Notification Messages

There are a number of attributes that may cause notification (notif) messages to be generated:

• "notify:"
• "mnt-nfy:"
• "upd-to:"
• "irt-nfy:"
• "ref-nfy:"

Where there are multiple instances of any notification attribute, all email values will be sent an individual notif message email. Where the notification attribute is contained in a referenced object (for example, in a mntner) and there are multiple references, all the referenced objects will be taken to form a list of email addresses. All these addresses will be sent an individual notif message email. Updates can contain multiple objects. These objects can contain different sets of notification email addresses. Some of the notification email addresses may appear in more than one set. Each email address to be sent a notif message has its own individual message generated that only contains details of the objects that reference that email address. So each notif message that is sent may contain different information.

There are many attributes related to notifications. These may be contained in many related objects. All the notification attributes can take multiple values and all appropriate email addresses will be used. It is not always obvious why you have received a notification. You can find out why you received a notification by following all references from the object(s) listed in the notification message and looking at the notification attributes that all of these objects contain.

Notification Attributes

The "notify:" attribute is an optional attribute in all object types. It is used when an object is successfully created or updated. The "notify:" attribute of the old version of the object is used if the object is being modified. If the update fails for any reason then no notifications will be sent to any "notify:" email addresses.

The optional "mnt-nfy:" and mandatory "upd-to:" attributes can only be included in mntner objects.

When a maintained object is updated successfully, a notification message will be sent to email addresses contained in all "mnt-nfy:" attributes of all mntner objects that are referenced by the updated object.

Sometimes an update fails one or more of the required authentications. This is considered a security issue. It could mean that someone is attempting to gain control of or change your data. In this case, notifications are sent to all the email addresses contained in all the "upd-to:" attributes of all the mntner objects that are referenced by the object in the update. This is sometimes the only attribute holding an email address that is associated with an object. The RIPE NCC may occasionally use this email address to contact someone related to an object in the RIPE Database for any security-related issue. More general issues may also be raised addressed using this email address if this is the only contact point for an object.

The optional "irt-nfy:" attribute is only allowed in an irt object. This is used when a reference to an irt object is added to, or removed from, an inetnum or inet6num object (by means of the "mnt-irt:" attribute).

The optional "ref-nfy:" attribute is only allowed in an organisation object. This is used when a reference to an organisation object is added to an object (using the "org:" attribute).

Format of the Notification Message

The format of a notification message is similar to the ack message for an email update. The first section of the message explains why you are being sent this notification. The next section of the notification message has the email header or IP address details showing where the update came from. The final section shows the changes that were contained in the update message, if it was successful. For a creation it shows the newly created object. For a deletion, it shows the object that was deleted. For a modification, it shows the new version of the object. In this case, a ‘diff' is also included to show the difference between the original object and the new object. If the modification update failed, the current version of the object is shown and the diff shows the change that was being attempted.

If using passwords in an update message, be cautious when entering this. If you mistype the password pseudo-attribute (eg "password: clear_password") the notification will include your clear text password.

The "upd-to:" attribute in a MNTNER object should only include the email address of a person or team in your organisation who deals with security issues. If this team receives a notification containing a clear text password, they should advise the user to change their password.

Each notification message is only sent to a single email address. There is no email address copied (via CC) in any notification. When multiple email addresses need to be notified of the same update, each address will receive its own email. This email will contain all notification details of objects that are contained in the update message that relates to that email address. For an update with multiple objects, referencing several mntner objects, where several objects have a variety of notification attributes, the software builds a matrix of email addresses and updated objects. This ensures that only the appropriate details are sent to each email address.