file.txt -------------- object-group network HOSTNAME_1ST network-object host 10.1.1.1 object-group service WEB_TCP tcp port-object eq 80 -------------- #### use strict; use warnings; my $iphostname; my $filename = 'file.txt'; open(my $fh, '<:encoding(UTF-8)', $filename) or die "Could not open file '$filename' $!"; for $iphostname ($fh) { print $iphostname if (/^object-group/ ... /(\d{1,3})\.(\d{1,3})\.(\d{1,3})\.(\d{1,3})$/); }