.TH WHOIS 1
.SH NAME
whois \- query whois databases
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B whois
[
.B -a
.I server
]
[
.B -n
]
.I host
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I Whois
queries whois servers to find owner information for domain names and
network addresses.  By default, it looks for referrals to other whois
database servers and queries the next server in the chain if it finds
one.

.TP
.B -a
Specify a different server to start the query.  (Default:
.I tcp!whois.iana.org!43
)
.TP
.B -n
Do not attempt to follow referrals.
.SH EXAMPLE
To query for the owner of a domain and then an IP address, using a
specific server while ignoring referrals to other servers:
.IP
.EX
whois inferno-os.org
whois -a whois.ripe.net -n 148.251.6.120
.EE
.SH SOURCE
.B /appl/cmd/whois.b
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.IR RFC3912