Common Tools

There are three primary tools used to interact with DNS servers at a command line

dig

this is a very full featured tool which can be found on any Linux system.

host

this is the simplest tool to use which presents clear, easy to understand results.

nslookup

although available on most systems, it can be a bit tricky to use and generally considered deprecated.

In their simplest form, each can be used by entering the command followed by a host or domain name to look up.

e.g. 'host example.com'

See the individual Linux man pages for usage details (e.g. 'man dig').