ddns - Dynamic DNS

A self-hosted Dynamic DNS solution similar to DynDNS or NO-IP based on the PowerDNS Remote Backend.

⚠️⚠️⚠️ Note regarding hosted version at ddns.pboehm.de

The hosted ddns service with custom hosts under the d.pboehm.de domain (e.g test.d.pboehm.de) is not available anymore! I did not use this service for quite some time and recently there were some issues which resulted in downtime and expiration of all registered hosts.

Alternatives

There is at least one other hosted version of pboehm/ddns that can be found via Google or you can host it yourself as described below.

How can I update my IP if it changes?

ddns is built around a small webservice, so that you can update your IP address simply by calling an URL periodically through curl. Hosts that haven't been updated for 10 days will be automatically removed. This can be configured in your own instance.

An API similar to DynDNS/NO-IP has not been implemented yet.

Self-Hosting

Requirements

• A custom domain where the registrar allows setting NS records for subdomains. This is important because not all DNS providers support this.
• A server with docker and docker-compose installed
• The following ports should be opened in the firewall:
  • 53/udp
  • 80/tcp
  • 443/tcp

DNS-Setup

For the domain you want to use with ddns (example.net in the following sections, please adjust this to your domain) you have to create the following two DNS records:

• ddns.example.net as a CNAME or A/AAAA record pointing to the server ddns will be running on. This record will be used for accessing the ddns frontend in your browser or via curl. It is also the target for the corresponding NS record.
• d.example.net as an NS record pointing to the previously created ddns.example.net record. This will delegate all subdomains under d.example.net to the PowerDNS server running on ddns.example.net.

ddns-Setup

The setup is now automated using docker-compose and only some customization has to be made in a docker-compose.override.yml file (a sample is available here).

Configuring the Setup

The setup included in this repository contains all the components described above and uses caddy as a web server, because it provides automatic HTTPS using Lets Encrypt.

git clone git@github.com:pboehm/ddns.git
cd ddns/docker
cp docker-compose.override.yml.sample docker-compose.override.yml

Please adjust the settings in docker-compose.override.yml marked with the #<<< .... comments as follows:

• adjust the domain part in lines marked with # <<< ADJUST DOMAIN according to your DNS-Setup
• insert your email address in lines marked with # <<< INSERT EMAIL which is required for getting certificates from Lets Encrypt

Finally execute the following docker-compose command, which creates 4 containers in detached mode which are also started automatically after reboot. For updating an existing installation use the same command because it automatically rebuilds the containers.

docker-compose --project-name ddns up -d --build