today's question is one we got last week. so we want to address here in our forums just in case anyone else has the same question as to how to find MX record for a domain name

its very simple, if you are familiar with the nslookup command in either windows or linux, you know that when you use this command it returns the nameservers for a particular host or domain for example:
COMMAND:
C:\> nslookup yahoo.com

OUTPUT:COMMAND:
Server:  localhost.myfirewall
Address:  192.168.1.1

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:    yahoo.com
Addresses:  67.195.160.76
          69.147.125.65
          72.30.2.43
          98.137.149.56
          209.191.122.70


as you can see, the above command returns the resolving nameserves, how about if you wanted to know what the MX records were, you can use these commands..

NOTE: i am using windows XP DOS command terminal:

COMMAND:
C:\> nslookup


when you send the nslookup command by it self, you will get a the following:
OUTPUT:
Default Server:  localhost.myfirewall
   Address:  192.168.1.1


you should be at the prompt: >

Enter: COMMAND:
> set q=mx


Enter: Whatever host you want the MX record, for our tutorial here, i will use yahoo.com COMMAND:
> yahoo.com


OUTPUT:COMMAND:
Non-authoritative answer:
yahoo.com       MX preference = 1, mail exchanger = f.mx.mail.yahoo.com
yahoo.com       MX preference = 1, mail exchanger = g.mx.mail.yahoo.com
yahoo.com       MX preference = 1, mail exchanger = h.mx.mail.yahoo.com
yahoo.com       MX preference = 1, mail exchanger = i.mx.mail.yahoo.com
yahoo.com       MX preference = 1, mail exchanger = j.mx.mail.yahoo.com
yahoo.com       MX preference = 1, mail exchanger = k.mx.mail.yahoo.com
yahoo.com       MX preference = 1, mail exchanger = a.mx.mail.yahoo.com
yahoo.com       MX preference = 1, mail exchanger = b.mx.mail.yahoo.com
yahoo.com       MX preference = 1, mail exchanger = c.mx.mail.yahoo.com
yahoo.com       MX preference = 1, mail exchanger = d.mx.mail.yahoo.com
yahoo.com       MX preference = 1, mail exchanger = e.mx.mail.yahoo.com

yahoo.com       nameserver = ns4.yahoo.com
yahoo.com       nameserver = ns2.yahoo.com
yahoo.com       nameserver = ns5.yahoo.com
yahoo.com       nameserver = ns8.yahoo.com
yahoo.com       nameserver = ns6.yahoo.com
yahoo.com       nameserver = ns3.yahoo.com
yahoo.com       nameserver = ns1.yahoo.com
i.mx.mail.yahoo.com     internet address = 74.6.140.64
a.mx.mail.yahoo.com     internet address = 67.195.168.31
b.mx.mail.yahoo.com     internet address = 74.6.136.65
c.mx.mail.yahoo.com     internet address = 206.190.54.127
d.mx.mail.yahoo.com     internet address = 209.191.88.254
e.mx.mail.yahoo.com     internet address = 67.195.168.230
f.mx.mail.yahoo.com     internet address = 98.137.54.237
g.mx.mail.yahoo.com     internet address = 98.137.54.238
ns3.yahoo.com   internet address = 121.101.152.99


as you can see from the output it provides all the mx records for the host name yahoo.com

after you are done. hit control+c on your keyboard to break the dos prompt

IMPORTANT: the purpose of this tutorial is to informational purposes only. while the nslookup tool can be handy for troubleshooting your DNS issues, dont abuse it.