OBSOLETE: See updated article at https://blog.ip2location.com/knowledge-base/finding-and-using-geofeed-file-rfc-9632/

We’ve previously covered what is a Geofeed file as specified by RFC 8805 specification. If you are not sure what is a Geofeed file, please read https://blog.ip2location.com/knowledge-base/what-is-geofeed/ first as it is related to this article.

In this article, we’ll go through the basics of RFC 9092 which specify a method of publishing a Geofeed file for each IP range.

Regional Internet Registry (RIR)

RIR is an organization that manages the allocation and registration of Internet number resources within a region of the world. Internet number resources include IP addresses and autonomous system (AS) numbers.

As of 2005, there are currently five regional registries:

• The African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC) is based in Ebene, Mauritius and serves all of Africa.
• The American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) is based in Chantilly, Virginia and serves Antarctica, Canada, the United States, and some Caribbean countries and territories.
• The Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC) is based in Brisbane, Australia and serves East, South and Southeast Asia and Oceania.
• The Latin America and Caribbean Network Information Centre (LACNIC) is based in Montevideo, Uruguay and serves Latin America as well as some Caribbean countries.
• Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre (RIPE NCC) is based in Amsterdam, Netherlands and serves Central and West Asia, Europe, and Russia.

WHOIS Database

The above registries maintain their own WHOIS database for IP ranges under their management. Anyone can query a WHOIS database by IP address.

Inside the WHOIS database, you can find info about the organization that is currently assigned to a specific IP range. While there are a lot of data in the WHOIS, the purpose of this article centers on the part where the current user of the IP range can publish a link to a Geofeed file for that range.

NOTE: To change WHOIS data, you will need to contact your registry or use the tools/websites they provide.

Finding and Using Geofeed Data (RFC 9092)

According to the RFC 9092 specification, there are a couple of ways to publish the link for the Geofeed files within the WHOIS data. Inside the WHOIS, there will be an “inetnum” object which you can add the link to a single Geofeed file like the example below:

Option 1:

inetnum: 192.0.2.0/24 # example

remarks: Geofeed https://example.com/ip2location.csv

OR

Option 2:

inetnum: 192.0.2.0/24 # example

geofeed: https://example.com/ip2location.csv

Option 2 is actually the desired standard as laid out in the RFC 9092. However, not all registries may support the “geofeed” attribute at present.

In those cases, users can instead go with the “remark” attribute as shown in Option 1. Do note that with Option 1, the “Geofeed” word is case-sensitive.

WARNING: The ARIN registry uses different terms for “inetnum” and “remarks”.

So, for ARIN, change “inetnum” to “NetRange” and change “remarks” to “Comment”.

E.g.

NetRange: 192.0.2.0/24 # example

Comment: Geofeed https://example.com/ip2location.csv

Conclusion

Basically, that’s how you can easily publish your Geofeed files for the various IP ranges that you operate. Now, any IP geolocation providers such as IP2Location, can easily find your Geofeed CSV files and you don’t have to manually submit any geolocation changes.

IP2Location supports RFC 9092 to find the latest Geofeed file. However, the geofeed file is still subject to accuracy validation against network routing announcement to prevent abuses.

---