Updating the RIPE Database
In the RIPE Database, you can create or modify objects in four different ways:
- Webupdates — Use the RIPE NCC website to update objects (or create them here)
- Syncupdates — By posting plain text content via HTTPS
- Email updates — By sending a plain text email to the RIPE Database robot
- RESTful API — By posting data in JSON or XML format
Webupdates
Webupdates on the RIPE NCC website is designed to make changes to the RIPE Database as simple as possible. If you are starting out with managing objects in the RIPE Database, we recommend you use this method. Webupdates allows you to create and update objects line by line, with help text for each attribute, or you can switch to a text area giving you more editing flexibility. It also offers auto-complete on various attributes such as names, role objects, AS Numbers and more. Lastly, Webupdates has various wizards for completing complicated tasks, such as setting up Reverse DNS.
With Webupdates you can use your RIPE NCC Access account for seamless authentication across all of the services we offer, including the maintainer for your RIPE Database objects. Though we do not recommend using passwords on your maintainer for everyday usage, it is still possible to use them to authenticate. When you do, you will be asked to associate your RIPE NCC Access account with your maintainer, so you can start using that instead.
Syncupdates
Updating the RIPE Database directly over HTTPS is convenient when you are scripting, as the entire process returns an immediate, synchronous result from the RIPE Database. Syncupdates supports PGP signing and passwords as authentication.
Syncupdates can be used directly by connecting to https://syncupdates.db.ripe.net/
It accepts input as either a POST or a GET method. It responds with the response header and the acknowledgement in text/plain format. When sending a POST, there are several variables available but the most important one to keep in mind is DATA, which should contain the actual update message.
Here is an example of signing your new or updated RIPE Database objects with your PGP key and posting them via HTTPS from the Unix/Linux command line:
$ gpg --clearsign updates.txt (will produce updates.txt.asc)$ curl --data-urlencode DATA _at_ updates.txt _dot_ asc http://syncupdates.db.ripe.net
The server will return the usual HTTP headers and the body with an acknowledgement or error message immediately.
Please note that we also offer a web-based frontend for Syncupdates on the RIPE NCC website. It allows you to update multiple objects at once, and supports PGP signing, RIPE NCC Access and passwords as authentication. For more information on the usage, headers and response messages, please refer to the Syncupdates section of the RIPE Database documentation.
The web-based frontend for Syncupdates is available at https://apps.db.ripe.net/db-web-ui/syncupdates
Email updates
It's possible to make changes to the RIPE Database by sending an email to auto-dbm _at_ ripe _dot_ net, which can be used for a one-off update from your mail client or as an alternative way of scripting access. All you have to do is send your new or updated objects in an email body, along with the proper credentials. The recommended method for doing this is by signing the email with your PGP key. Though using a password works for now, we strongly discourage it because it involves sending a clear text password over the Internet. Once you have sent your objects, the RIPE Database email robot will reply with a success or error message. Please note that this may take some time because the RIPE NCC uses greylisting on its mail servers. In addition, keep in mind that if you are sending a lot of updates via email, keeping track of which reply message belongs to which update may be complicated as the entire process is asynchronous.
Here is an example of signing your new or updated RIPE Database objects with your PGP key and sending them via email from the Unix/Linux command line:
$ gpg --clearsign updates.txt (will produce updates.txt.asc)$ mail -s 'Bulk inetnum update' auto-dbm _at_ ripe _dot_ net < updates.txt.asc
For more information on email updates, please refer to the Email Updates section of the RIPE Database documentation.
RESTful API
The RESTful API can be used to update the RIPE Database with objects that are submitted in JSON or XML format.
The RESTful API can be used for both queries and updates. The HTTP methods supported are:
The client should specify the desired response format using the Accept: header in the HTTP request.
The use of a mntner password as authentication is mandatory. It must be supplied as part of the Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) using the query parameter “password=”. One parameter should be used for each password supplied.
Here is an example of submitting a new RIPE Database object via the RESTful API in JSON format from the Unix/Linux command line:
$ curl -X POST -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -H 'Accept: application/json' --data @update.txt 'https://rest.db.ripe.net/ripe/person?password=...'
Full documentation on the RESTful API is available on GitHub.