Python WHOIS Client

Warnings

• gotcha WHOIS data is semi-structured and can vary significantly between TLDs and registrars. Parsing may not always be 100% accurate or complete, and some fields might be missing or in unexpected formats.
  Fix: Always validate the returned data and implement error handling for missing attributes. Consider falling back to raw text parsing for critical, unparsed fields if needed.
• gotcha Direct WHOIS queries can be subject to rate limiting, firewalls, or network issues, leading to timeouts. Some WHOIS servers might be temporarily unavailable or return incomplete responses.
  Fix: Implement robust error handling, retry mechanisms with exponential backoff, and consider using a SOCKS proxy (with PySocks installed and configured via the SOCKS environment variable) for improved reliability or to circumvent IP-based restrictions.
• gotcha Due to multiple Python libraries existing with 'whois' in their name (e.g., `pythonwhois`, `whoisdomain`, `ipwhois`), it's common to encounter `AttributeError: module 'whois' has no attribute 'whois'` if the wrong package is installed or a local file conflicts. Ensure you have installed `python-whois` (from richardpenman) and that no local `whois.py` file shadows the library.
  Fix: Verify installation with `pip show python-whois`. If you have a local `whois.py` file, rename it. If using an alternative `whois` library, ensure you are importing it correctly as per its documentation.

Install

• pip install python-whois Install with pip

Imports

• whois

  import whois

  The primary function is accessed directly via 'whois.whois(domain)'. Do not confuse with other 'whois' libraries or attempt to import sub-modules directly without explicit documentation.

Quickstart

The quickstart demonstrates how to import the `whois` module and use the `whois.whois()` function to retrieve and parse domain registration data. Key attributes like domain name, registrar, dates, and name servers are easily accessible. The raw WHOIS text is also available.

import whois

# Query WHOIS for a domain
domain = "example.com"
w = whois.whois(domain)

# Access parsed attributes
print(f"Domain Name: {w.domain_name}")
print(f"Registrar: {w.registrar}")
print(f"Creation Date: {w.creation_date}")
print(f"Expiration Date: {w.expiration_date}")
print(f"Name Servers: {w.name_servers}")

# Print all found attributes (as a dictionary)
# print(w.text) # Uncomment to see the raw WHOIS text
# print(w)