ddupdate 0.5.2

Update dns data for dynamic ip addresses

General

ddupdate is a tool for automatically updating dns data for a system using for example DHCP. It makes it possible to access the system with a fixed dns name such as myhost.somewhere.net even if the IP address is changed. It is a linux-centric, user-friendly, flexible and maintainable alternative to the ubiquitous ddclient.

Status

Beta. The plugin API will be kept stable up to 1.0.0, and there should be no incompatible CLI changes.

At the time of writing 14 free services are supported. There are also 7 address plugins. Together, this should cover most usecases based on freely available services.

Still, this is beta and there is most likely bugs out there.

Dependencies

• python3 (tested on 3.6 and 3.4)

• python3-straight.plugin. Packaged in most (all?) linux distributions and also available at https://pypi.python.org

• python3-setuptools

• The /usr/sbin/ip command is used in some plugins.

Installation

ddupdate can be run as a regular user straight off the cloned git directory. To make it possible to run from anywhere make a symlink:

$ ln -s $PWD/ddupdate $HOME/bin/ddupdate

It is also possible to install as a pypi package using:

$ sudo pip install ddupdate --prefix=/usr/local

See CONTRIBUTE.md for more info on using the pypi package.

Fedora and Mageia users can install native rpm packages from https://copr.fedorainfracloud.org/coprs/leamas/ddupdate/.

Ubuntu users can install native .deb packages using the PPA at https://launchpad.net/~leamas-alec/+archive/ubuntu/ddupdate

CONTRIBUTE.md describes how to create Debian packages. Here is also more info on using the pypi package. Overall, using native packages is the preferred method on platforms supporting this.

Configuration

This is the fast track assuming that you are using a native package and mainstream address options. If running into troubles, see the manual steps described in CONFIGURATION.md.

Start with running `ddupdate --list-services`. Pick a supported service and check it using `ddupdate --help <service>`.

At this point you need to register with the relevant website. The usual steps are to first create an account and then, using the account, create a host. The process should end up with a hostname, a user and a secret password (some sites just uses an API key).

Then start the configuration script `ddupdate-config`. The script guides you through the configuration and updates several files, notably /etc/ddupdate.conf and ~ddupdate/.netrc.

Configuring systemd

Start by testing the service:

$ sudo systemctl daemon-reload
$ sudo systemcl start ddupdate.service
$ sudo journalctl -u ddupdate.service

If all is fine make sure ddupdate is run hourly using:

$ sudo systemctl start ddupdate.timer
$ sudo systemctl enable ddupdate.timer

If there is trouble or you for example want to run ddupdate more often, do not not use the upstream systemd files. Instead, do:

$ sudo cp /lib/systemd/system/ddupdate.service /etc/systemd/system
$ sudo cp /lib/systemd/system/ddupdate.timer /etc/systemd/system

Check the two /etc files, in particular for paths. Test the service and the logged info as described above.

Configuring NetworkManager

NetworkManager can be configured to start/stop ddupdate when interfaces goes up or down. An example script to drop in /etc/NetworkManager/dispatcher.d is distributed in the package.