RIPE Database docs

Command Line Queries ​

Queries can be run from almost any computer (connected to the Internet) using standard features built into most operating systems. Some common methods include Netcat, Telnet and a Whois Client.

Netcat ​

Netcat is a computer networking service for reading from and writing to network connections, using TCP or UDP. Netcat can be used directly or easily driven by other programs and scripts. Netcat can often be abbreviated to the command 'nc'. This is an example query using netcat.

$ nc whois.ripe.net 43
% This is the RIPE Database query service.
% The objects are in RPSL format.
%
% The RIPE Database is subject to Terms and Conditions.
% See http://www.ripe.net/db/support/db-terms-conditions.pdf

-rBGTroute 193.0.7.35
route:          193.0.0.0/21
descr:          RIPE-NCC
origin:         AS3333
mnt-by:         RIPE-NCC-MNT
created:        1970-01-01T00:00:00Z
last-modified:  2008-09-10T14:27:53Z
source:         RIPE

% This query was served by the RIPE Database Query Service version 1.75 (DB-3)

Telnet ​

Telnet is a network protocol used on the Internet to provide a bidirectional, interactive, text-oriented, communication facility using a virtual, terminal connection. This is an example query using telnet.

$ telnet whois.ripe.net 43
Trying 2001:67c:2e8:22::c100:687...
Connected to whois.ripe.net.
Escape character is '^]'.
% This is the RIPE Database query service.
% The objects are in RPSL format.
%
% The RIPE Database is subject to Terms and Conditions.
% See http://www.ripe.net/db/support/db-terms-conditions.pdf

-rBGTroute 193.0.7.35
route:         193.0.0.0/21
descr:         RIPE-NCC
origin:        AS3333
mnt-by:        RIPE-NCC-MNT
created:       1970-01-01T00:00:00Z
last-modified: 2008-09-10T14:27:53Z
source:        RIPE

% This query was served by the RIPE Database Query Service version 1.75 (DB-3)

Whois Client ​

This is a small program that connects to the RIPE Whois Database, passes the search request to the database and prints out the response. Most computer operating systems include a default, basic whois client. However, these default clients often do not recognise all the added query options that the RIPE Database allows.

Windows ​

There is no default whois client in Windows. There are some alternatives which allows you to use a simplified version of whois.

Linux ​

  • Debian-based distributions: You can install Whois on this distribution using apt install whois

This installs the Intelligent WHOIS Client by Marco d'Itri. For more information, refer to https://github.com/rfc1036/whois

To query the RIPE database, use the format: whois <query-string>

$ whois --version

Version 5.5.13.

Report bugs to <md+whois@linux.it>.



$ whois -rBGTroute 193.0.7.35

% This is the RIPE Database query service.
% The objects are in RPSL format.
%
% The RIPE Database is subject to Terms and Conditions.
% See http://www.ripe.net/db/support/db-terms-conditions.pdf

route:          193.0.0.0/21
descr:          RIPE-NCC
origin:         AS3333
mnt-by:         RIPE-NCC-MNT
created:        1970-01-01T00:00:00Z
last-modified:  2008-09-10T14:27:53Z
source:         RIPE

% This query was served by the RIPE Database Query Service version 1.103 (WAGYU)
  • Fedora-based distributions: You can install Whois using yum install whois

This also installs the Intelligent WHOIS Client. To query the RIPE database, use the format: whois -h whois.ripe.net -- <query-string> You can use -- option to separate whois command options from whois server query options. A query containing spaces must be quoted as one argument to the whois command.

$ whois --version

jwhois version 4.0, Copyright (C) 1999-2007 Free Software Foundation, INC.
This program is free software with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; you may
redistribute it under the terms of the GNU General Public Licence


$ whois -h whois.ripe.net -- -rBGTroute 193.0.7.35

[Querying whois.ripe.net]
[whois.ripe.net]
% This is the RIPE Database query service.
% The objects are in RPSL format.
%
% The RIPE Database is subject to Terms and Conditions.
% See http://www.ripe.net/db/support/db-terms-conditions.pdf

route:          193.0.0.0/21
descr:          RIPE-NCC
origin:         AS3333
mnt-by:         RIPE-NCC-MNT
created:        1970-01-01T00:00:00Z
last-modified:  2008-09-10T14:27:53Z
source:         RIPE

% This query was served by the RIPE Database Query Service version 1.103 (WAGYU)

macOS ​

Whois is a command-line tool that is installed by default on this platform. As an alternative, Whois can also be installed using the Homebrew package manager.

To query the RIPE database, use the format: whois -h whois.ripe.net -- <query-string> You can use -- option to separate whois command options from whois server query options. A query containing spaces must be quoted as one argument to the whois command.

$ whois -h whois.ripe.net -- '-rBGTroute 193.0.7.35'

route:          193.0.0.0/21
descr:          RIPE-NCC
origin:         AS3333
mnt-by:         RIPE-NCC-MNT
created:        1970-01-01T00:00:00Z
last-modified:  2008-09-10T14:27:53Z
source:         RIPE

% This query was served by the RIPE Database Query Service version 1.103 (BLAARKOP)