NAME

  whois - Internet username directory service

SYNOPSIS

  whois [-h server] name ...

  The whois command looks up user, host, and organization names in the Net-
  work Information Center (NIC) database.

FLAGS

  Specifies a whois server other than the default server rs.internic.net.

DESCRIPTION

  The name argument can specify the following: The name of a registered user
  The name of a registered Internet host The name of some other entity recog-
  nized by the whois server By default, the whois command queries the host
  rs.internic.net.

  The operands specified  to the whois command are concatenated together
  (separated by white-space) and presented to the whois the server.  The
  default action, unless directed otherwise with a special name is  to do a
  very broad search, looking for matches to name in all types of records and
  most fields (such as name, nicknames, host name, and network address) in
  the database.	 For more information as to what name operands have special
  meaning, and how to guide the search, use the special name help.

EXAMPLES

  To display the NIC database entry for the organization osf.org, enter:
  whois osf.org Open Software Foundation (OSF-DOM) 11 Cambridge Center Cam-
  bridge, MAS 02142

  Domain Name:	OSF.ORG .  .  .

RELATED INFORMATION

  DARPA Internet Request for Comment: NICKNAME/WHOIS (RFC 812)