When using netstat -n, what does the command not do?

The command netstat -n is primarily used to display active connections on a machine, showing the IP addresses and port numbers of the connections without resolving them to their corresponding hostnames or services. The -n flag specifically instructs netstat not to perform name resolution, which is why the command does not resolve names to IP addresses. This can be useful for reducing output time or when DNS resolution is not necessary or desired.

The other functionalities of netstat do allow for the display of active connections (showing established connections), showing protocol statistics (such as TCP or UDP packet information), and providing routing information, depending on the options used. However, the focus of the -n option is on obtaining numerical representation of addresses and ports, hence it does not involve any name resolution.