How to Announce Your IPv4 Addresses After a RIPE Transfer

Using Your IPv4 Addresses After Transfer

Congratulations on completing your IPv4 address transfer! Now that the addresses are registered under your organization in the RIPE Database, you need to set up routing authorization before they can be announced on the internet. This guide walks you through every step.

Step 1: Get Your AS Number

To announce IPv4 addresses on the internet, you need an Autonomous System Number (ASN). If you do not have your own ASN, contact your datacenter or infrastructure provider (the ISP or hosting company where your servers are located) and tell them:

“We have our own IPv4 addresses registered at RIPE and we want to use them. We do not have our own AS number. Could you provide us with the ASN under which we can announce these addresses?”

Your provider will share their ASN with you (e.g., AS12345). Once you have the ASN, you can proceed to the next steps.

Step 2: Create a Route Object in RIPE Database

A Route object tells the global routing system which ASN is authorized to originate (announce) your IP prefix. Here is how to create one:

1. Go to RIPE Database and sign in with your RIPE Access account.
2. Click on Create an Object from the main menu.
3. In the Object type dropdown, select “route”.
4. Click Create.
5. Fill in the required fields:
   • route: Enter your IP prefix in CIDR notation (e.g., 185.100.200.0/24)
   • origin: Enter the AS number (e.g., AS12345)
6. Click Submit.

Step 3: Create an RPKI ROA

RPKI (Resource Public Key Infrastructure) provides a cryptographic layer of routing security. A ROA (Route Origin Authorization) cryptographically certifies that a specific ASN is authorized to announce your prefix. Many networks now filter routes based on RPKI validity, so this step is essential.

1. Sign in to the RIPE NCC Portal.
2. Navigate to RPKI in the left menu.
3. Click on ROAs.
4. Click Create New ROA.
5. Fill in the fields:
   • Origin AS: Enter your AS number (e.g., AS12345)
   • Prefix: Enter your IP subnet (e.g., 185.100.200.0/24)
   • Max Length: Usually set this to the same as your prefix length (e.g., 24). Only increase if you plan to announce more-specific sub-prefixes.
6. Click Save.
7. Review the pending changes and click Apply Changes.

Step 4: Notify Your Provider

Once the Route object and ROA are in place, contact your datacenter or ISP and let them know that routing authorization is set up. Provide them with:

• Your IP prefix (e.g., 185.100.200.0/24)
• The ASN used in the Route object and ROA
• Confirmation that both the Route object and RPKI ROA have been created

Your provider will then configure BGP on their routers to announce your prefix. Within minutes to a few hours, your IPv4 addresses will be reachable from the internet.

Verification

After announcement, you can verify everything is working:

• BGP Announcement: Check bgp.he.net — search for your prefix to confirm it is being announced.
• RPKI Status: Check RIPE RPKI Validator — your ROA should show as “Valid.”
• Looking Glass: Use your provider’s looking glass tool to confirm the route is propagated.

Summary

That’s it! Your IPv4 addresses are now live on the internet. If you need any assistance during this process, feel free to reach out to us at info@ipv4center.com.