NAME

IP::Random - Generate IP Addresses Randomly

VERSION

version 1.006

SYNOPSIS

use IP::Random qw(random_ipv4);

my $ipv4 = random_ipv4();

DESCRIPTION

This provides a random IP (IPv4 only currently) address, with some extensability to exclude undesired IPv4 addresses (I.E. don't return IP addresses that are in the multicast or RFC1918 ranges).

By default, the IP returned is a valid, publicly routable IP address, but this behavior can be adjusted.

FUNCTIONS

random_ipv4()

Returns a random IPv4 address to the caller (as a scalar string - I.E. in the format "1.2.3.4"). There are several named optional parameters available:

• rand

  This allows replacement of the random number generator. By default, the generator used is:

    sub { int(rand(shift() + 1)) }
  

  The code referenced passed as rand is called as a function with two arguments. The first argument is the maximum integer to generate (it must accept values up to at least 255). This will always be 255 when called by random_ipv4(), but is allowed to be specified to allow a generic routine to be used for future IPv4 and IPv6 address generation.

  The second argument (which probably won't be used by most generators) is the octet number starting at 1, from the left to right.

    my $rand = sub { int( rand( ( shift() +1 ) / 2 ) * 2 ) };
    my $ipv4 = random_ipv4( rand => $rand );
  

  The above code would return only even numbers for all 4 octets of the IPv4 address (this is probably not terribly useful).

  If you want to modify various arguments, perhaps excluding IP addresses ending in .0 and 255, you could do something like:

    my $rand = sub {
      my ( $max, $octet ) = @_;
  
      if ( $octet == 3 ) {    # Last (least significant) Octet
        return int( rand( $max / 2 - 1 ) * 2 ) + 2;
      } else {
        return int( rand( shift() +1 ) );
      }
    }
    my $ipv4 = random_ipv4( rand => $rand );
  

• exclude

  This is an array reference of CIDRs (in string format) to exclude from the results. See default_exclude() for the default list, which excludes addresses such as RFC1918 (private) IP addresses. If passed an empty list reference such as [], it will not exclude any IPs. This is almost certainly not what you desire (since it may return IPs in class D and class E space - such as 224.1.1.1 or 255.254.253.252).

  You might be better served by looking at additional_types_allowed.

  By default, the default exclude list will include all IP addresses that can, with certainty, be considered non-global IP addresses - for instance, RFC1918 addresses. It may include IP addresses that are not actually on the internet, however. A use might be to exclude an organization's own internal IPs. In that case, you should take the default excludes and add an additional exclude:

    my $ipv4 = random_ipv4(
      exclude => [ default_exclude(), '4.2.2.1/32' ] );
  

  Of course this particular example can also be done with the additional_exclude optional parameter.

  Note that exclude cannot be used with additional_types_allowed.

• additional_exclude

  Adds a list of exclude items, similar to exclude, but without removing the default exclude list. See the exclude parameter above. Like the exclude parameter, this expects to be a list reference.

  Example, to exclude a signle IP:

    my $ipv4 = rand_ipv4( additional_exclude => [ '4.2.2.1/32' ] );
  

• additional_types_allowed

  This is an array refence of strings that contain the "groups" you do not want to exclude by default. For instance, you may want to use some/all RFC1918 addresses.

  Valid groups:

  • rfc919

    Limited broadcast address (255.255.255.255/32).

  • rfc1112

    Multicast addresses (240.0.0.0/4)

  • rfc1122

    Basic protocol design (0.0.0.0/8, 127.0.0.0/8)

  • rfc1918

    Private-use networks (10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12, 192.168.0.0/16)

  • rfc2544

    Network interconnect device benchmark testing (198.18.0.0/15)

  • rfc3068

    6to4 relay anycast (192.88.99.0/24)

  • rfc3171

    Multicast (224.0.0.0/4)

  • rfc3927

    Link local (169.254.0.0/16)

  • rfc5736

    IETF protocol assignments (192.0.0.0/24)

  • rfc5737

    Documentation Addresses (192.0.2.0/24, 198.51.100.0/24, 203.0.113.0/24)

  • rfc6598

    Shared address space / Carrier NAT (100.64.0.0/10)

  A typical use might be to include 10.x.x.x RFC1918 addresses among possible addresses to return. This example allows addresses in the 10.x.x.x range while continuing to exclude 172.16.0.0/12 and 192.168.0.0/16:

    my $ipv4 = random_ipvr(
      additional_types_allowed => [ 'rfc1918' ],
      additional_exclude       => [ '172.16.0.0/20', '192.168.0.0/16' ]
    );
  

in_ipv4_subnet($subnet_cidr, $ip)

This is a helper function that tests whether an IP (passed as a string in the format "192.0.2.1") is in a subnet passed in string CIDR notation (for instance, "192.0.2.0/24").

Returns a true value if the IP is contained in the subnet, otherwise returns false.

Example, which returns a true value:

if (in_ipv4_subnet('127.0.0.0/8', '127.0.0.1')) {
  say "Is loopback!";
}

default_ipv4_exclude()

Returns the default exclude list for IPv4, as a list reference containing CIDR strings.

Additional CIDRs may be added to future versions, but in no case will standard Unicast publicly routable IPs be added.

This list contains:

• 0.0.0.0/8

  "This" Network (RFC1122, Section 3.2.1.3)

• 10.0.0.0/8

  Private-Use Networks (RFC1918)

• 100.64.0.0/10

  Shared Address Space (RFC6598)

• 127.0.0.0/8

  Loopback (RFC1122, Section 3.2.1.3)

• 169.254.0.0/16

  Link Local (RFC 3927)

• 172.16.0.0/12

  Private-Use Networks (RFC1918)

• 192.0.0.0/24

  IETF Protocol Assignments (RFC5736)

• 192.0.2.0/24

  TEST-NET-1 (RFC5737)

• 192.88.99.0/24

  6-to-4 Anycast (RFC3068)

• 192.168.0.0/16

  Private-Use Networks (RFC1918)

• 198.18.0.0/15

  Network Interconnect Device Benchmark Testing (RFC2544)

• 198.51.100.0/24

  TEST-NET-2 (RFC5737)

• 203.0.113.0/24

  TEST-NET-3 (RFC5737)

• 224.0.0.0/4

  Multicast (RFC3171)

• 240.0.0.0/4

  Reserved for Future Use (RFC 1112, Section 4)

SECURITY WARNING

The default random number generator used in this code is not cryptographically secure. See the rand option to random_ipv4() for information on how to substitute a different random number function.

TODO AND BUGS

This version uses a pretty ugly algorithm to generate the IP addresses. It's basically generating a unique IP address and then testing against the exclude list. It'll probably be a lot nicer to call the random function in a way that minimizes the amount of unnecessary calls (I.E. the first call shoudln't generally ask for an integer between zero and 255 since only 1 to 223 is actually allowable). A better approach would be to figure out how many IP addresses are available to be returned and then select a random one of those (basically a pick).

Methods to efficiently select non-duplicate IPs should be available. If the above is done, this should be reasonably feasible.

An OO interface may be nice to minimize per-call processing each time the above are done.

It should be possible to provide ranges that are acceptable to use for the generated IPs. Basically the opposite of "exclude" (but excludes should be applied afterwards still).

IPv6 support must be added. IPv4 is a subset of IPv6, so there should be one set of pick functions and the like, with wrappers to handle conversion of IPv4 to IPv6 and back, when needed.

I have plans to port this to Perl 6.

AUTHOR

Joelle Maslak jmaslak@antelope.net

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

This software is Copyright (c) 2018 by Joelle Maslak.

This is free software, licensed under:

The Artistic License 2.0 (GPL Compatible)