Helpful tools for managing your CIS deployment

Some public-domain Unix system administration tools can help you manage your IBM Cloud® Internet Services (CIS) deployment.

Sysadmin tools

  • whois (domain identification tool)
  • dig (DNS tool)
  • cURL (HTTP and HTTPS tool)
  • netcat (IP and port tool)
  • traceroute (network tool)

Commercial tools for external and remote testing

  • GTMetrix (HTTP)
  • Web page test (HTTP)
  • WhatsMyDNS (DNS tool)
  • G Suite Toolbox (DNS and HTTP)

Tools for looking at logs and history

HTTP Archive files (HAR files)

Using whois

whois is a UNIX system command line tool that you can use to look up registrar information for a given domain name or IP address. For example, the domain’s given authoritative servers or the owner of a particular IP address.

Examples:

whois example.com

whois 8.8.8.8

Using dig

dig is a Unix command line tool that can perform DNS queries and check DNS records for a specific domain. It is similar to nslookup.

The schema of this command is dig <record_type> <domainname> <options>

For example:

  • dig example.com
  • dig my.example.com
  • dig example.com +trace
  • dig NS example.com
  • dig example.com @ns.example.com

Using cURL

cURL is a Unix command line tool that lets you transmit data by using the URL syntax. It’s commonly used to make HTTP requests or compare server responses.

The schema for this command is: curl -option1 -option2 http://example.com/url

For example:

  • curl -svo /dev/null http://www.example.com
  • curl -svo /dev/null -A “USER_AGENT_STRING” http://www.example.com
  • curl -svo /dev/null -H “host: www.example.com” http://ORIGIN_IP
  • curl -svo /dev/null -H https://www.example.com --resolve www.example.com:443:ORIGIN_IP

Using mtr and traceroute

mtr and traceroute are Unix command line tools that let you measure performance or latency along a specific network path to a specified host or destination server.

For example:

  • mtr -rwc 20 example.com -T -4
  • mtr -rwc 20 8.8.8.8 -T -6
  • traceroute example.com -T -4
  • traceroute 8.8.8.8 -T -6
Command options
Option Definition
-c Sets the number of pings sent
-T Forces a TCP traceroute (normally ICMP)
-4 Forces the use of IPv4
-6 Forces the use of IPv6

Generating an HAR file

An HAR file is a recording of HTTP requests from a web browser. Browsers, such as Chrome, have a Developer Tools section that can help you get set up to make HAR files. For more information on how to create a HAR file, see How do I generate a HAR file? in the troubleshooting section.