Java Whois example

In this tutorial, we will show you how to use Java library – “Apache Commons Net” to get WHOIS data of a domain.

1. Simple Java Whois Example

For domain registered under internic.net, you can get the whois data directly.

WhoisTest.java

package com.favtuts.http;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.net.SocketException;

import org.apache.commons.net.whois.WhoisClient;

public class WhoisTest {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        
        WhoisTest obj = new WhoisTest();
		System.out.println(obj.getWhois("tuts.heomi.net"));
		System.out.println("Done");

    }
    
    public String getWhois(String domainName) {

        StringBuilder result = new StringBuilder("");

        WhoisClient whois = new WhoisClient();

        try {
            
            // default is internic.net
            whois.connect(WhoisClient.DEFAULT_HOST);
            String whoisData1 = whois.query("=" + domainName);
            result.append(whoisData1);
            whois.disconnect();
        } catch (SocketException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        } catch (IOException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }

        return result.toString();
    }
}

2. Complex Java Whois Example

For domain registered under other registrars (not internic.net), you need some extra steps to get the whois data.

Review the whois command in *nix and mac.

$ whois google.com
### It will returns many non related subdomain.google.com data

$ whois =google.com
### Add '=' sign to get the exact result.
### refer to the "Whois server" URL

### Sample data
### Domain Name: GOOGLE.COM
### Registrar: MARKMONITOR INC.
### Whois Server: whois.markmonitor.com
### Referral URL: http://www.markmonitor.com

### The google.com whois is available under whois.markmonitor.com

$ whois -h whois.markmonitor.com google.com
### done, finally, get the whois data of google.com

Let implement above steps in Java, see comments for self-explanatory.

WhoisTest.java

package com.favtuts.http;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.net.SocketException;
import java.util.regex.Matcher;
import java.util.regex.Pattern;

import org.apache.commons.net.whois.WhoisClient;

public class WhoisTest {

    private static Pattern pattern;
    private Matcher matcher;

    // regex whois parser
	private static final String WHOIS_SERVER_PATTERN = "Whois Server:\\s(.*)";
	static {
		pattern = Pattern.compile(WHOIS_SERVER_PATTERN);
	}

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        
        WhoisTest obj = new WhoisTest();

        // Complex Whois
        System.out.println(obj.getWhois("google.com"));

	System.out.println("Done");

    }
    

    // example google.com
	public String getWhois(String domainName) {

		StringBuilder result = new StringBuilder("");

		WhoisClient whois = new WhoisClient();
		try {

            whois.connect(WhoisClient.DEFAULT_HOST);

            // whois =google.com
            String whoisData1 = whois.query("=" + domainName);

            // append first result
            result.append(whoisData1);
            whois.disconnect();

            // get the google.com whois server - whois.markmonitor.com
            String whoisServerUrl = getWhoisServer(whoisData1);
            if (!whoisServerUrl.equals("")) {

                // whois -h whois.markmonitor.com google.com
                String whoisData2 = 
                                queryWithWhoisServer(domainName, whoisServerUrl);

                // append 2nd result
                result.append(whoisData2);
            }

		} catch (SocketException e) {
			e.printStackTrace();
		} catch (IOException e) {
			e.printStackTrace();
		}

		return result.toString();

	}


    private String queryWithWhoisServer(String domainName, String whoisServer) {

		String result = "";
		WhoisClient whois = new WhoisClient();
		try {

			whois.connect(whoisServer);
			result = whois.query(domainName);
			whois.disconnect();

		} catch (SocketException e) {
			e.printStackTrace();
		} catch (IOException e) {
			e.printStackTrace();
		}

		return result;

	}


    private String getWhoisServer(String whois) {

		String result = "";

		matcher = pattern.matcher(whois);

		// get last whois server
		while (matcher.find()) {
			result = matcher.group(1);
		}
		return result;
	}
}

Output

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net
for detailed information.

//......

Registrant:
        Dns Admin
        Google Inc.
        Please contact contact-admin@google.com 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
         Mountain View CA 94043
        US
        dns-admin@google.com +1.6502530000 Fax: +1.6506188571

    Domain Name: google.com

        Registrar Name: Markmonitor.com
        Registrar Whois: whois.markmonitor.com
        Registrar Homepage: http://www.markmonitor.com

    //......

    Created on..............: 1997-09-15.
    Expires on..............: 2020-09-13.
    Record last updated on..: 2013-02-28.

    //......

Whois parser

Above is using a regex to grab the whois server url. If you know any Java whois parser, do comment below , thanks.

Download Source Code

$ git clone https://github.com/favtuts/java-core-tutorials-examples

$ cd java-misc/http

References

1. Apache Commons Net
2. Whois Wiki