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.

package com.mkyong.whois.bo;
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("mkyong.com"));
		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.

package com.mkyong.whois.bo;
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();
		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.
    //......

References

1. Apache Commons Net
2. Whois Wiki