documentation
Concise by design.
The manual pages and the commented headers are the reference. What is written down is listed here; if something is unclear, ask.
Server
Installation & usageRequirements, quick install, the advanced manual steps.
Operations guideSample scripts, configs and public route-view sources.
FAQOutput formats, field semantics, rate limits, JSON, bulk.
Clients
LFT manual pageEvery engine, modifier and output mode of Layer Four Traceroute.
WhoB manual pageThe one-line whois client.
LFT changelogWhat shipped, release by release.
MilterInstall, Postfix and Sendmail hookup, log rotation.
Libraries
C libraryThe commented
whois.h, straight from the source.PHP clientExample bulk client with live output.
RIPE RIS clientPHP example against RIPE NCC's RIS.
Open source licenseThe terms everything ships under.
Query grammar, in one screen
# the address is the only requirement
1.2.3.4
1.2.3.4/24 # CIDR accepted; /32 assumed otherwise; ports stripped
# output dialect
type=pwhois|all|json|jsonp|json-all|jsonp-all|cymru|rpsl 1.2.3.4
# bulk, one connection (native and cymru types)
begin
type=cymru
1.2.3.4:80
5.6.7.8/32
end
# look at the table itself
routeview prefix=1.2.3.4/8
routeview source-as=12345
routeview transit-as=12345
# status
version # table size, peers, cache freshness
help
What's in an answer
| IP | The address you asked about. |
| Origin-AS | The autonomous system announcing the most-specific matching prefix right now. |
| Prefix | That most-specific prefix, e.g. 4.0.0.0/9. |
| AS-Path | The path from the answering server's vantage point. Subjective by nature. |
| AS-Org-Name | Organization registered for the origin AS. |
| Org-Name / Net-Name | Organization and network name from the address registry. |
| Cache-Date | When this server last refreshed its routing-table cache. |
| Route-Originated-Date / -TS | When this AS first originated this prefix. New route, new risk. |
| City … Longitude | Best-available geography for the prefix. |
Field order is not guaranteed. Parse by key.