Obtain internet mail exchanger records with the nslookup.exe utility

Original KB number:   203204

When you troubleshoot SMTP problems, you may want to obtain the Domain Name System (DNS) records for the SMTP domain in question. You can use the nslookup.exe utility to collect this information.

DNS must be configured properly on the computer running the nslookup.exe utility. If DNS isn't configured, an error message is displayed when the nslookup.exe utility starts.

1. Open a command prompt.

2. Type nslookup.

3. Type set q=mx.

   This sets a filter to only collect MX records and related information.

4. Type <domain_name>.com.

   where <domain_name> is the domain that you want to obtain the DNS records for, for example, microsoft.com or msn.com. An output like the following is displayed:

   Server: [157.178.72.30]
   Address: 157.178.72.30
   
   microsoft.com MX preference = 10, mail exchanger = mail1.microsoft.com
   microsoft.com MX preference = 10, mail exchanger = mail2.microsoft.com
   microsoft.com MX preference = 10, mail exchanger = mail3.microsoft.com
   microsoft.com MX preference = 10, mail exchanger = mail4.microsoft.com
   microsoft.com MX preference = 10, mail exchanger = mail5.microsoft.com
   mail1.microsoft.com internet address = 131.107.3.125
   mail2.microsoft.com internet address = 131.107.3.124
   mail3.microsoft.com internet address = 131.107.3.123
   mail4.microsoft.com internet address = 131.107.3.122
   mail5.microsoft.com internet address = 131.107.3.121