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 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 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
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.