dig command syntax to find ttl

The dig command syntax is:

dig type name
dig @ns-name-server-here type name
dig [optipns] @ns-name-server-here type name
dig [options] type name

Examples

In this example, find out ttl for www.cyberciti.biz a record:

dig a www.cyberciti.biz

Sample outputs:

dig a www.cyberciti.biz

; <<>> DiG 9.7.3 <<>> a www.cyberciti.biz
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 34721
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 4, ADDITIONAL: 4

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;www.cyberciti.biz.		IN	A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
www.cyberciti.biz.	30	IN	A	75.126.153.206

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
cyberciti.biz.		161081	IN	NS	ns-1075.awsdns-06.org.
cyberciti.biz.		161081	IN	NS	ns-866.awsdns-44.net.
cyberciti.biz.		161081	IN	NS	ns-243.awsdns-30.com.
cyberciti.biz.		161081	IN	NS	ns-1947.awsdns-51.co.uk.

;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
ns-243.awsdns-30.com.	161081	IN	A	205.251.192.243
ns-866.awsdns-44.net.	161081	IN	A	205.251.195.98
ns-1075.awsdns-06.org.	161081	IN	A	205.251.196.51
ns-1947.awsdns-51.co.uk. 161081	IN	A	205.251.199.155

;; Query time: 201 msec
;; SERVER: 127.0.0.1#53(127.0.0.1)
;; WHEN: Sat May  4 16:18:18 2013
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 255

For www.cyberciti.biz ttl is set to 30 seconds. To just find out ttl, use the following syntax:

dig +nocmd +noall +answer +ttlid type name-here
dig +nocmd +noall +answer +ttlid a www.cyberciti.biz

Sample outputs:

www.cyberciti.biz.	30	IN	A	75.126.153.206

A few more examples:

## Find ttl for IPv6 record  ##
dig +nocmd +noall +answer +ttlid aaaa www.cyberciti.biz
www.cyberciti.biz.	592804	IN	AAAA	2607:f0d0:1002:51::4
 
## Find ttl for mx record ##
dig +nocmd +noall +answer +ttlid mx www.cyberciti.biz
cyberciti.biz.		3555	IN	MX	5 alt2.aspmx.l.google.com.
cyberciti.biz.		3555	IN	MX	10 aspmx2.googlemail.com.
cyberciti.biz.		3555	IN	MX	10 aspmx3.googlemail.com.
cyberciti.biz.		3555	IN	MX	1 aspmx.l.google.com.
cyberciti.biz.		3555	IN	MX	5 alt1.aspmx.l.google.com.

Where,

1. +nocmd – Toggles the printing of the initial comment in the output identifying the version of dig and the query options that have been applied. This comment is printed by default.
2. +noall – Set or clear all display flags.
3. +answer – Display [do not display] the answer section of a reply. The default is to display it.
4. +ttlid – Display [do not display] the TTL when printing the record.

A note about query directly to authoritative name server for ttl

You can skip caching recursive name server and get fresh ttl value using the following syntax:

dig +trace a www.cyberciti.biz
dig +trace +nocmd +noall +answer +ttlid aaaa www.cyberciti.biz

Sample outputs:

host command syntax to find ttl

The host command syntax is:

host -a -t type name

Examples

To see ttl for an IPv6 record for www.cyberciti.biz, enter:
$ host -a -t aaaa www.cyberciti.biz
Sample outputs:

Trying "www.cyberciti.biz"
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 57539
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 4, ADDITIONAL: 4
 
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;www.cyberciti.biz.		IN	AAAA
 
;; ANSWER SECTION:
www.cyberciti.biz.	592445	IN	AAAA	2607:f0d0:1002:51::4
 
;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
cyberciti.biz.		160433	IN	NS	ns-243.awsdns-30.com.
cyberciti.biz.		160433	IN	NS	ns-1075.awsdns-06.org.
cyberciti.biz.		160433	IN	NS	ns-1947.awsdns-51.co.uk.
cyberciti.biz.		160433	IN	NS	ns-866.awsdns-44.net.
 
;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
ns-243.awsdns-30.com.	160433	IN	A	205.251.192.243
ns-866.awsdns-44.net.	160433	IN	A	205.251.195.98
ns-1075.awsdns-06.org.	160433	IN	A	205.251.196.51
ns-1947.awsdns-51.co.uk. 160433	IN	A	205.251.199.155
 
Received 267 bytes from 127.0.0.1#53 in 0 ms

The ttl for www.cyberciti.biz is set to 592445. A few more examples:

## Show an IPv4 a record ##
host -a -t a www.cyberciti.biz
 
## Show max record ##
host  -a -t mx cyberciti.biz
 
## Show cname record
host -a -t cname s0.cyberciti.org
host  -a -t cname s13.cyberciti.org

See also

• Linux / UNIX: DNS Lookup Command