WarningThe author of this article is new to the public network and there may be typos/errors/subjective interpretations. If you find any issues, feel free to point them out in the comments.
It is strongly recommended to visit DN42 to learn about BGP for the first time. This article introduces the registration process for Internet entity ASNs.
For information on the ASN application process in DN42, please refer to Lan Tian's Introduction to DN42 Experimental Network and Registration Tutorial.
Basic Concepts
Currently, public ASN and IP resource allocation are managed by five Regional Internet Registries (RIRs):
- AFRINIC: responsible for the African region
(although it has gone bankrupt) - ARIN: responsible for the North American region
- LACNIC: responsible for Latin America and the Caribbean
- RIPE NCC: responsible for Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia
- APNIC: responsible for the Asia-Pacific region
RIRs do not provide services directly to end users, but authorize resources to Local Internet Registries (LIRs), which then authorize them to end users. Of course, if you do not want to obtain resources through an LIR and are willing to pay several thousand dollars annually as a membership fee, you can register as an RIR member and apply for resources directly from the RIR.
When choosing an RIR, RIPE NCC is widely recommended based on the following three considerations:
- Cost-effectiveness: The registration fees of RIPE NCC are relatively reasonable. In contrast, APNIC's base fees are about 30% higher, and there are additional management costs.
- System convenience: RIPE NCC provides a comprehensive online management system, allowing users to independently complete progress inquiries, configuration modifications, and other operations. Some processes of APNIC still rely on email communication, which is relatively inefficient.
- Policy stability: RIPE NCC's policy adjustments are relatively mild and predictable, which is a significant advantage compared to some other regional institutions.
In summary, based on existing data analysis, RIPE NCC is a relatively ideal choice for individuals applying for ASNs, followed by APNIC or ARIN.
Preparation Materials
When applying for an ASN, you need to provide the following necessary materials to the LIR (taking RIPE NCC as an example):
Identity Verification
- Individual: Provide an ID card or passport
- Enterprise: Provide a business license or valid corporate registration documents
Note: If the applicant is a minor, their legal guardian must provide a written consent form and fulfill corresponding guardianship responsibilities. If you do not know how to write a consent form, you can contact your LIR. All submitted documents must be authentic and valid, and must be originals or notarized copies.
Contact Information
- Physical communication address (for WHOIS database registration and KYC)
- Technical operation contact email (NOC Email)
- Abuse report contact email (Abuse Email, can be the same as the previous one)
Technical Requirement Proof
- A valid bill or contract issued by a BGP service provider located in Europe within the last two months (I use BuyVM. RIPE NCC may require the provision of the data center address and backend screenshots, please provide as required. If possible, you can provide them to your LIR in advance to avoid delays,
I made a mistake, so you don't have to) - At least two BGP upstream providers' ASNs
Create WHOIS Database Entry
1. Register RIPE NCC Access Account
Go to RIPE NCC Access official website to complete the registration, this article will not elaborate further.
2. Create role and maintainer objects
Go to RIPE Database - Create role and maintainer pair
The role object is an abstraction of a role performed by one or more individuals, such as a department that handles network events.
The maintainer object is an abstraction of the maintainer that records the maintainer's authentication information. Other objects specify which maintainer manages them through the mnt-by attribute.
When creating the object pair, you need to fill in:
- mntner: the identifier of the maintainer object, which can contain uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and _-, for example: LAUNCHPAD-MNT
- role: the name of the role object, which can contain uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and][)(._"*@,&:!'+/-, for example: LaunchPad Network NOC
- address: the office address of this role
- e-mail: the email contact address of this role
Using my LAUNCHPAD-MNT as an example
After filling in, click the SUBMIT button, which will create both a role and a maintainer object. You need to note down the primary key (nic-hdl) of the role object, which will be required later for your LIR and will be used in almost all objects.
3. Set Abuse Notification Email
ImportantRIPE NCC will periodically check the validity of this email, so be sure it is real and usable.
In the search box at the top of RIPE Database Query, fill in the primary key of the role object from the previous section and click the search button on the right. Next, click the Update object button in the upper right corner of the search results to jump to the modification page.
Click the + button to the right of the e-mail field to add the abuse-mailbox attribute to this role object.
In the abuse-mailbox field that appears, fill in the abuse notification email and click the SUBMIT button to save.
4. Create Organisation Object
The organisation object is an abstraction of a company, non-profit organization, or individual, and all other resources are related to this object. It is the starting point for managing data in the RIPE database.
When creating the organisation object through RIPE Database - Create organisation, you need to fill in:
- mnt-by: who manages it, automatically filled with the identifier of the previously created maintainer
- organisation: the identifier of the organisation object, automatically filled with AUTO-1, which will be generated by the system
- org-name: the name of this organisation, must be the legal full name of the organization or one of the personal names
- address: the contact address of this organisation, must be one of the legal addresses of the organization or personal residence
- e-mail: the email contact address of this organisation
- abuse-c: the abuse notification contact for this organisation, must point to a role object with the abuse-mailbox attribute
- mnt-ref: who can reference this organisation, the pointed maintainer can add objects pointing to this organisation, that is, who allocates resources for this organization. You can ask your LIR for the specific value
My organisation object for reference
After filling in, click SUBMIT and note down the returned object identifier, which is in a format similar to ORG-XXXX-RIPE.
Ex. How to modify if there was an error?
When you find that there is something wrong above, go to RIPE Database Query to search for the primary key of the object you need to correct, click the Update object button in the upper right corner to jump to the modification page, edit and then SUBMIT.
If you do not know the primary key of the object you want to correct, or just want to check, you can use the reverse search function to query the objects managed by your maintainer.
Submit Materials to LIR and Pay Fees
You need to provide the following materials to the LIR:
- Company registration certificate / passport (front and back of Chinese resident ID card)
- Proof of network activity within the RIPE NCC service area (e.g., a bill for a European VPS, and it is also recommended to provide the data center address and backend screenshots)
- org (Section 4, organisation object identifier)
- admin-c (Section 2, role object primary key)
- tech-c (Section 2, role object primary key)
- abuse-c (Section 2, role object primary key)
- mnt-by (Section 2, maintainer object identifier)
Then, according to the LIR's requirements, pay the relevant fees and wait for RIPE NCC to review. If all goes well, you will have your own ASN in 1-3 working days!