Hi, everyone!  It has been a while since I've posted and I have encountered many new problems and solved a few (but not too many).

I have a new problem in trying to understand the nslookup function.  Once more, I am trying to follow the instructions from my old textbook and attempting to answer the questions posed.

The parts of nslookup I am having trouble with are:

1.  List ADDRESSES in the domain
2.  List all records of the NDS server  (Novell Directory Services)
3.  Use finger to identify the default user at a host

For #1, I input ls -a cnn.com

My response is : Can't list domain cnn.com.  No response from server.  The DNS server refused to transfer the zone cnn.com to my computer.

Essentially, query refused.  Why can't I get it to go through?  One source says that this COMMAND will often generate 'query refused' results.  Incidentally, I choose cnn.com arbitrarily.

For #2, I get the same response, essentially 'query refused'. Why, again won't it go through?

For #3, the finger command, one source tells me that this command is usually not available and I am finding that to be true.  Why is it not available?

First of all, I am unsure just what and how to ask this command.  Can someone tell me how to use this command? 

The response I get from trying typing (at the command prompt): > finger cnn.com is:  Finger: unknown service.

I get this everytime.  How do I use this command?  How do I get it to work?

That is all for now.  Thanks and I await any replies.Hello
Follow the link below and read the article on nslookup. especially the section:
 
 the server NAME (where NAME is the name or IP address of a DNS server to query). It is not always possible to query a specific DNS server as often DNS queries are blocked to prevent DENIAL of service attacks.