How to: Use nslookup to obtain a website or server's IP address


Instructions

IP addresses for servers, including servers at Texas Tech, can typically be obtained using nslookup according to the procedures below. In general, the IP addresses of servers do not change. However, it is considered a best practice to use the host name of the server rather than the IP address when connecting, as it is more likely for the IP address of a server to change than the host name. This will become even more important as the Internet transitions from IPv4 to IPv6.

A: macOS

A1) Open the Terminal app.

A2) Type nslookup followed by the server name or website that you would like to test, and press return.

EXAMPLE: nslookup www.google.com

B: Windows

B1) Open Command Prompt.

B2) Type nslookup followed by the server name or website that you would like to test, and press Enter.

EXAMPLE: nslookup www.google.com

TIP: You can export the nslookup results to a text file for your own reference. This can be useful if you need to provide the results to a support provider for investigation.

Outcome

The IP address(es) will be listed next to "Address".

NOTE: The first addresses listed are your network's name servers (a.k.a. DNS servers), not the address that you're attempting to look up.

EXAMPLE: In the output below, the IP address of google.com is 142.251.32.238. The IP address 129.118.1.47 is a DNS server.

> nslookup google.com

Server:   netdnsintac02.ttu.edu
Address:  129.118.1.47

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:       google.com
Addresses:  2607:f8b0:4000:80b::200e
            142.251.32.238