# HINFO record

HINFO (host information) was meant to describe a host's CPU and operating system. Almost nobody publishes it now, for security reasons. You mostly meet it as the short reply many servers give to ANY queries: HINFO "RFC8482" "".

- Record type: HINFO
- Type number: 13
- Used for: Information
- How common: Rare
- Defined in: RFC 1035, RFC 8482

## Format

```
<name> <ttl> IN HINFO "<cpu>" "<os>"
```

| Field | What it means | Accepted values |
| --- | --- | --- |
| CPU | The hardware. | A string. |
| OS | The operating system. | A string. |

## Examples

### Reply to an ANY query

```
example.com. 3789 IN HINFO "RFC8482" ""
```

The server declines to list all records, as RFC 8482 allows.

## TTL

Any.

## Common mistakes

- Publishing real hardware and OS details, which helps attackers.

## At your DNS host

- Rarely offered in dashboards.

## Questions

### Why did I get an HINFO record when I asked for ANY?

Many servers no longer answer ANY queries in full. RFC 8482 lets them reply with a single HINFO record instead.

## Related

- [LOC record](https://lemon.domains/dns-records/loc.md)
- [RP record](https://lemon.domains/dns-records/rp.md)
- [TXT record](https://lemon.domains/dns-records/txt.md)

Interactive version with a record checker and live lookup: https://lemon.domains/dns-records/hinfo