RADb Query Help

Back to Query

The RADB whois server provides information collected from all the registries that form part of the Internet Routing Registry. These collected registries provide information on most of the networks and ASs routed in the Internet today. The query server is easy to use. 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:       [email protected] 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:     [email protected]
mnt-by:     MAINT-AS8
changed:    [email protected] 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:

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 telneting directly to whois.radb.net and issuing the !! command. 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:      [email protected] 20001115
source:       SAVVIS
q
Connection closed by [example] host.

IRRd-Specific Commands

We support the following IRRd 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    # recusive 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

We support the following RIPE 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