Dynamic DNS Documentation

Dynamic DNS is a feature that allows automatic update of your DNS's A or AAAA records, if your IP address is changed. If you have a server at home and host a website on your computer and you don’t have a static IP, the IP changes each time you reconnect to the Internet. To avoid manual update of your records everytime your IP changes, you can set up Dynamic DNS for your domain.

On every A and AAAA record you will see an icon with two arrows. When you click on them you will see the DynamicURL for this record. Every time you open this URL the record will be changed to the IP address of the computer the URL is opened from. On this window you will see options to open this URL with wget, php and perl scripts automatically.

Will Dynamic DNS work for me?

Many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) use NAT even for the Wide Area Network (WAN) IP address. This usually makes it harder to use Dynamic DNS, as thousands of other users could be using the same IP address you appear with on the Internet.

To check whether this is the case with you, we suggest you open the Dynamic IP Update URL in your browser once you activate the Dynamic DNS on your A/AAAA record. Afterwards, please check the new IP address assigned to the A/AAAA record and open your router settings. If the IP address of the A/AAAA record matches your router's WAN IP, you are the only client behind this IP address and setting up Dynamic DNS will work for you as intended.

However, if the IP addresses do not match, many clients use the same IP. In this case, we recommend contacting your ISP to find the available options.

Automating Dynamic DNS updates

For users who want to automate the IP update process, Dynamic DNS provides several main options, including wget, curl, PHP, Python, Perl, and PowerShell scripts. Here’s an example of each:

• Using wget: You can schedule wget to access the Dynamic Update URL at regular intervals to keep the IP updated.
• Using curl: Similar to wget, curl can be used to fetch the Dynamic Update URL and can be scheduled with cron or other task schedulers.
• PHP Script: PHP scripts can be set up on a web server to access the URL and trigger updates when needed.
• Python Script: With Python, you can use a simple script to fetch the Dynamic Update URL and automate it with a scheduler.
• Perl Script: Perl scripts can be used to automate the URL access on compatible systems.
• PowerShell Script: For Windows users, PowerShell scripts provide a straightforward way to access the Dynamic Update URL and can be automated with Task Scheduler.

These methods represent some of the most common approaches, but other scripting and scheduling tools may also work depending on your environment and preferences.

Here you can find information regarding: