Best way to get any Domain’s Zone Records, MX and Name Server in Java using Dig command

As per definition the dig command in Linux is primarily used to query dns servers. It is useful tool for network troubleshooting. It is popular due to its flexibility and very clear output over host command.

In this tutorial we will go over what all commands you could execute to get DNS records as per your need. Best way to understand Dig Command.

Another must read Explore WhoisClient library

Let’s get started:

1. Create java class CrunchifyZoneRecordFinder.java
2. Create method crunchifyExecuteCommand(String cmd) which executes and prints result of linux command
3. In this Java tutorial we will get below 4 results
   1. Domain A records (IPs)
   2. TXT records
   3. MX records (email)
   4. NS records (Name servers)

package com.crunchify.tutorials;

import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;

/**
 * @author https://crunchify.com
 * 
 */

public class CrunchifyZoneRecordFinder {

	public static void main(String args[]) {

		CrunchifyZoneRecordFinder crunchifyDigCmd = new CrunchifyZoneRecordFinder();

		crunchifyDigCmd.crunchifyExecuteCommand("dig any crunchify.com");
		crunchifyDigCmd.crunchifyExecuteCommand("dig +short crunchify.com MX");
		crunchifyDigCmd.crunchifyExecuteCommand("dig +short crunchify.com NS");
		crunchifyDigCmd.crunchifyExecuteCommand("dig +short crunchify.com A");
		crunchifyDigCmd.crunchifyExecuteCommand("dig +short crunchify.com TXT");
	}

	public void crunchifyExecuteCommand(String cmd) {
		String s = null;
		System.out.println("\n=========== Executing command: " + cmd + " ===========");

		try {

			Process p = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(cmd);

			BufferedReader stdInput = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(p.getInputStream()));
			BufferedReader stdError = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(p.getErrorStream()));

			// read the output from the command
			while ((s = stdInput.readLine()) != null) {
				System.out.println(s);
			}

			// read any errors from the attempted command
			while ((s = stdError.readLine()) != null) {
				System.out.println(s);
			}

		} catch (IOException e) {
			System.out.println("exception happened - here's what I know: ");
			e.printStackTrace();
		}
	}
}

Output/ Result:

=========== Executing command: dig any crunchify.com ===========

; <<>> DiG 9.8.3-P1 <<>> any crunchify.com
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 29481
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 11, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 11

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;crunchify.com.			IN	ANY

;; ANSWER SECTION:
crunchify.com.		6492	IN	A	45.56.77.128
crunchify.com.		34789	IN	NS	ns3.squidix.net.
crunchify.com.		34789	IN	NS	ns1.squidix.net.
crunchify.com.		34789	IN	NS	ns2.squidix.net.
crunchify.com.		34789	IN	NS	ns4.squidix.net.
crunchify.com.		13107	IN	MX	10 alt4.aspmx.l.google.com.
crunchify.com.		13107	IN	MX	1 aspmx.l.google.com.
crunchify.com.		13107	IN	MX	5 alt2.aspmx.l.google.com.
crunchify.com.		13107	IN	MX	10 alt3.aspmx.l.google.com.
crunchify.com.		13107	IN	MX	5 alt1.aspmx.l.google.com.
crunchify.com.		13675	IN	TXT	"v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all"

;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
ns3.squidix.net.	52363	IN	A	168.235.80.31
ns1.squidix.net.	52363	IN	A	148.163.67.8
ns2.squidix.net.	52363	IN	A	107.191.102.190
ns4.squidix.net.	52363	IN	A	148.163.67.8
alt4.aspmx.l.google.com. 180	IN	A	74.125.141.27
aspmx.l.google.com.	119	IN	A	74.125.28.26
aspmx.l.google.com.	119	IN	AAAA	2607:f8b0:400e:c04::1a
alt2.aspmx.l.google.com. 119	IN	A	74.125.196.26
alt2.aspmx.l.google.com. 119	IN	AAAA	2607:f8b0:4002:c03::1b
alt3.aspmx.l.google.com. 180	IN	A	173.194.204.27
alt1.aspmx.l.google.com. 119	IN	A	74.125.142.26

;; Query time: 80 msec
;; SERVER: 10.249.156.21#53(10.249.156.21)
;; WHEN: Fri Oct  2 12:46:19 2015
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 493


=========== Executing command: dig +short crunchify.com MX ===========
10 alt4.aspmx.l.google.com.
1 aspmx.l.google.com.
5 alt2.aspmx.l.google.com.
10 alt3.aspmx.l.google.com.
5 alt1.aspmx.l.google.com.

=========== Executing command: dig +short crunchify.com NS ===========
ns3.squidix.net.
ns1.squidix.net.
ns2.squidix.net.
ns4.squidix.net.

=========== Executing command: dig +short crunchify.com A ===========
45.56.77.128

=========== Executing command: dig +short crunchify.com TXT ===========
"v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all"

If you want to run above program on Windows environment then you could follow the tutorial to get windows command. I’ve executed this program on my Macbook Pro.