@deafbutnotdead

Password settings for ddclient using DYNU.com

I use DYNU.com for my server's Dynamic DNS service and have five DNS entries pointing to my server. Until today, I have been using their dynu-ip-update-client on my Debian server, "which worked perfectly".

Today, I added a DNS entry that points to a different server. The dynu-ip-update-client overwrote this IP with my main server’s IP, which wasn’t what I wanted

I then discovered that DYNU also supports: ddclient, so I installed it on my Debian server:

# Install ddclient
sudo apt install ddclient

After installation, you can edit the configuration file. I'm old school and use nano, I don't like vim.

# Edit the configuration
sudo nano /etc/ddclient.conf# /etc/ddclient.conf

Add the following to it

# /etc/ddclient.conf
# Dynu DDNS configuration

daemon=300
syslog=yes
pid=/var/run/ddclient.pid
ssl=yes
use=web, web=checkip.dynu.com/, web-skip='IP Address'
server=api.dynu.com
protocol=dyndns2
login=YOUR_DYNU_LOGIN
password="YOUR_PASSWORD"
nonexistinghost123.dynu.net&group="YOUR_GROUP_NAME"

Here’s where it gets a bit confusing: it asks for a password. The password here is not your DYNU web login password, and it’s not the API key.
You need to create a password specifically for the DDNS group in DYNU’s Control Panel

After some trial and error, I figured out how to get the correct or rather, create the password needed:

  1. Go to Control Panel → DDNS on DYNU.
  2. Create a GROUP. (then then add it above: nonexistinghost123.dynu.net&group="YOUR GROUP NAME")
  3. Add the domains you want ddclient to manage to this group.
  4. In the Actions panel, click on the key icon and set a password of your choice. (then add it above: password="YOUR PASSWORD")

Now the number of hostnames assigned to the group will be displayed. The password you just created is the one to use in your /etc/ddclient.conf file.

Finally, you can test your setup with:

sudo ddclient -daemon=0 -debug -verbose

If everything is correct, you should see a success message, and your domains will be updated as dynu-ip-update-client did before, but it'll leave my other DNS alone :)

Tip : To confirm that it's really working:
Go to your DYNU Dynamic DNS service page.
Change the IP of one of your hostnames (just change one digit).
Within a few minutes, ddclient will automatically update it back to your server’s correct IP.

Nothing complicated, just had to suss out about the password needed and where to get it.

For info, I find the DYNU client support quite good indeed. I have asked two or three questions, and each time got a quick reply back.

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ddclient dynu-ddclient dynu-ip-update-client group-settings-dynu