Install dig on Ubuntu, Debian or Kali Linux

install dig
Help options for dig


Dig is a DNS lookup utility.  It is included in most Linux distributions by default, but if it isn’t you can easily install dig with the following command.

The dig utility is apart of the dnsutils package

sudo apt-get install dnsutils -y

After it is installed, we can verify that it is working with

dig -v

For more information on how to use dig, refer to the following link.

https://www.howtogeek.com/663056/how-to-use-the-dig-command-on-linux/

The following is copied and pasted from the dig man page.

NAME
       dig - DNS lookup utility

SYNOPSIS
       dig [@server] [-b address] [-c class] [-f filename] [-k filename] [-m] [-p port#] [-q name]
           [-t type] [-v] [-x addr] [-y [hmac:]name:key] [[-4] | [-6]] [name] [type] [class]
           [queryopt...]

       dig [-h]

       dig [global-queryopt...] [query...]

DESCRIPTION
       dig is a flexible tool for interrogating DNS name servers. It performs DNS lookups and
       displays the answers that are returned from the name server(s) that were queried. Most DNS
       administrators use dig to troubleshoot DNS problems because of its flexibility, ease of use
       and clarity of output. Other lookup tools tend to have less functionality than dig.

       Although dig is normally used with command-line arguments, it also has a batch mode of
       operation for reading lookup requests from a file. A brief summary of its command-line
       arguments and options is printed when the -h option is given. Unlike earlier versions, the
       BIND 9 implementation of dig allows multiple lookups to be issued from the command line.

       Unless it is told to query a specific name server, dig will try each of the servers listed
       in /etc/resolv.conf. If no usable server addresses are found, dig will send the query to the
       local host.

       When no command line arguments or options are given, dig will perform an NS query for "."
       (the root).

       It is possible to set per-user defaults for dig via ${HOME}/.digrc. This file is read and
       any options in it are applied before the command line arguments. The -r option disables this
       feature, for scripts that need predictable behaviour.

       The IN and CH class names overlap with the IN and CH top level domain names. Either use the
       -t and -c options to specify the type and class, use the -q the specify the domain name, or
       use "IN." and "CH." when looking up these top level domains.

SIMPLE USAGE
       A typical invocation of dig looks like:

            dig @server name type

       where:

       server
           is the name or IP address of the name server to query. This can be an IPv4 address in
           dotted-decimal notation or an IPv6 address in colon-delimited notation. When the
           supplied server argument is a hostname, dig resolves that name before querying that name
           server.

           If no server argument is provided, dig consults /etc/resolv.conf; if an address is found
           there, it queries the name server at that address. If either of the -4 or -6 options are
           in use, then only addresses for the corresponding transport will be tried. If no usable
           addresses are found, dig will send the query to the local host. The reply from the name
           server that responds is displayed.

       name
           is the name of the resource record that is to be looked up.

       type
           indicates what type of query is required — ANY, A, MX, SIG, etc.  type can be any valid
           query type. If no type argument is supplied, dig will perform a lookup for an A record.