Python regular expressions for IPv4 and IPv6 addresses and URI-references, based on RFC 3986's ABNF.The URI-reference regular expression includes IPv6 address zone ID support (RFC 6874).

gistfile1.py

# Python regular expressions for IPv4 and IPv6 addresses and URI-references,
# based on RFC 3986's ABNF.
#
# ipv4_address and ipv6_address are self-explanatory.
# ipv6_addrz requires a zone ID (RFC 6874) follow the IPv6 address.
# ipv6_address_or_addrz allows an IPv6 address with optional zone ID.
# uri_reference is what you think of as a URI. (It uses ipv6_address_or_addrz.)

import re

ipv4_address = re.compile('^(?:(?:25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|[1-9][0-9]|[0-9])\.){3}(?:25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|[1-9][0-9]|[0-9])$')
ipv6_address = re.compile('^(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){6}(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){5}(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){4}(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){3}(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){,2}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){2}(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){,3}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){,4}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){,5}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){,6}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::)$')
ipv6_addrz = re.compile('^(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){6}(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){5}(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){4}(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){3}(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){,2}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){2}(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){,3}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){,4}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){,5}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){,6}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::)%25(?:[A-Za-z0-9\\-._~]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})+$')
ipv6_address_or_addrz = re.compile('^(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){6}(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){5}(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){4}(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){3}(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){,2}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){2}(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){,3}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){,4}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){,5}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){,6}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::)(?:%25(?:[A-Za-z0-9\\-._~]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})+)?$')
uri_reference = re.compile("^(?:([A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9+\\-.]*):(?://((?:(?:(?:%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2}|[!$&'()*+,;=A-Za-z0-9\\-._~])|:)*@)?(?:\\[(?:(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){6}(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){5}(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){4}(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){3}(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){,2}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){2}(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){,3}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){,4}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){,5}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){,6}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::)(?:%25(?:[A-Za-z0-9\\-._~]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})+)?|[Vv][0-9A-Fa-f]+\\.(?:[!$&'()*+,;=A-Za-z0-9\\-._~]|:)+)\\]|(?:%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2}|[!$&'()*+,;=A-Za-z0-9\\-._~])*)(?::[0-9]*)?)((?:/(?:(?:%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2}|[!$&'()*+,;=A-Za-z0-9\\-._~])|[:@])*)*)|(/(?:(?:(?:%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2}|[!$&'()*+,;=A-Za-z0-9\\-._~])|[:@])+(?:/(?:(?:%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2}|[!$&'()*+,;=A-Za-z0-9\\-._~])|[:@])*)*)?)|((?:(?:%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2}|[!$&'()*+,;=A-Za-z0-9\\-._~])|[:@])+(?:/(?:(?:%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2}|[!$&'()*+,;=A-Za-z0-9\\-._~])|[:@])*)*)|())(?:\\?((?:(?:(?:%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2}|[!$&'()*+,;=A-Za-z0-9\\-._~])|[:@])|[/?])*))?(?:#((?:(?:(?:%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2}|[!$&'()*+,;=A-Za-z0-9\\-._~])|[:@])|[/?])*))?|(?://((?:(?:(?:%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2}|[!$&'()*+,;=A-Za-z0-9\\-._~])|:)*@)?(?:\\[(?:(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){6}(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){5}(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){4}(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){3}(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){,2}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){2}(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){,3}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){,4}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}(?:[0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){,5}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){,6}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::)(?:%25(?:[A-Za-z0-9\\-._~]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})+)?|[Vv][0-9A-Fa-f]+\\.(?:[!$&'()*+,;=A-Za-z0-9\\-._~]|:)+)\\]|(?:%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2}|[!$&'()*+,;=A-Za-z0-9\\-._~])*)(?::[0-9]*)?)((?:/(?:(?:%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2}|[!$&'()*+,;=A-Za-z0-9\\-._~])|[:@])*)*)|(/(?:(?:(?:%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2}|[!$&'()*+,;=A-Za-z0-9\\-._~])|[:@])+(?:/(?:(?:%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2}|[!$&'()*+,;=A-Za-z0-9\\-._~])|[:@])*)*)?)|((?:(?:%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2}|[!$&'()*+,;=A-Za-z0-9\\-._~])|@)+(?:/(?:(?:%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2}|[!$&'()*+,;=A-Za-z0-9\\-._~])|[:@])*)*)|())(?:\\?((?:(?:(?:%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2}|[!$&'()*+,;=A-Za-z0-9\\-._~])|[:@])|[/?])*))?(?:#((?:(?:(?:%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2}|[!$&'()*+,;=A-Za-z0-9\\-._~])|[:@])|[/?])*))?)$")

# len(ipv4_address) == 111
# len(ipv6_address) == 1501
# len(ipv6_addrz) == 1541
# len(ipv6_address_or_addrz) == 1546  
# len(uri_reference) == 4445

reversed check order of ipv4, from longest octet to shortest, because [0-9] was getting picked up before 25[0-5] when using re.search to find an ipv4 in a string without ^$.. yes, the original worked fine when you used start/end, but... I'm not using it for that :)