This project uses bind9 and go inside a docker container to build a dyndns server/service that can easily be self-hosted. We use bind as the DNS-Server whereas go is used to serve a API and update the DNS configuration. The API uses basic authentication to restrict the usage (see Reverse Proxy). You need a server with a static IP, a domain and the possibility to add NS and A records to it's DNS configuration. Furthermore it is mandatory to define the subdomains which can be used to reduce abuse in case of a data breach.
To build this project from source make sure to clone the repository from github and change your working directory into that newly created folder. Then simply issue the docker build command like shown:
root@server /opt/docker-dyndns # docker build -t wernerfred/docker-dyndns .
Another possibility is pulling the image from the DockerHub repository. Builds of this image are automated and based on releases of the master branch.
docker pull wernerfred/docker-dyndns
To run the container adjust the following command according to your needs:
docker run -it -d \
-p 53:53 \
-p 53:53/udp \
-p 8080:8080 \
-e BIND9_ROOTDOMAIN=dyndns.example.com \
-e API_USER=user \
-e API_PASSWORD=password \
-e DYNDNS_TTL=60 \
-e DYNDNS_DOMAINS='["sub1", "sub2"]' \
wernerfred/docker-dyndns
With the variable BIND9_ROOTDOMAIN you set the domain of your dyndns server (See DNS configuration). With DYNDNS_DOMAINS you define the allowed dynamic subdomains in a json like array. Subdomains not listed there can not be updated later on. This keeps the consequences relatively small in case your API username and password gets exposed as only the defined subdomains can be updated. You can add a volume to the container to make the dns configuration persistant: -v /choose/path/on/host/:/var/cache/bind/. This enables you to stop the container and add some more allowed subdomains to the environment variables without loosing the current dyndns configuration/information for the next start up.
I highly recommend to use a reverse proxy on your system to kind of secure the API access. If you are using apache2 you can orient yourself on the following configuration:
<IfModule mod_ssl.c>
<VirtualHost *:443>
ProxyPreserveHost On
ProxyRequests off
ProxyPass / http://localhost:8080/
ProxyPassReverse / http://localhost:8080/
ServerName ddns.example.com
ServerAdmin [email protected]
ErrorLog /your/path/to/logs/error.log
CustomLog /your/path/to/logs/access.log combined
SSLCertificateFile /your/path/to/fullchain.pem
SSLCertificateKeyFile /your/path/to/privkey.pem
</VirtualHost>
</IfModule>
Make sure to include a redirect to https (:443) into the http (:80) configuration file like that:
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{SERVER_NAME} =ddns.example.com
RewriteRule ^ https://%{SERVER_NAME}%{REQUEST_URI} [END,NE,R=permanent]
To allow your dyndns server to be reached and used you need to add some DNS records of your existing domain. Like in that whole README i assume you own the domain example.com. If the dyndns domains should use dyndns.example.com as their root domain we need the following records:
dyndns IN NS ddns
ddns IN A <IP of your docker host>
Through that we are telling the internet that the subdomain dyndns(.example.com) uses a different nameserver which can be reached under ddns(.example.com). Of course, the latter domain needs to be defined to be reached, therefore we need the second record. Keep in mind that if you want the nameserver to be a subdomain of the domain it is responsible for you will need a so called glue record on the parent zone to be able to reache the nameserver.
In case you do not like the dyndns address, you can simply add another CNAME record to beautify your dynamic address:
home IN CNAME sub1.dyndns.example.com.
In modern browsers you can simply open the update URL:
https://ddns.example.com/update?domain=sub1&ip=1.2.3.4
You will then be promted for your API credentials that can be defined via the API_USER and API_PASSWORD variables:
It is also possible to use the API via command line tools like curl. That command can then be used as a cronjob to constantly update the IP. The tool curl also provides the functionality to include basic authentication headers with the --user option:
curl --user user:password https://ddns.example.com/update?domain=sub1&ip=1.2.3.4
You can obtain the current public IPv4 adress by using the dig command and save it into a variable for later usage (e.g. in a script):
IP=`dig @resolver1.opendns.com A myip.opendns.com -4 +short`
As modern routers provide a gui to configure custom dyndns services this project can also be used together with those. Usually the router uses basic authentication with the values of the user and password fields:
The url then looks like this:
https://ddns.example.com/update?domain=<domain>&ip=<ipaddr>