NICNAME/WHOIS
Extracted elements (14)
Query specification formats are expected to evolve over time. Clients are directed to issue a '?' query to obtain current documentation rather than hardcoding format assumptions, providing forward compatibility without versioning.
Responses are explicitly not intended to be machine-readable; information is meant to be passed directly to a human user. This is a deliberate design choice that simplifies the server and accommodates evolving output formats without breaking clients.
RFC 954 obsoletes RFC 812. Because query specification formats are stated to evolve over time, implementations should not hardcode format assumptions and should instead use the '?' command to discover supported syntax from the live server.
Clients must connect to the SRI-NIC host at TCP service port 43 (decimal) to access the NICNAME/WHOIS server.
MILNET TAC users must be registered in the NIC WHOIS database. DCA requests that all individuals with a directory on an ARPANET or MILNET host capable of passing DoD Internet traffic also register.
The NIC WHOIS database publicly exposes full names, U.S. mailing addresses (including mail stop), telephone numbers (including Autovon and FTS), and network mailboxes for all registered DDN/ARPANET users. No authentication is required to query any record or enumerate entire organizations.
A bare name query (e.g., 'Smith') searches both names and NIC handles. Prefixing with '!' forces a handle-only search; prefixing with '.' forces a name-only search.
A trailing '...' on any query argument acts as a wildcard suffix, matching any continuation (e.g., 'ZU...' matches ZUL, ZUM, etc.).
Mailbox searches use the forms 'Smith@' (by username), '@Host' (by host), or 'Smith@Host' (by both). These forms are distinct from plain name queries.
Prefixing a host or organization name with '*' (e.g., '*SRI-NIC') requests the complete membership list or all authorized users of that host. The RFC warns this may take a long time for large groups.
Sending '?' as the entire command line causes the server to return a help message listing all currently supported query formats, providing a self-describing interface for clients.
The server delivers its full response as human-readable text and closes the TCP connection as soon as the output is finished. There is no persistent session or multi-query exchange.
The wildcard asterisk query ('*hostname') enables bulk enumeration of all members of any registered group or host with no authentication or rate limiting. RFC 954 notes only the performance impact, not the disclosure risk.
A query consists of a single command line terminated by CR LF (ASCII carriage return and line feed). No other framing or length prefix is used.