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What is the RIPE Database ?

RIPE (Reseaux IP Europeens) coordinates TCP/IP networking for the research community in Europe. It operates under the auspices of RARE (Reseaux Associees pour la Recherche Europeene).

One of the activities of RIPE is to maintain a database of European IP networks, DNS domains and their contact persons. This database content is public information. This supports NICs/NOCs all over Europe to perform their respective tasks.

A domain and its contact persons are represented by different database objects. This means that for each domain there has to be a domain object describing the domain and one or more person entries describing the persons.

Objects are described by attributes one per line separated by empty lines. The information stored about domain UKA.DE consists of five objects, one domain object and four person objects and looks like this:

domain:  UKA.DE
descr:   Universiaet Karlsruhe
descr:   Informatik Rechnerabteilung IRA
descr:   Am Fasanengarten 5
descr:   D-7500 Karlsruhe, FRG
admin-c: Werner Zorn
tech-c:  Michael Rotert
tech-c:  Klaus Becker
tech-c:  Arnold Nipper
nserver: iraun1.IRA.UKA.DE iramu1.IRA.UKA.DE
nserver: unido.Informatik.Uni-Dortmund.DE
sub-dom: ira
dom-net: 129.13.0.0 192.54.104.0
changed: [email protected] 910208
source:  RIPE

person:  Werner Zorn
address: Universitaet Karlsruhe
address: Informatikrechnerabteilung
address: Am Fasanengarten 5
address: D-7500 Karlsruhe
phone:   +49 721 608 3981
fax-no:  +49 721 699 284
e-mail:  [email protected]
changed: [email protected] 11-Apr-90
source:  RIPE

person:  Michael Rotert
address: Universitaet Karlsruhe
address: Informatikrechnerabteilung
address: Am Fasanengarten 5
address: D-7500 Karlsruhe
phone:   +49 721 608 4221
fax-no:  +49 721 699 284
e-mail:  [email protected]
nic-hdl: MR78
changed: [email protected] 11-Apr-90
source:  RIPE

person:  Klaus Becker
address: Universitaet Karlsruhe
address: Informatikrechnerabteilung
address: Am Fasanengarten 5
address: D-7500 Karlsruhe
phone:   +49 721 608 3973
fax-no:  +49 721 699 284
e-mail:  [email protected]
changed: [email protected] 11-Apr-90
source:  RIPE

person:  Arnold Nipper
address: Universitaet Karlsruhe
address: Informatikrechnerabteilung
address: Am Fasanengarten 5
address: D-7500 Karlsruhe
phone:   +49 721 608 4331
fax-no:  +49 721 699 284
e-mail:  [email protected]
nic-hdl: AN45
changed: [email protected] 11-Apr-90
source:  RIPE

How to access the Database ?

The database is public. It can be accessed via a whois server on host whois.ripe.net (tcp port 43). The whole database is also available via anonymous ftp from ftp.ripe.net as file ripe.db in directory ripe/dbase.

How to submit information to the Database ?

Database updates should be sent via electronic mail to

[email protected]

Below you find a template for domain objects. Be sure to supply a person object for each contact person mentioned in the network objects. Of course you need not supply person objects if they are already present in the database and the information is still correct.

Before submitting please delete all indented explanatory text from the templates to save mail bandwidth. The text you submit should start in column one.

Thank you for your cooperation.

RIPE Database Management

------------------------------------------------------------------

domain:
        IP domain name
        Format: Full qulified domain name without trailing ".".
        Example:
                domain: UKA.DE
        Mandatory

descr:
        Description of the domain.
        Give organisation and place.
        Postal address is not needed, this can be found via the contacts.

        Format: free text, one line per entry, multiple lines in sequence
        Example:
                descr:   Universiaet Karlsruhe
                descr:   Informatik Rechnerabteilung IRA
        Mandatory

admin-c:
        Name of administrative contact person.
        This is someone who will be contacted about administrative
        things such as domain registration etc.

        This must be the same string as in the corresponding
        person entry. Such a person entry has to exist.
        If the person name is ambiguous, use the nic handle.

        Format: <firstname> <initials> <lastname>
        Example:
                admin-c: John E. Doe
        Mandatory, Multiple

zone-c:
        Name of the zone contact for the domain.
        This is the person listed in the SOA record for the domain.

        See admin-c above

tech-c:
        Name of technical contact person.
        This is someone to be contacted for technical problems
        such as (mis)behavior of nameservers on the net etc.

        See admin-c above.

nserver:
        List of nameservers for of this domain. Primary first.
        Format: Full qualified domainname without trailing "." OR
                IP Adress(es) of the nameserver.
        example:
                nserver: iraun1.IRA.UKA.DE
        Mandatory, Multiple

sub-dom:
        List of subdomains of the domain
        Format: Relative domainname to the domain.
        Example:
                sub-dom: ira
        Mandatory, Multiple

dom-net:
        List of IP networks in this domain.
        Format: dotted quad including trailing 0s
        Example:
                dom-net: 129.13.0.0 192.54.104.0
        Optional, Multiple

remark:
        Remarks

        Format: text string
        Example:
                remark: MX record only
        Optional

changed:
        Who and when changed this last.

        Format: <email-address> YYMMDD
        Example:
                changed: [email protected] 900401

source: RIPE
        Source of the information.
        This is used to separate information from different sources
        kept by the same database software.

        Format: RIPE
        Mandatory


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

person:
        Full name.
        This must be the same as the corresponding contact attributes.

        Format: first names first, no commas etc.
        Example:
                person: John E. Doe

address:
        Postal address
        Include everything necessary for paper mail to be delivered.

        Format: multiple lines of text
                City and post code on a single line.
                Country on the last line.
        Example:
                address: Terabit Labs Inc.
                address: Industrial Estate North
                address: North Perpendicular Road 12
                address: NN-1234 Northtown
                address: Northern Nowhere
        Mandatory

phone:
        Telephone
        Multiple numbers in the desired order please (secretariats etc.).

        Format: International  +<country-code> <city> <subscriber>
                If no direct inward dialing is available,
                please append "ext." and extension number.
        Example:
                phone: +31 20 12334676
                phone: +44 123 987654 ext. 4711
        Mandatory, Multiple

fax-no:
        Telefax

        see phone

e-mail:
        Electronic mail address.

        Format: Valid domain address please (if possible no !, %, ::)
        Example:
                e-mail: [email protected]

nic-hd:
        NIC handle. An identifier used by SRI-NIC to unambiguously refer
        to Internet people.

        Format: NIC format
        Example:
                nic-hd: JD0401
        Optional but strongly suggested for those who have a NIC handle.

remark:
        Remarks

        Format: text string
        Example:
                remark: RIPE coordinator Northern Nowhere
        Optional

changed:
        Who and when changed this last.

        Format: <email-address> YYMMDD
        Example:
                changed: [email protected] 900401

source: RIPE
        Source of the information.
        This is used to separate information from different sources
        kept by the same database software.

        Format: RIPE
        Mandatory

RIPE Database Manuals no longer form part of the RIPE Document Store.

You can locate the most recent version of the manuals from the RIPE Database Documentation Library Link: /manage-ips-and-asns/db/support/documentation/ .