Tag Archives: dns

Installing DIG on a Windows Machine

First up…a quick apology. Back on April 10th, I posted Verifying Proper Email Routing – MX Records. At the end of the post I mentioned I would talk about the trailing dot shown in the DNS records in my next post. Well, I basically forgot. Life just got too busy.

But before I do that, you really need to get DIG installed on your Windows PC (if you have Linux then you should already have DIG). So today, lets get DIG installed and tested…this is a great tool to have, and you will be surprised at how often you will use it.

The package we are going to install is BIND (Berkeley Internet Name Domain) from ISC (Internet Systems Consortium). ISC has been around for years, and most DNS servers on the Internet run BIND (whether Windows or Linux/UNIX based). Do the following…

  • Go to https://www.isc.org/downloads/bind
  • There is a lot of good info on this page concerning BIND and DNS…I would recommend reading this when you have a chance.
  • Click on Download BIND button
  • Expand the BIND menu
  • Click on the Download button to the right of the GREEN “Current-Stable” status
  • In the window that pops open, choose the correct version for your system…(click the appropriate blue box)
  • Next, create a directory in your C: drive called “bind”, move the BIND ZIP file to that directory, then double-click on the ZIP file. Extract all of the files in the \bind directory.

Now, lets test. Open up a command prompt and change to the BIND directory, then type in “dig” and press enter.  You should see something like this…(this example is showing DIG returning a list of the ROOT servers on the Internet)…

Running DIG at the command prompt

Running DIG at the command prompt

If it doesn’t work, there are a couple of common errors which are easily fixed…

32 bit installation error:  You may get an error stating “The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect”.  If that’s the case, run the file “vcredist_x86.exe” which is located in the same “bind” directory. Then try running “dig” again…it should work.

64 bit installation error:  If you get the error message stating that MSVCR110.DLL is missing, then do a search on the C: drive for that file, and copy it to the “bind” directory. Running “dig” should now work.

Now you can play with DIG…some examples…

Some DIG examples

Some DIG examples

DIG is very powerful, and will quickly become your go-to tool when you have any DNS issues. I will talk more about using DIG in a future post.

Using Whois to Find Domain Ownership

Over the last several days, there has been a bit of a media skirmish concerning a report from the Global Energy Balance Network, a non-profit science group dedicated to preventative education to reduce obesity. A recent report of theirs stated that lack of exercise is primarily responsible for the dramatic upswing in the obesity rate here in the US, and not necessarily what we eat (such as sugary drinks). All well and good, and I would tend to agree with them…we have become a nation that sits on it’s butt.

However, news then surfaced that the report was funded in part by Coca-Cola Company. Hmmmm…that could tend to tarnish the report a bit. I heard that the domain name for Global Energy Balance Network (gebn.org) was registered to Coca-Cola. So last night (Tuesday 8/11), before I went to bed, I did a “whois” lookup on my Linux system, and sure enough…the domain was registered to Coca-Cola. Very interesting.

So, at work today (Wednesday 8/12) I ran another whois so i could screen capture it and put it in my blog as an example. Well guess what…the registration had changed. I was surprised. Here is what I found today…

Current WHOIS for GEBN.ORG

Current WHOIS for GEBN.ORG

As you can see, registration was updated this morning around 14:52 UTC (around 10:52 AM EDT). So, why the University of South Carolina? I’m guessing there is a relationship between the non-profit and the University…which is fairly common these days. Also, if you go to the website and check out the “About” page, there is a disclaimer stating that part of their funding is from the Coca-Cola Company…so they are not trying to hide anything.

Now, I’m just pointing this out as an example of domain name registration and some of the gotcha’s to be aware of…and for the use of the “whois” command, which is part of Linux.

Disclaimer:  Yep, I guess I need to fess up a bit too…being a good ol’ Georgia boy, I do love drinking my Coke and Dr. Pepper. I have a joke I tell friends that when I go to the doctor’s office and give blood, it fizzes.