Which software utility can a technician use to diagnose a problem when the IP address of a web server is reachable, but the URL is not?

The software utility that a technician can use to diagnose a problem when the IP address of a web server is reachable, but the URL is not, is nslookup. This utility is primarily used to query the Domain Name System (DNS) to obtain domain name or IP address mapping information. When a technician can reach a web server via its IP address but cannot access it using the URL, it often implies a DNS resolution issue.

Using nslookup allows the technician to check whether the URL is correctly resolving to the expected IP address. If nslookup returns the correct IP address corresponding to the URL, the issue may lie elsewhere. Conversely, if nslookup fails to return the expected IP address or any address at all, it would indicate a problem with DNS records or server resolution.

In contrast, while ping is useful for determining connectivity to a server, it does not provide insight into DNS resolution issues. Tracert can show the path packets take to reach a destination, which is more about connection paths than URL resolution. The ipconfig utility displays configuration information for network interfaces, but it doesn’t assist with diagnosing domain name resolution problems. Therefore, nslookup is the most relevant tool in this situation.