GeoIP .NET API#

Description#

This distribution provides an API for the GeoIP and GeoLite web services and databases.

Installation#

NuGet#

We recommend installing this library with NuGet. To do this, type the following into the Visual Studio Package Manager Console:

install-package MaxMind.GeoIP2

IP Geolocation Usage#

IP geolocation is inherently imprecise. Locations are often near the center of the population. Any location provided by a GeoIP database or web service should not be used to identify a particular address or household.

Web Service Usage#

To use the web service API, first create a new WebServiceClient object with your account ID and license key:

var client = new WebServiceClient(42, "license_key1");

To query the GeoLite web service, you must set the host to geolite.info:

var client = new WebServiceClient(42, "license_key1", host: "geolite.info");

To query the Sandbox GeoIP web service, you must set the host to sandbox.maxmind.com:

var client = new WebServiceClient(42, "license_key1", host: "sandbox.maxmind.com");

You may also specify the fall-back locales, the host, or the timeout as optional parameters. See the API docs for more information.

This object is safe to share across threads. If you are making multiple requests, the object should be reused so that new connections are not created for each request. Once you have finished making requests, you should dispose of the object to ensure the connections are closed and any resources are promptly returned to the system.

You may then call the sync or async method corresponding to the specific end point, passing it the IP address you want to look up or no parameters if you want to look up the current device.

If the request succeeds, the method call will return a response class for the endpoint you called. This response in turn contains multiple model classes, each of which represents part of the data returned by the web service.

See the API documentation for more details.

ASP.NET Core Usage#

To use the web service API with HttpClient factory pattern as a Typed client you need to do the following:

Add the following lines to Program.cs:

// Configure to read configuration options from MaxMind section
builder.Services.Configure<WebServiceClientOptions>(builder.Configuration.GetSection("MaxMind"));

// Configure dependency injection for WebServiceClient
builder.Services.AddHttpClient<WebServiceClient>();

Add configuration in your appsettings.json with your account ID and license key.

...
  "MaxMind": {
    "AccountId": 123456,
    "LicenseKey": "1234567890",

    // Optionally set a timeout. The default is 3000 ms.
    // "Timeout": 3000,

    // Optionally set host. "geolite.info" will use the GeoLite
    // web service instead of GeoIP. "sandbox.maxmind.com" will use the
    // Sandbox GeoIP web service instead of the production GeoIP web
    // service.
    //
    // "Host": "geolite.info"
  },
...

Inject the WebServiceClient where you need to make the call and use it.

[ApiController]
[Route("[controller]")]
public class MaxMindController : ControllerBase
{
    private readonly WebServiceClient _maxMindClient;

    public MaxMindController(WebServiceClient maxMindClient)
    {
        _maxMindClient = maxMindClient;
    }

    [HttpGet]
    public async Task<string> Get()
    {
        var location = await _maxMindClient.CountryAsync();

        return location.Country.Name;
    }
}

Web Service Example#

Country Service (Sync)#

// If you are making multiple requests, a single WebServiceClient
// should be shared across requests to allow connection reuse. The
// class is thread safe.
//
// Replace "42" with your account ID and "license_key" with your license
// key. Set the named host argument to "geolite.info" to use the GeoLite
// web service instead of GeoIP. Set the named host argument to
// "sandbox.maxmind.com" to use the Sandbox GeoIP web service instead of
// the production GeoIP web service.
using (var client = new WebServiceClient(42, "license_key"))
{
    // Do the lookup
    var response = client.Country("128.101.101.101");

    Console.WriteLine(response.Country.IsoCode);        // 'US'
    Console.WriteLine(response.Country.Name);           // 'United States'
    Console.WriteLine(response.Country.Names["zh-CN"]); // '美国'
}

Country Service (Async)#

// If you are making multiple requests, a single WebServiceClient
// should be shared across requests to allow connection reuse. The
// class is thread safe.
//
// Replace "42" with your account ID and "license_key" with your license
// key. Set the named host argument to "geolite.info" to use the GeoLite
// web service instead of GeoIP. Set the named host argument to
// "sandbox.maxmind.com" to use the Sandbox GeoIP web service instead of
// the production GeoIP web service.
using (var client = new WebServiceClient(42, "license_key"))
{
    // Do the lookup
    var response = await client.CountryAsync("128.101.101.101");

    Console.WriteLine(response.Country.IsoCode);        // 'US'
    Console.WriteLine(response.Country.Name);           // 'United States'
    Console.WriteLine(response.Country.Names["zh-CN"]); // '美国'
}

City Plus Service (Sync)#

// If you are making multiple requests, a single WebServiceClient
// should be shared across requests to allow connection reuse. The
// class is thread safe.
//
// Replace "42" with your account ID and "license_key" with your license
// key. Set the named host argument to "geolite.info" to use the GeoLite
// web service instead of GeoIP. Set the named host argument to
// "sandbox.maxmind.com" to use the Sandbox GeoIP web service instead of
// the production GeoIP web service.
using (var client = new WebServiceClient(42, "license_key"))
{
    // Do the lookup
    var response = client.City("128.101.101.101");

    Console.WriteLine(response.Country.IsoCode);        // 'US'
    Console.WriteLine(response.Country.Name);           // 'United States'
    Console.WriteLine(response.Country.Names["zh-CN"]); // '美国'

    Console.WriteLine(response.MostSpecificSubdivision.Name);    // 'Minnesota'
    Console.WriteLine(response.MostSpecificSubdivision.IsoCode); // 'MN'

    Console.WriteLine(response.City.Name); // 'Minneapolis'

    Console.WriteLine(response.Postal.Code); // '55455'

    Console.WriteLine(response.Location.Latitude);  // 44.9733
    Console.WriteLine(response.Location.Longitude); // -93.2323
}

City Plus Service (Async)#

// If you are making multiple requests, a single WebServiceClient
// should be shared across requests to allow connection reuse. The
// class is thread safe.
//
// Replace "42" with your account ID and "license_key" with your license
// key. Set the named host argument to "geolite.info" to use the GeoLite
// web service instead of GeoIP. Set the named host argument to
// "sandbox.maxmind.com" to use the Sandbox GeoIP web service instead of
// the production GeoIP web service.
using (var client = new WebServiceClient(42, "license_key"))
{
    // Do the lookup
    var response = await client.CityAsync("128.101.101.101");

    Console.WriteLine(response.Country.IsoCode);        // 'US'
    Console.WriteLine(response.Country.Name);           // 'United States'
    Console.WriteLine(response.Country.Names["zh-CN"]); // '美国'

    Console.WriteLine(response.MostSpecificSubdivision.Name);    // 'Minnesota'
    Console.WriteLine(response.MostSpecificSubdivision.IsoCode); // 'MN'

    Console.WriteLine(response.City.Name); // 'Minneapolis'

    Console.WriteLine(response.Postal.Code); // '55455'

    Console.WriteLine(response.Location.Latitude);  // 44.9733
    Console.WriteLine(response.Location.Longitude); // -93.2323
}

Insights Service (Sync)#

// If you are making multiple requests, a single WebServiceClient
// should be shared across requests to allow connection reuse. The
// class is thread safe.
//
// Replace "42" with your account ID and "license_key" with your license
// key. The GeoLite web service does not support Insights. Set the named
// host argument to "sandbox.maxmind.com" to use the Sandbox GeoIP web
// service instead of the production GeoIP web service.
using (var client = new WebServiceClient(42, "license_key"))
{
    // Do the lookup
    var response = client.Insights("128.101.101.101");

    Console.WriteLine(response.Country.IsoCode);        // 'US'
    Console.WriteLine(response.Country.Name);           // 'United States'
    Console.WriteLine(response.Country.Names["zh-CN"]); // '美国'

    Console.WriteLine(response.MostSpecificSubdivision.Name);    // 'Minnesota'
    Console.WriteLine(response.MostSpecificSubdivision.IsoCode); // 'MN'

    Console.WriteLine(response.City.Name); // 'Minneapolis'

    Console.WriteLine(response.Postal.Code); // '55455'

    Console.WriteLine(response.Location.Latitude);  // 44.9733
    Console.WriteLine(response.Location.Longitude); // -93.2323
}

Insights Service (Async)#

// If you are making multiple requests, a single WebServiceClient
// should be shared across requests to allow connection reuse. The
// class is thread safe.
//
// Replace "42" with your account ID and "license_key" with your license
// key. The GeoLite web service does not support Insights. Set the named
// host argument to "sandbox.maxmind.com" to use the Sandbox GeoIP web
// service instead of the production GeoIP web service.
using (var client = new WebServiceClient(42, "license_key"))
{
    // Do the lookup
    var response = await client.InsightsAsync("128.101.101.101");

    Console.WriteLine(response.Country.IsoCode);        // 'US'
    Console.WriteLine(response.Country.Name);           // 'United States'
    Console.WriteLine(response.Country.Names["zh-CN"]); // '美国'

    Console.WriteLine(response.MostSpecificSubdivision.Name);    // 'Minnesota'
    Console.WriteLine(response.MostSpecificSubdivision.IsoCode); // 'MN'

    Console.WriteLine(response.City.Name); // 'Minneapolis'

    Console.WriteLine(response.Postal.Code); // '55455'

    Console.WriteLine(response.Location.Latitude);  // 44.9733
    Console.WriteLine(response.Location.Longitude); // -93.2323
}

Database Usage#

To use the database API, you must create a new DatabaseReader with a string representation of the path to your GeoIP database. You may also specify the file access mode. You may then call the appropriate method (e.g., city) for your database, passing it the IP address you want to look up.

If the lookup succeeds, the method call will return a response class for the GeoIP lookup. This class in turn contains multiple model classes, each of which represents part of the data returned by the database.

We recommend reusing the DatabaseReader object rather than creating a new one for each lookup. The creation of this object is relatively expensive as it must read in metadata for the file.

See the API documentation for more details.

Database Examples#

Anonymous IP Database#


using (var reader = new DatabaseReader("GeoIP2-Anonymous-IP.mmdb"))
{
    var response = reader.AnonymousIP("85.25.43.84");
    Console.WriteLine(response.IsAnonymous);        // true
    Console.WriteLine(response.IsAnonymousVpn);     // false
    Console.WriteLine(response.IsHostingProvider);  // false
    Console.WriteLine(response.IsPublicProxy);      // false
    Console.WriteLine(response.IsResidentialProxy); // false
    Console.WriteLine(response.IsTorExitNode);      // true
    Console.WriteLine(response.IPAddress);          // '85.25.43.84'
}

Anonymous Plus Database#


using (var reader = new DatabaseReader("GeoIP-Anonymous-Plus.mmdb"))
{
    var response = reader.AnonymousPlus("85.25.43.84");
    Console.WriteLine(response.AnonymizerConfidence); // 30
    Console.WriteLine(response.IsAnonymous);          // true
    Console.WriteLine(response.IsAnonymousVpn);       // false
    Console.WriteLine(response.IsHostingProvider);    // false
    Console.WriteLine(response.IsPublicProxy);        // false
    Console.WriteLine(response.IsResidentialProxy);   // false
    Console.WriteLine(response.IsTorExitNode);        // true
    Console.WriteLine(response.IPAddress);            // '85.25.43.84'
    Console.WriteLine(response.NetworkLastSeen);      // '4/14/2025'
    Console.WriteLine(response.ProviderName);         // 'FooBar VPN'
}

ASN#


using (var reader = new DatabaseReader("GeoLite2-ASN.mmdb"))
{
    var response = reader.Asn("85.25.43.84");
    Console.WriteLine(response.AutonomousSystemNumber); // 217
    Console.WriteLine(response.AutonomousSystemOrganization); // 'University of Minnesota'
    Console.WriteLine(response.IPAddress); // '128.101.101.101'
}

City Database#

// This creates the DatabaseReader object, which should be reused across
// lookups.
using (var reader = new DatabaseReader("GeoIP2-City.mmdb"))
{
    // Replace "City" with the appropriate method for your database, e.g.,
    // "Country".
    var city = reader.City("128.101.101.101");

    Console.WriteLine(city.Country.IsoCode); // 'US'
    Console.WriteLine(city.Country.Name); // 'United States'
    Console.WriteLine(city.Country.Names["zh-CN"]); // '美国'

    Console.WriteLine(city.MostSpecificSubdivision.Name); // 'Minnesota'
    Console.WriteLine(city.MostSpecificSubdivision.IsoCode); // 'MN'

    Console.WriteLine(city.City.Name); // 'Minneapolis'

    Console.WriteLine(city.Postal.Code); // '55455'

    Console.WriteLine(city.Location.Latitude); // 44.9733
    Console.WriteLine(city.Location.Longitude); // -93.2323
}

Connection-Type Database#


using (var reader = new DatabaseReader("GeoIP2-Connection-Type.mmdb"))
{
    var response = reader.ConnectionType("128.101.101.101");
    Console.WriteLine(response.ConnectionType); // 'Corporate'
    Console.WriteLine(response.IPAddress); // '128.101.101.101'
}

Domain Database#


using (var reader = new DatabaseReader("GeoIP2-Domain.mmdb"))
{
    var response = reader.Domain("128.101.101.101");
    Console.WriteLine(response.Domain); // 'umn.edu'
    Console.WriteLine(response.IPAddress); // '128.101.101.101'
}

Enterprise Database#

using (var reader = new DatabaseReader("/path/to/GeoIP2-Enterprise.mmdb"))
{
    //  Use the Enterprise(ip) method to do a lookup in the Enterprise database
    var response = reader.Enterprise("128.101.101.101");

    var country = response.Country;
    Console.WriteLine(country.IsoCode);            // 'US'
    Console.WriteLine(country.Name);               // 'United States'
    Console.WriteLine(country.Names["zh-CN"]);     // '美国'
    Console.WriteLine(country.Confidence);         // 99

    var subdivision = response.MostSpecificSubdivision;
    Console.WriteLine(subdivision.Name);           // 'Minnesota'
    Console.WriteLine(subdivision.IsoCode);        // 'MN'
    Console.WriteLine(subdivision.Confidence);     // 77

    var city = response.City;
    Console.WriteLine(city.Name);       // 'Minneapolis'
    Console.WriteLine(city.Confidence); // 11

    var postal = response.Postal;
    Console.WriteLine(postal.Code); // '55455'
    Console.WriteLine(postal.Confidence); // 5

    var location = response.Location;
    Console.WriteLine(location.Latitude);       // 44.9733
    Console.WriteLine(location.Longitude);      // -93.2323
    Console.WriteLine(location.AccuracyRadius); // 50
}

ISP Database#


using (var reader = new DatabaseReader("GeoIP2-ISP.mmdb"))
{
    var response = reader.Isp("128.101.101.101");
    Console.WriteLine(response.AutonomousSystemNumber); // 217
    Console.WriteLine(response.AutonomousSystemOrganization); // 'University of Minnesota'
    Console.WriteLine(response.Isp); // 'University of Minnesota'
    Console.WriteLine(response.Organization); // 'University of Minnesota'
    Console.WriteLine(response.IPAddress); // '128.101.101.101'
}

Exceptions#

Database#

If the database is corrupt or otherwise invalid, a MaxMind.Db.InvalidDatabaseException will be thrown.

If an address is not available in the database, a AddressNotFoundException will be thrown.

Web Service#

For details on the possible errors returned by the web service itself, see the GeoIP web service documentation.

If the web service returns an explicit error document, this is thrown as a AddressNotFoundException, a AuthenticationException, a InvalidRequestException, or a OutOfQueriesException.

If some sort of transport error occurs, an HttpException is thrown. This is thrown when some sort of unanticipated error occurs, such as the web service returning a 500 or an invalid error document. If the web service request returns any status code besides 200, 4xx, or 5xx, this also becomes a HttpException.

Finally, if the web service returns a 200 but the body is invalid, the client throws a GeoIP2Exception. This exception also is the parent exception to the above exceptions.

Values to use for Database or Dictionary Keys#

We strongly discourage you from using a value from any Names property as a key in a database or dictionary.

These names may change between releases. Instead we recommend using one of the following:

MaxMind.GeoIP2.Model.City - City.GeoNameId
MaxMind.GeoIP2.Model.Continent - Continent.Code or Continent.GeoNameId
MaxMind.GeoIP2.Model.Country and MaxMind.GeoIP2.Model.RepresentedCountry
- Country.IsoCode or Country.GeoNameId
MaxMind.GeoIP2.Model.Subdivision - Subdivision.IsoCode or Subdivision.GeoNameId

Multi-Threaded Use#

This API fully supports use in multi-threaded applications. When using the DatabaseReader in a multi-threaded application, we suggest creating one object and sharing that among threads.

What data is returned?#

While many of the end points return the same basic records, the attributes which can be populated vary between end points. In addition, while an end point may offer a particular piece of data, MaxMind does not always have every piece of data for any given IP address.

Because of these factors, it is possible for any end point to return a record where some or all of the attributes are unpopulated.

See the GeoIP web services documentation for details on what data each end point may return.

The only piece of data which is always returned is the ipAddress attribute in the MaxMind.GeoIP2.Traits record.

Integration with GeoNames#

GeoNames offers web services and downloadable databases with data on geographical features around the world, including populated places. They offer both free and paid premium data. Each feature is uniquely identified by a geonameId, which is an integer.

Many of the records returned by the GeoIP web services and databases include a geonameId property. This is the ID of a geographical feature (city, region, country, etc.) in the GeoNames database.

Some of the data that MaxMind provides is also sourced from GeoNames. We source things like place names, ISO codes, and other similar data from the GeoNames premium data set.

Reporting data problems#

If the problem you find is that an IP address is incorrectly mapped, please submit your correction to MaxMind.

If you find some other sort of mistake, like an incorrect spelling, please check the GeoNames site first. Once you’ve searched for a place and found it on the GeoNames map view, there are a number of links you can use to correct data (“move”, “edit”, “alternate names”, etc.). Once the correction is part of the GeoNames data set, it will be automatically incorporated into future MaxMind releases.

If you are a paying MaxMind customer and you’re not sure where to submit a correction, please contact MaxMind support for help.

Other Support#

Please report all issues with this code using the GitHub issue tracker.

If you are having an issue with a MaxMind service that is not specific to the client API, please see our support page.

Contributing#

Patches and pull requests are encouraged. Please include unit tests whenever possible.

Versioning#

The API uses Semantic Versioning. However, adding new methods to IGeoIP2Provider, IGeoIP2DatabaseReader, and IGeoIP2WebServicesClient will not be considered a breaking change. These interfaces only exist to facilitate unit testing and dependency injection. They will be updated to match additional methods added to the DatabaseReader and WebServiceClient. Such additions will be accompanied by a minor version bump (e.g., 1.2.x to 1.3.0).

Copyright and License#

This is free software, licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0.