Creating a Role Object

A role object represents a group or function within an organization (e.g., NOC team, abuse department) rather than an individual person. Role objects are the preferred way to provide contact information in the RIPE Database because they are not tied to a single individual and can be maintained over time as staff changes.

Role vs. Person

	Role	Person
Represents	A team or function	An individual
NIC Handle	e.g., EXMP1-RIPE	e.g., JS1234-RIPE
Recommended for	admin-c, tech-c, abuse-c references	Individual accountability
Survives staff changes	Yes	No

tip

RIPE NCC recommends using role objects for admin-c and tech-c references in all your database objects. This way, you only need to update the role object when staff changes, instead of updating every object that references a person.

Prerequisites

• A RIPE NCC Access account
• A maintainer (mntner) object

Step 1: Open the RIPE Database Web Interface

1. Go to https://apps.db.ripe.net
2. Click "Create an Object"
3. Select "role" from the object type list

Step 2: Fill in the Role Fields

Here is an example of a role object:

role:           Example Company NOC
address:        71-75 Shelton Street
address:        Covent Garden
address:        London WC2H 9JQ
address:        United Kingdom
phone:          +44 20 1234 5678
e-mail:         noc@example.com
abuse-mailbox:  abuse@example.com
nic-hdl:        AUTO-1
mnt-by:         EXAMPLE-MNT
source:         RIPE

Field Descriptions

Field	Required	Description
role	Yes	Name describing the role/team
address	Yes	Postal address (multiple lines allowed)
phone	Yes	Phone number in international format
e-mail	Yes	Contact email address
abuse-mailbox	No	Dedicated abuse reporting email (required for abuse-c references)
nic-hdl	Yes	NIC handle — use AUTO-1 for auto-assignment
mnt-by	Yes	Maintainer that protects this object
source	Yes	Always RIPE

Optional Fields

Field	Description
fax-no	Fax number
org	Reference to an organization object
admin-c	Admin contact within the role
tech-c	Technical contact within the role
remarks	Free-text remarks

Step 3: Create via the Web Interface

1. Fill in all required fields
2. Set nic-hdl: to AUTO-1 — RIPE will assign a unique handle automatically
3. Set mnt-by: to your maintainer (e.g., EXAMPLE-MNT)
4. Click "Submit"
5. Note the assigned NIC handle (e.g., EXMP1-RIPE) — you will need it for other objects

Step 4: Create via Syncupdates (API)

curl -X POST "https://syncupdates.db.ripe.net/syncupdates/RIPE" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" \
  --data-urlencode "DATA=
role:           Example Company NOC
address:        71-75 Shelton Street
address:        Covent Garden
address:        London WC2H 9JQ
address:        United Kingdom
phone:          +44 20 1234 5678
e-mail:         noc@example.com
abuse-mailbox:  abuse@example.com
nic-hdl:        AUTO-1
mnt-by:         EXAMPLE-MNT
source:         RIPE
" \
  --data-urlencode "NEW=yes"

Step 5: Verify the Role Object

whois -h whois.ripe.net EXMP1-RIPE

Or search in the RIPE Database web interface.

Step 6: Update Your Maintainer

After creating the role object, update your maintainer's admin-c: to reference the new role:

mntner:         EXAMPLE-MNT
descr:          Example Company Maintainer
admin-c:        EXMP1-RIPE
upd-to:         noc@example.com
auth:           SSO user@example.com
mnt-by:         EXAMPLE-MNT
source:         RIPE

Creating an Abuse Role

If you manage IP address space, you are required to have an abuse-c contact. This must be a role object with an abuse-mailbox: field:

role:           Example Company Abuse
address:        71-75 Shelton Street
address:        Covent Garden
address:        London WC2H 9JQ
address:        United Kingdom
e-mail:         abuse@example.com
abuse-mailbox:  abuse@example.com
phone:          +44 20 1234 5678
nic-hdl:        AUTO-1
mnt-by:         EXAMPLE-MNT
source:         RIPE

warning

The abuse-mailbox must be a monitored, working email address. RIPE NCC periodically tests abuse contacts and may flag resources with non-functional abuse addresses.

Typical Role Structure for an Organization

Most organizations need at least two role objects:

Role	Purpose	Used as
NOC / Technical	Network operations and technical contact	admin-c, tech-c
Abuse	Handling abuse reports	abuse-c on organisation object

Common Mistakes

1. Using nic-hdl: AUTO-1 and forgetting to note the assigned handle — Write down the NIC handle returned after creation. You need it for referencing in other objects.
2. Missing abuse-mailbox on the abuse role — Without this field, the role cannot be used as an abuse-c reference.
3. Not protecting the role with a maintainer — Always set mnt-by to prevent unauthorized modifications.
4. Using a person object instead of a role for abuse-c — The abuse-c attribute on an organisation object must reference a role, not a person.

Next Steps

1. Create ROA objects to protect your route announcements
2. Set up RPKI synchronization