Querying RADb via WHOIS

RADb publishes a publicly accessible query form on the web at: www.radb.net/query. The query tool has the same options as the WHOIS service.

Querying RADB

The RADb WHOIS server provides information collected from all the registries that form part of the Internet Routing Registry. These mirrored registries provide information on most of the networks and ASs routed in the Internet today.

For example, the following command queries the RADB RPSL database for information about a network with the address 128.223.0.0/16 . (The -h parameter tells the WHOIS client on your machine that you want to talk to the IRRd WHOIS server):

whois -h whois.radb.net 128.223.0.0/16

The output includes an RADb "Route object" containing information about the network:

route:         128.223.0.0/16
descr:         UONet
               University of Oregon
               Computing Center
               Eugene, OR 97403-1212
               USA
origin:        AS3582
mnt-by:        MAINT-AS3582
changed:       meyer@ns.uoregon.edu 19960222
source:        RADB

(This example is taken from RFC 2650, "Using RPSL in Practice.")

You can also request information about a particular AS:

whois -h whois.radb.net AS8

The aut-num object is shown below:

aut-num:    AS8
as-name:    RICE
descr:      Rice University AS
import:     from AS2914
            action pref=100;
            accept RS-ALL
import:     from AS4557
            action pref=100;
            accept RS-ALL
import:     from AS7276
            action pref=100;
            accept RS-ALL
import:     from AS3356
            action pref=100;
            accept RS-ALL
export:     to AS2914
            announce ANY
export:     to AS3356
            announce ANY
export:     to AS4557
            announce AS8
export:     to AS7276
            announce ANY
tech-c:     CF2182
admin-c:    FG50
notify:     hostmaster@rice.edu
mnt-by:     MAINT-AS8
changed:    cathyf@rice.edu 20050205
source:     RADB

Aut-num objects provide a description of an Autonomous System's routing policy. The import field in the example above tells you what routes are imported by AS8; the export field tells you what routes it exports.

Query Options

There are two different sets of query flags that can be used to query the RADB whois.radb.net supports queries with both types of flags.

! RADB Query Flags
- RIPE Query Flags

In any one query you cannot combine a RIPE flag with a RADB flag. If you plan on making a large number of queries please invoke a persistent TCP/IP session. This is done by connecting directly to whois.radb.net and issuing the !! command (e.g. with telnet or netcat). This will spare our server having to establish and teardown connections for every query.

Example:

[darkstar ~]$ telnet whois.radb.net 43
Trying 198.108.0.18...
Connected to whois.radb.net.
Escape character is '^]'.
!!
192.168.0.0/16
%  No entries found for the selected source(s).
198.108.62.0
route:        198.108.0.0/16
descr:        MERIT Network Inc.
descr:        4251 Plymouth Rd
descr:        Ann Arbor
descr:        MI 48105-2785, USA
origin:       AS237
mnt-by:       MAINT-AS237
changed:      har@merit.edu 20001115
source:       SAVVIS
!q
Connection closed by forExample host.
[darkstar ~]$

IRRd Specific Commands

!g Get routes with specified origin.

Example:
% whois -h whois.radb.net '\!gas237'

!6  Get IPv6 routes with specified origin. e.g., !6as1234. This is the
IPv6 equivalent of the '!g' command.

!i  Return members of an as-set or route-set. Optionally,
    recursively expand members of all sets within the named set.
        !iAS-ESNETEU  # non-recursive, don't expand
                        # any embedded as-set's
        !iAS-ESNETEU,1   # expand any embedded as-set's
        !iRS-FOOBAR,1    # recursive expansion of a route-set

!j  performs distributed checks on database synchronization.
    This command makes it possible to view the mirror status
    (oldest journal number, CURRENTSERIAL) for a database.
    If a : is present after the range, the database was last
    exported at that serial number.    For example:
    !jRADB,RIPE,,
    !j-*                # Show all databases
    Output:
    A
    RADB:Y:1000-2000
    VERIO:Y:3500-4500:4000
    RIPE:N:0-666
    FOO:X:
    BAR:X:
    C
    Y means that the database is mirrorable.
    N means that the database is not mirrorable, but the
    local IRRd server is reporting the current serial number.
    You can use this option to check for updates. The first
    number will _always_ be zero. The second number may be
    zero if the CURRENTSERIAL file doesn't exist.
    X means that the database doesn't exist, or the local
    server is denying information about an existing database
    for administrative reasons.
    Returned databases are canonicalized to upper case.

!m  Match an object of the specified type with the specified
    key. Return immediately after first match.
        Example, !maut-num,as701       #lookup aut-num object
        Example, !mmntner,maint-as237  #lookup mntner object

!n  Identify the tool for statistics/logging purposes.
        Example, !nRoe

!o  Display all objects maintained by a given mntner name.
        Example, !oMAINT-AS237

!q  Quit the IRRd session.
    Example, !q

!r  Perform route searches.
    Default finds exact prefix/len match.
    o - return origin of exact match(es)
    l - one-level less specific
    L - all less specific
    M - all more specific
        Example, !r141.211.128/24,l

!s  Set the sources to the specified list.
    Default is all sources.
    Default search order is the order in which sources are
    configured in the irrd-conf file.
        Example, !sradb,ripe,savvis
    lc - show the currently selected sources
        Example, !s-lc

!v  Provide the IRRd version number.
        Example, !v

RIPE Specific Commands

-s  Set the sources to the specified list.
    Example -s radb

-m  First level more specifics of a route object
    Example: -m 65.88.176.0/20

-M  All level more specifics of a route object
    Example: -M 65.88.176.0/20

-l  First level less spefics of a route object
    Example -l 65.88.176.0/20

-L  All levels less specfics of a route object
    Example -L 65.88.176.0/20

-i mnt-by   Find objects associated(mnt-by) a specified maintainer
    Example -i mnt-by MAINT-AS237

-i origin   Find objects with a specified origin AS
    Example: -i origin AS237

-t  Show the template for specified object type
    Example: -t route

-k  Establish a persistent connection
    Like the !! command, this prevents the closure
    of the connection after the initial query

-K  Return only primary key for specified object
    Example: -K MAINT-AS237

-T  Return only objects of specified type
    Example:  -T route 65.88.176.0/20

-g  for mirroring purposes