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DNS troubleshooting

dig Command Cheat Sheet

Quick DNS lookup examples for checking A, AAAA, MX, TXT, NS, CNAME, SOA and reverse DNS records from the Linux command line.

Quick lookups

Basic lookup

dig example.com

A record only

dig example.com A

Short answer

dig example.com A +short

Answer section only

dig example.com A +noall +answer

Record types

Task	Command
IPv4 address	`dig example.com A`
IPv6 address	`dig example.com AAAA`
Mail records	`dig example.com MX`
TXT records	`dig example.com TXT`
Nameservers	`dig example.com NS`
CNAME	`dig www.example.com CNAME`
SOA	`dig example.com SOA`

Query specific resolvers

Cloudflare

dig @1.1.1.1 example.com A +short

Google

dig @8.8.8.8 example.com A +short

Quad9

dig @9.9.9.9 example.com A +short

Authoritative server

dig @ns1.example.com example.com A

Output options

Option	Meaning	Example
`+short`	Short output	`dig example.com A +short`
`+noall +answer`	Only answer section	`dig example.com MX +noall +answer`
`+trace`	Trace delegation path	`dig +trace example.com`
`+nocmd`	Hide command header	`dig example.com A +nocmd`
`+stats`	Show query stats	`dig example.com A +stats`

Reverse DNS

PTR lookup

dig -x 8.8.8.8

Short PTR result

dig -x 8.8.8.8 +short

DNS troubleshooting examples

Check email routing

dig example.com MX +noall +answer

Check SPF

dig example.com TXT +short

Compare resolvers

dig @1.1.1.1 example.com A +short
dig @8.8.8.8 example.com A +short

Trace DNS delegation

dig +trace example.com

Use the dig Command Builder if you want to generate these commands without remembering every option.

DNS workflows

dig workflows for DNS troubleshooting

A record

dig example.com A +short

MX records

dig example.com MX +short

TXT records

dig example.com TXT +short

Compare resolver

dig @1.1.1.1 example.com A +short

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

What does dig +short do?

It prints a compact answer without the full DNS response detail.

How do I check MX records?

Use dig example.com MX +short.

How do I query a specific resolver?

Put the resolver first, for example dig @1.1.1.1 example.com A.

How do I check reverse DNS?

Use dig -x IP_ADDRESS.