1WHOB(8)                   BSD System Manager's Manual                  WHOB(8)
2

NAME

4     whob — display whois-type information of interest to Internet operators
5

SYNOPSIS

7     whob [-h pwhois-server] [-aCchnopRrstuVv] host
8

DESCRIPTION

10     whob queries various sources of whois information for data of interest to
11     network operators and their tracing and debugging tools.
12
13     whob output is designed to be easily parsed, or better yet, its function‐
14     ality can be added directly into your programs (see whois.h).
15
16     The only mandatory parameter is the target host name or IP number.
17     Options toggle the display of more interesting data or change the sources
18     used to obtain that data.
19
20     One key advantage of whob is its lookup of ASN information derived from
21     the global Internet routing table itself, as opposed to relying solely on
22     what has been registered in the RADB/IRR (see below).  This data is, by
23     default, sourced from the global pWhoIs service.  See www.pwhois.org
24
25     Other options are:
26
27     -a ASN  Display all routing advertisements made by the respective Origin-
28             AS.  The Origin-AS may be supplied as the target argument, or a
29             hostname or IP address may be supplied and whob will resolve the
30             ASN automatically.
31
32     -P prefix
33             Display all routing advertisements related to the CIDR prefix
34             supplied by the user.
35
36     -R      Display the Origin-AS on record at the RADB/IRR (Routing Arbiter
37             Database/Internet Routing Registry) in addition the the Origin-AS
38             provided by the prefix-based whois data source.
39
40     -n      Display the network name on record with the IP network allocation
41             registry also such as ARIN, RIPE, or APNIC.
42
43     -o      Display the organization name on file at the registrar.
44
45     -p      Display the AS-Path from the perspective of the current pwhois
46             server.  The pwhois server may automatically exclude the initial,
47             least specific ASN received from the operator of the network to
48             which it is connected (unless that ASN is the only/origin ASN or
49             unless it has multiple peers). Of course, this AS-Path is subjec‐
50             tive.  If you rely on this and want AS-Paths that correspond to
51             *your* network infrastructure, you may want to install your own
52             pwhois server.  See the (-w) option and www.pwhois.org
53
54     -t      Display the date the route was last cached by the pWhoIs server.
55
56     -u      When possible, display dates in UTC/GMT instead of local time.
57
58     -h/w host
59             Change the source of prefix-based whois data from the default
60             (pWhoIs) to any pwhois-compatible server of your choice (like
61             your own).
62
63     -c      Change the source of prefix-based whois data from the default
64             (pWhoIs) to Cymru.  See www.cymru.com for more details.
65
66     -r      Display the Origin-AS and prefix according to RIPE NCC RIS (see
67             www.ripe.net/projects/ris/)
68
69     -s      Show the status of the (respective) pWhoIs server and exit(0)
70
71     -V      Display verbose/debug output.  Use multiple 'V's for additional
72             verbosity.
73
74     -v      Display this client's version information and exit(1)
75

AUTHORS

77     Victor Oppleman and Eugene Antsilevitch
78

REPORTING BUGS

80     To report bugs, send e-mail to <whob@oppleman.com>
81

SEE ALSO

83     lft(8), whois(1)
84

HISTORY

86     The whob command first appeared in 2004.  This whois framework has been a
87     component of LFT since 2002.
88
89WHOB                            August 17, 2002                           WHOB
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