Install the dig Command on Windows

About dig

dig (Domain Information Groper) is a command-line tool that queries DNS servers. It is built into Linux and macOS but not into Windows. On Windows you can use nslookup, or install dig as follows.

Option 1: Install dig with Cygwin

Step 1. Download the Cygwin setup file from the Cygwin website.

Step 2. Run the setup (setup-x86_64.exe).

Step 3. Choose Install from Internet.

Step 4. Choose the root folder, such as C:\cygwin64, and then the folder for the downloaded packages and a download site.

Step 5. On the package screen, search for bind-utils. Click on Skip next to it until it shows a version number. This package contains dig. Click Next and finish the install.

Step 6. Open the Cygwin terminal and test:

dig google.com

Option 2: Use a Linux shell (WSL or Git Bash)

If you use the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), install dig inside the Linux distribution:

sudo apt install dnsutils

Then:

dig bing.com

(Git Bash for Windows does not include a package manager, so apt-get does not work there. Use WSL or Cygwin.)

Examples of dig

Record types

dig example.com A

Ask a certain DNS server

dig example.com @8.8.8.8

Recursion

• +norecurse prevents recursive queries.
• +recurse forces them (it is the default).

dig example.com +recurse

Trace the path of the query

dig example.com +trace

Short answer

dig +short example.com

Retries and time-out

dig example.com +retry=3 +time=2

Without installing anything

Use nslookup example.com in Command Prompt, or Resolve-DnsName example.com in PowerShell.

Quick recap

• Install dig through Cygwin (bind-utils) or WSL (dnsutils).
• dig example.com @8.8.8.8 asks a specific server.
• nslookup and Resolve-DnsName are built into Windows.