Microsoft's nslookup Implementation Problems

b19141 at anl.gov b19141 at anl.gov
Mon Jun 14 14:03:02 UTC 2010


On 06/13/10 13:00, Merton Campbell Crockett wrote:
> Microsoft's nslookup is broken.  What alternative applications that can
> be installed and used in a Windows XP environment that will continue to
> work in a Windows 7 environment after a decision is made to upgrade Windows?

In this discussion, I have not seen any definition/details as to
what is "broken".  In the "standard" nslookup, I see some deficiencies:

1) The code checks to see that the DNS server being used is registered
   in DNS - both forward and reverse.  If not, nslookup quits.

2) There are times when the user poses a question to nslookup, and
   what is produced is not an answer.  For example, there could be
   in the DNS response packet, "ANSWER: 0" and an SOA record as
   authority.  The "dig" utility shows the header fields, so we know
   that there is no answer.  But the novice nslookup user sees the SOA
   and wonders why that is an answer to his/her question.

But neither of these deficiencies is Microsoft's fault.  These are
deficiencies from the early days of nslookup, I believe.  I have no
idea if MS has modified the nslookup code.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Barry S. Finkel
Computing and Information Systems Division
Argonne National Laboratory          Phone:    +1 (630) 252-7277
9700 South Cass Avenue               Facsimile:+1 (630) 252-4601
Building 240, Room 5.B.8             Internet: BSFinkel at anl.gov
Argonne, IL   60439-4828             IBMMAIL:  I1004994
D~v



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