How to Delete Objects from the RADB

A number of you have had problems when you tried to delete an object
from the RADB. Here is a brief tutorial on the subject. If you
have additional questions, please send a note to db-admin@ra.net.

-Brian

                   How to Delete Objects from the RADB

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and network operators will often need
to delete Route objects, AS objects, or Maintainer objects from the
RADB. You'll need to delete a Route object (and submit a new one), for
example, if:

   --You are changing ISPs and need to change the origin AS (Home AS) for
     your route
   --You are no longer using a particular route prefix
   --You are moving to a larger aggregate and want to delete a more
     specific prefix

If you want to change any of the following attributes, you'll first need
to delete the object, and then re-submit the corrected one:

      Object Field
      ----- -----
      Route route:
                               origin:
      AS aut-num:
      Maintainer mntner:

Follow these instructions to delete an object from the RADB:

1. Use the whois tool to get a copy of the object exactly as it currently
    exists in the registry. Put the object in a temporary file. For
    example:

         whois -h whois.ra.net 10.1.2.0/24 > temp

2. Edit the 'temp' file you've created. If the file contains more than
    one object, remove the extra objects so that only the object or
    objects you want to delete remain.

3. Do not change any lines in the object(s) you want to delete. Simply
    append a line such as the following to the objects:

         delete: user@your.net <reason for the deletion>

    To delete more than one object, append a 'delete:' line to each object
    and separate each object by a blank line. Your 'temp' file might then
    look like this:

   route: 10.1.2/24
         descr: Example-NET
   origin: AS0
   mnt-by: AS0-MNT
   changed: pern@Example-NET 950525
   source: RADB
   delete: user@your.net prefix no longer used

   route: 10.1.3/24
   descr: Example-NET
   origin: AS0
   comm-list: COMM_NSFNET
   advisory: AS690 1:701(136) 2:701(134) 3:1800
   mnt-by: AS0-MNT
   changed: pern@Example-NET 950525
   source: RADB
   delete: user@your.net prefix no longer used

4. Submit the object to auto-dbm@ra.net. For example:

         mail auto-dbm@ra.net < temp

If you have further questions about deleting RADB objects, send e-mail
to db-admin@ra.net.

Just for information and better understanding: The requirement to
include the current object in delete requests is there to prevent a race
condition. Someone else could change the object before you delete it.
Including the current object makes sure that you delete exactly what you
expect to delete. The registry software does a simple compare of the
objects and bounces the delete request if they do not match.

Daniel