version 2.0 ripe-13 RIPE Databases R.Blokzijl 28 August, 1990 1 Introduction In the document describing the RIPE Task Forces [ripe-4] several databases are defined as essential for the proper management of IP services in Europe. The various databases are: o a database that contains the IP networks that have RIPE connectivity. o a database that contains information about persons responsible for RIPE connected networks. o a database containing namespace administration data. These databases will support a European `whois' service. This document describes the format of the various database entries, how to submit new entries to the database, and how to update existing entries. 2 Database entry formats The database entries are ASCII text. There are three kind of objects in the databases: o networks o persons o namespace data Objects are stored as a series of pairs. Attributes have two character names. Attribute-value pairs are stored on a single line of the form: *aa: vvvvvvvv where aa is the attribute name and vvvvvvvv is the attribute value. If an attribute value, like an address, has several lines, multiples of these lines may appear. Similarly if an object has multiple attributes of one type, e.g. more than one phone number. Objects are delimited by blank lines. All entries have a source attribute with the following defined values: so -source of the information: MERIT - NSFnet NIC database maintained by MERIT Inc. on host nis.nsf.net WHOIS - DDN NIC database maintained by SRI International on host nic.ddn.mil RIPE - RIPE NCC database maintained by RIPE on host nic.eu.net LOCAL - local info This is intended for local info or aditional info that is not to be published or that supersedes global info Objects can have multiple entries coming from various sources. It is interest- ing to see the inconsistencies of the various databases concerned. The RIPE database itself is only the part with the source attribute RIPE. 2.1 Networks Objects describing networks have the attributes described in the following list: in -IP network number Including trailing 0's na -official network name Capitals, numerals and hyphens only. as -autonomous systems the network belongs to locally. Not stringently defined yet. ni -NSFnet inbound announcements in the form order=asn If the source is MERIT this is what NSFnet had in it's database on the date mentioned in *ch. NSFnet updates currently are Tuesdays and Thursdays. All announcements are mentioned with their order. Typical: 1=97 2=237 3=224. no -NSFnet outbound announcements See above. tc -name of technical contact. This must be the same string as in the corresponding *pn entry. There must be such a person entry! ac -name of administrative contact. This must be the same string as in the corresponding *pn entry. There must be such a person entry! de -description of the network. Give organisation and place. Postal address and country are not needed, they can be found via the contacts. The country is given in *cy. co -connectivity. The definition of this is arbitrary and should be replaced by something more rational as e.g. AS's that may be traversed or some such. Sug- gestions welcome. LOCAL - local only This means routing updates will be blocked in RIPE routers. RIPE - European This means RIPE routers will distribute routes for this net. NSF - NSFnet This means the net is in the NSFnet database ICS - Internet Connected Status EU - member of InterEUnet NORDU - member of NORDUnet BLOCK - for local purposes (not in RIPE database) gw -RIPE gateway for this network. This attribute is very much for local use. It's value should be more precisely defined later. Current values are: inr - INRIA, Paris cwi - CWI, Amsterdam crn - CERN, Geneva kth - KTH, Stockholm nih - NIKHEF, Amsterdam cy -country Country where the network is located as ISO3166 code. rm -remark Any explanatory string. ch -who and when of last change Suggested format: so -source of the information (as defined above) An example to explain it all: *in: 192.16.184.0 *na: CWI-ETHER *de: CWI Ethernet (Classical) *de: Amsterdam *de: Netherlands *tc: Piet Beertema *tc: Daniel Karrenberg *gw: 192.16.184.32 *co: RIPE Internet NSFnet *de: CWI, Amsterdam *ch: dfk@cwi.nl 900802 *so: RIPE 2.2 Persons Objects describing persons have the attributes described in the following list: pn -name first names first and no commas etc. please ph -phone number International format: + Blanks are optional. If no direct inward dialling specify 'ext.' and extension number. fx -fax number See phone number. em -e_mail address Valid domain address please. ad -postal address Include everything necessary for papermail to be delivered. Use multiple lines! City and post code on a single line. Country on the last line. nh -NIC handle If known, DDN NIC handle. ch -who and when of last change Suggested format: so -source of the information as defined above An example to explain it all: *pn: Daniel Karrenberg *em: dfk@cwi.nl *ph: +31 20 592 4112 *fx: +31 20 592 4199 *ad: CWI *ad: Kruislaan 413 *ad: NL-1098 SJ Amsterdam *ch: dfk@cwi.nl 900802 *so: RIPE 2.3 Domains Objects describing namespace administrative data have the attributes de- scribed in the following list. Only top level domains and first level subdo- mains are entered into the database. dn -full qualified domain name de -description of the organisation managing the domain, where the domain is located, description of the domain e.g.: Top-level domain ac -name of administrative contact tc -name of technical contact zc -name of zone contact ns -primary NS for the domain ns -secondary NS's for the domain rm -additional remarks (special policies, status etc.) sd -sub-domains di -IP addresses of networks in this domain ch -who and when of last change Suggested format: so -source of the information as defined above 3 Managing database objects Database entries, which can describe new, modified or obsolete objects, should be submitted by electronic mail to auto-dbm@RIPE.net When entering more then one object in the same message, care should be taken to sort them in alphabetical order, with the value of the first attribute acting as the sort key. 4 Where to find the database The databse files are kept on ftp.RIPE.net in the file ripe/dbase/ripe.bd. 5 How to use the database The databese can be interrogated using the whois utility.