Useful macOS network terminal commands – Whois

In this video we take a look at a macOS terminal command, that will allow us to query who has registered an internet resource. These resources are typically items such as domain names or IP addresses. So you might use Whois to see if a domain name is available for you to purchase.

Note: One of the criticism of Whois, is that because data can be redacted a query will often provide very little information regarding who has registered a domain or IP address.

Quick reference notes:

  • From your macOS desktop, select Spotlight Search.
  • Within Spotlight Search type Terminal and press Enter on your keyboard
  • To perform a whois query, at the command prompt type.
whois [domain name or ipaddress]
  • 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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