domainname
For example:
whois -h whois.verisign-grs.com google.com
- To fetch the information about a domain name from a specific registrar, use the following syntax:
whois -h whois.registrar.com domainname
For example:
whois -h whois.markmonitor.com google.com
- For having the details related to the top-level domain (TLD), use the following syntax:
whois -h whois.iana.org tldname
For example:
5. Command to Uninstall WHOIS from Ubuntu
So, far we have seen the common commands to use with WHOIS on Linux terminal, however, if you don’t need this tool anymore, then here is the command to remove WHOIS from Ubuntu.
These were some basic WHOIS commands to install and use this protocol via a Linux terminal. However, one thing needs to be noted some WHOIS servers may have different syntax or require authentication to access certain information.
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Install Whois Ubuntu
In Linux, the whois is a command-line tool or a system that lists records and contains information about both the domain’s owner and ownership. Using the whois command, anyone can search for domain records. The company ICANN (Internet Corporation for Names and Numbers) controls the registration of domain names and ownership. However, a number of companies known as ‘Registries’ keeps the list of records. Therefore, if you request a list of records, the registry will handle your request and send you the information according to the appropriate whois record.
The whois command contains the contact information of the domain’s owner, the company that registered the domain name, the domain registration date, last modified details, and expiration details. We can make all these domain requests via the web but, in the Linux system, the whois command is available that performs the information lookups through the command line.
This article will demonstrate to you how to install and use the whois command on Ubuntu / Debian distribution. Here, we will execute all commands on Ubuntu 20.04 distribution.
Installing whois on Ubuntu
The ‘whois’ command is already installed in all the latest Ubuntu distributions. However, if you do not have an installation of ‘whois’ on your system due to any reason, you can easily install whois on your Ubuntu system. Update the package apt repository using this command:
Now, install whois by using this command:
Display the installed version of whois command using this command:
How Does the whois Command Work?
We can use the ‘whois’ command in the Linux system in different ways. For example, we can use the whois command with the domain names, IP (Internet Protocol) addresses, and in a Bash script. Let’s explore the use of the ‘whois’ command with the help of some examples:
Use of whois Command with Domain Name
As we mentioned earlier, we can use the domain name with the `whois’ command. For example, we want to retrieve the information about the domain name ‘google.com’. To do this, use the following command:
The above command displays some set of information about the domain name ‘google.com’. The output you received from the ‘whois’ registry displays the summary and extra information about the specified domain.
Here, the ‘domain status’ represent the domain state and it can be in different states at the same time. Few states are rarely seen whereas others are restricted to a specific scenario. The commonly attached domain states to the registration are given below:
clientTransferProhibited: The domain’s registry rejects the transfer of the specified domain from the current registrar to others.
serverDeleteProhibited: The domain can’t be removed or deleted.
serverTransferProhibited: The domain can’t be shifted to other registrars.
serverUpdateProhibited: The domain can’t be modified. “!DNSSEC” is known as Domain Name System Security Extensions. It allows the DNS name resolver to check that the received data from the DNS zone is correct and hasn’t been changed. In other words, whois gives us more or less information as a summary about a domain name.
Use of whois Command with IP Address
When we use the whois command with a specific IP address, it shows the information related to the company or organization that owns the IP address.
The output of the ‘Ref:’ line keeps all information in JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) format. Moreover, it shows the contact information that enables you to report your problem regarding abuse and traffic routing. Network operation, etc. To explore more about the whois command options and usage, visit the man page:
Conclusion
We explored in this article how to install the whois command in the Ubuntu distribution. The whois command is helpful for searching the contact information for domains and IP addresses in case of a networking problem.
About the author
Karim Buzdar
Karim Buzdar holds a degree in telecommunication engineering and holds several sysadmin certifications. As an IT engineer and technical author, he writes for various web sites. He blogs at LinuxWays.
How To Install whois on Ubuntu 22.04
In this guide, we’ll discuss How To Install whois on Ubuntu 22.04. Also, we will demonstrate how to uninstall and update whois .
One-liner install command
For those in a hurry, here’s a one-line installation command:
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt -y install whois
But if you are interested in the detailed steps with descriptions, the following information is for you.
What is whois and what are the ways to install it?
Short description: intelligent WHOIS client
Before beginning this tutorial, you will need access to a server or computer running Ubuntu 22.04. This guide was written specifically with a server running Ubuntu 22.04 in mind, although it should also work on older, supported versions of the operating system.
Also, make sure you are running a regular, non-root user with sudo privileges configured on your server. When you have an account available, log in as your non-root user to begin.
There are several ways to install whois on Ubuntu 22.04. You can use (links are clickable):
In the following sections, we will describe each method in detail. You can choose one of them or refer to the recommended one.
Install whois using apt-get
First, update apt database with apt-get using the following command.
After updating apt-get database, You can install whois using apt by running the following command:
Install whois using apt
Because whois is available in Ubuntu 22.04’s default repositories, it is possible to install it from these repositories using the apt packaging system.
To begin, update apt database with apt using the following command.
After updating apt database, You can install whois using apt by running the following command:
Install whois using aptitude
If you want to follow this method, you might need to install aptitude first since aptitude is usually not installed by default on Ubuntu 22.04. Update apt database with aptitude using the following command.
After updating aptitude database, You can install whois by running the following command:
sudo aptitude -y install whois
How to upgrade (update) a single package whois using apt-get?
First, you will need to update packages index. Run update command as usual:
Next, to upgrade only the whois, e.g. single package, you should use the following format with the apt-get command/apt command:
sudo apt-get --only-upgrade install whois
Note that this command will not install any new packages! If you wish to install the package if it doesn’t exist you may leave out —only-upgrade part.
It’s Good to Know:
sudo apt-get install whois
This will upgrade the package even if is already installed.
How To Uninstall whois from Ubuntu 22.04
To uninstall only the whois package you can execute the following command:
Uninstall whois and all its dependencies
To uninstall whois and its dependencies that are no longer needed by Ubuntu 22.04, you can use the command below:
sudo apt-get -y autoremove whois
Remove whois with all configurations and data
To remove whois configuration and data from your system you can run the following purge command:
sudo apt-get -y purge whois
Remove whois completely (configurations, data and all of its dependencies)
And lastly, you can run the next command to remove absolutely everything related to whois package, e.g.: configurations, data and all of its dependencies. Just use this command:
sudo apt-get -y autoremove --purge whois
Extra info and code examples
This package provides a commandline client for the WHOIS (RFC 3912) protocol, which queries online servers for information such as contact details for domains and IP address assignments. It can intelligently select the appropriate WHOIS server for most queries. The package also contains mkpasswd, a features-rich front end to the password encryption function crypt(3).
- Maintainer: Marco d’Itri
- Sources url: unknown
- Section/Category: unknown
Conclusion
You now have a full guide on how to install whois using apt, apt-get and aptitude tools. Also, we showed how to update as a single package and different ways to uninstall the whois from Ubuntu 22.04.