RIPEstat: New Text Service Now Available
RIPEstat users have been asking for an alternative text-based interface, and we listened. We’re pleased to announce the RIPEstat Text Service, which offers the same consolidated, useful information about IP addresses and Autonomous System Numbers as the regular web interface, but is designed for users who prefer to use a command-line program and are interested in including RIPEstat data in their own scripts.
RIPEstat users can access the plaintext TCP service using standard tools on stat.ripe.net port 43. They also have the option to download and install the open source code, which includes a command-line program.
This also means users can customise the code for their own needs, such as creating their own widget, and share their contributions with the rest of the community.
The RIPEstat Text Service uses a simple line-based protocol that works with a number of text-based network clients, including whois. However, it differs from standard whois interfaces like the one for the RIPE Database.
Below you can see an example output of a whois query.
whois -h stat.ripe.net as3333
% Results for 'as3333' % You can see graphical visualizations at https://stat.ripe.net/as3333 as-overview: AS3333 announced: yes description: RIPE-NCC-AS - Reseaux IP Europeens Network Coordination Cen part-of: AS1-65535: the 16-bit ASN Block query-time: 2012-10-27T14:56:00 to 2012-10-30T14:56:00 geoloc: AS3333 location: 100.0% NL query-time: 2012-10-01T00:00:00 registry-browser: AS3333 type: aut-num as-name: RIPE-NCC-AS descr: Reseaux IP Europeens Network Coordination Centre org: ORG-RIEN1-RIPE admin-c: JDR-RIPE admin-c: BRD-RIPE tech-c: OPS4-RIPE mnt-by: RIPE-NCC-END-MNT mnt-by: RIPE-NCC-MNT num-versions: 90 % The ref-by- fields show which objects refer to AS3333 ref-by-route: 126.96.36.199/21|AS3333 ref-by-route: 188.8.131.52/23|AS3333 ref-by-route: 184.108.40.206/23|AS3333 ref-by-route: 220.127.116.11/23|AS3333 ref-by-route: 18.104.22.168/23|AS3333 ref-by-route: 22.214.171.124/23|AS3333 ref-by-route6: 2001:67c:2e8::/48|AS3333 routing-status: AS3333 ipv4-visibility: 100% of 91 peers ipv6-visibility: 100% of 83 peers first-seen: before Jan 2001 announced-v4: 6 prefixes; 4608 IPs announced-v6: 1 prefixes; 1 /48 equivalents bgp-neighbours: 165 query-time: 2012-10-29T00:00:00
Figure 1: Example of a query result in the new text service
To start with, eight of the RIPEstat data calls currently available in the web interface have been specifically tailored for the text service. However, the other data calls will still produce a “best effort” output. Additional functionality will be developed based on the feedback we get from you, the users, about what would be most useful.
You can see more examples of queries and the output format, and learn how to request new data calls and contribute your own enhancements to the service on the RIPEstat Text Service documentation page.
Please send your comments, questions and suggestions to stat [at] ripe [dot] net or join the Measurement Analysis and Tools (MAT) working group mailing list or more in-depth discussions about RIPEstat.