my @sorted_keys = map {$_->[0]} sort {$a->[1] <=> $b->[1] || $a->[2] <=> $b->[2] || $a->[3] <=> $b->[3] || $a->[4] <=> $b->[4]} map { [ $_, split /\./ ] } keys %ip; foreach (@sorted_keys) { # do something }