In this video, we take a look at a macOS terminal command that will allow us to query forward and reverse lookups on a local DNS server. This command can be particularly handy when testing a DNS server that you have installed onto your local network.
Note: As Network Utility was deprecated in macOS 11, we recommend that you use this command when testing the configuration of a DNS server on a Synology NAS.
Quick reference notes:
- From your macOS desktop, select Spotlight Search.
- Within Spotlight Search type Terminal and press Enter on your keyboard
- To perform a forward lookup on a local DNS server, at the command prompt type.
host [hostname.example.com]- When you press Enter on the keyboard you should be presented with the IP address associated with that domain name.
- To perform a reverse lookup on a local DNS Server, at the command prompt type.
host [IP address]- When you press Enter on the keyboard, you should be presented with the domain name associated with that IP address
- To gracefully close your current Terminal session type:
exit- When you press Enter on your keyboard the Terminal session will end and you can close the Terminal application.
Reference Material:
Wikipedia article – Terminal (macOS)
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