Quick Beginners Guide

The APNIC Whois Database is a publicly searchable database that contains records of numeric Internet resources from the ranges administered by APNIC in the Asia Pacific region, specifically:

IP address space ALLOCATIONS and ASSIGNMENTS; and
AS numbers (ASNs).

Each record contains a number of different ‘objects‘ which describe things such as: people, IP address allocations, AS numbers, domains (for Reverse Delegations), and network contact information.
Objects can make reference to other objects: for example, the IP address allocation object, called ‘inetnum‘, makes reference to ‘person’ and ‘maintainer’ objects.

Privacy of Customer Assignments

On 30 September 2004, APNIC implemented a policy regarding privacy of customer assignments in the APNIC Whois Database.

LIRs can decide whether or not their customer registration details will be publicly visible in the APNIC Whois Database. Database queries on customer assignments not designated ‘public’ will now be directed to the upstream provider’s registration informaiton.

These changes do not affect portable allocations and assignments.

For more information on this policy, see:

FAQs Privacy of customer assignments
prop-007 Privacy of customer assignment records
Section 3.1.2 of the APNIC Internet Number Resource Policies

About Objects

Objects are composed of standard attribute tags and values. Values for particular attributes are specified in templates.

The following 19 objects exist in the APNIC Whois Database. Networks are responsible for ensuring that all their objects in the database are updated as needed.

To view the ‘template‘ and ‘attributes‘ of an object, select the hyperlink on the object’s name.

Object name	Description
as-block	Shows the range of AS numbers delegated to Regional and National Internet Registries (NIRs). Used to stop unauthorized creation of ‘aut-num‘ objects.
as-set	A group of Autonomous Systems with the same routing policies.
aut-num	Contains details of the registered holder of an Autonomous System number (AS number) and their routing policy for that AS.
domain	Contains details of in-addr.arpa (IPv4) and ip6.arpa (IPv6) Reverse DNS Delegations.
filter-set	Defines the policy filter to be applied to a set of routes.
inet6num	Contains details of an allocation or assignment of IPv6 address space.
inetnum	Contains details of an allocation or assignment of IPv4 address space.
inet-rtr	Represents an Internet router within a Routing Registry.
irt	The irt object is used to provide information about a Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT). IRTs or CSIRTs specifically respond to computer security incident reports and activity. They are dedicated abuse handling teams, (as distinct from network operational departments) which review and respond to abuse reports.
key-cert	Stores a PGP certificate for use with ‘mntner’ objects for authentication when performing object updates.
mntner	Contains details of the authorized agent able to make changes to APNIC Whois Database objects. Also includes details of a process that verifies that the person making the changes is authorized to do so. “Maintainer” objects can be created via MyAPNIC under Resources -> whois update -> add See also: Authentication options for mntner objects PGP authentication and mntner objects
organization	Contains only business information about an organization.
peering-set	Defines a set of peerings listed in the object’s peering attribute.
person	Contains details of technical or administrative contact responsible for the object where it is referenced.
role	Contains details of technical or administrative contacts as represented by a role, performed by one or more people within an organization, such as a Helpdesk or Network Operations Centre.
route	Represents a single IPv4 route injected into the Internet routing mesh.
route6	Represents a single IPv6 route injected into the Internet routing mesh.
route-set	Defines a set of routes that can be represented by route objects or address prefixes.
rtr-set	A rtr-set object defines a set of routers.