How to Check If a Domain is Registered Using Python.
Introduction
What is a Domain and How to Use Python to Check Its Registration Status
A domain name is a unique identifier for a website, and it is the first step to getting a website online. This means that it’s important to understand how to check the registration status of a domain name. With the help of Python programming language, you can easily check the registration status of any domain name in no time. Python makes it easier for you to access web-based data and extract information from different sources. It also helps you automate tasks such as checking the registration status of domains so that you can quickly identify available domains or those that are already taken.
Requirements
Below is a list of items that have been used in this tutorial. Ensure you have the items below to be able to follow this tutorial successfully:
1) A desktop or laptop with 4GB RAM, a dual-core processor, and 20GB of free disk space.
2) Python version 3 or newer
3) The Pycharm IDE or any other IDE that supports Python
4) A fully qualified domain name
Overview
The following is an overview of the steps outlined in this tutorial:
1) Download and install Python 3
2) Download and install the Pycharm IDE
3) Create a new project and Install the python-whois module
4) Write code for a program that can check if a domain is registered
5) Test the program using a real fully qualified domain name
1. Download and install Python 3
The first step in completing this setup is to install the latest version of Python 3. Go to https://python.org and click Downloads. Click the Python 3.x.x button to start the download process. When the download completes, run the installation package and follow the on-screen to install the Python 3 program.
2. Download and install the Pycharm IDE
Open a new browser tab and run a google search for ‘Pycharm IDE download’. Click on the download Pycharm search result and click the Download button for the Pycharm free community edition. Note that the Pycharm setup file is large and you will need an Internet connection that permits you to download large files.
3. Create a new project and Install the python-whois module.
On the Pycharm welcome window, click the Projects tab and click New Project. Enter the name of the Project in the Location field and select Virtualenv on the ‘New Environment using’ drop-down menu. Select python3 as the base interpreter and click the Create button.
In the Pycharm IDE right click on the project folder and click New > Python File. Enter a name for the file and press Enter. You will see the new file listed on the left project navigation tree. Click Terminal and run the command below to install the python-whois module
4. Write python code for a program that can check if a domain is registered
Now that you have a Python development environment s4tup, all that needs to be done is to write simple python code that can check if a domain is registered or not. Write the code below to import the whois class and define a function named is_registered. In the function include a try-except block to handle errors that can happen when the program runs:
import whois
def is_registered(domain_name):
try:
w = whois.whois(domain_name)
return bool(w.domain_name)
except:
return False.
Proceed to write the code below that uses the function above to pass data to the domain_name argument
domain_check = input(‘What is the domain name?: ‘)
returned_domain = is_registered(domain_check)
if is_registered(domain_check):
print(f'{domain_check} is registered’)
else:
print(f'{domain_check} is not registered’)
5. Test the program using a real fully qualified domain name
The next step is to run the program to see if it works as desired. Click Run on the Pycharm menu bar and select Run ‘your-python-file.py’. You will see the question: What is the domain name? on the Run console. Enter a domain name such as billysoftacademy.com and you will see: billysoftacademy.com is registered. Enter a domain name that may not be registered and you will see: yourdomain.com is not registered.
