Robust way to resolve a DNS address in a script (IPv4 (A) and IPv6 (AAAA))?

Issue

This Content is from ServerFault. Question asked by Amandasaurus

I have a domain name in a bash variable ($TARGET), and I want to get the IPv4 (A record) address of it in my bash script (I also want to get the IPv6 AAAA record (if exists)), in a robust manner.

i.e. What bash/unix command will: (i) print the IP address (and only the IP address) of the DNS resolution (ii) print nothing to stdout (or non-zero exit) if there is no DNS record for that domain found (iii) allow me to choose to ask for A or AAAA record.

host "$TARGET" prints lots of human readable stuff, and I’m reluctant to parse that.

dig +short looked promising, but in some scenarios, it also prints other warning messages which I do not understand, or care about.

$ dig +short -t A "$TARGET"
;; Warning: Client COOKIE mismatch
1.2.3.4

Debian test/bookworm. Bash v5.2 (installed via apt)



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