DynDNS question

[Celt]

Couldn't figure out how to implement a DnyDNS solution for my Freenas server. Decided to use that Google thing and, sure enough there a provision for it in FreeNAS.

Thunk to myself "Man, wish I could just use my router". Router is a Fois quantum gateway. Dd-wrt isnt available. Do some poking around under the soft locked "advanced" tab, and damned if there isn't a provision for it there as well.

So my question now is; Are there any upsides and downsides to letting FreeaNAS do it over the router, and vice versa? For people who have both options, which worked better for you?

 

[DrKK]

I use dyn.com (dyndns) without any problems whatsoever using the built in dynamic DNS service on FreeNAS.

 

[ej2pi]

I use dyn.com (dyndns) without any problems whatsoever using the built in dynamic DNS service on FreeNAS.

Hello DrKK,
I have been struggling to get the dyndns update to work in FreeNAS 11.1 and was wondering if you might be willing to help. I'm using their managed DNS express service, and can update my IP using their client. But when trying to update with the FreeNAS DDNS service I don't seem to have any luck.

Two things changed. First I upgraded from FreeNAS 9.3 to 11.1 and second I switched over from Dyn's standard DNS service to managed DNS express. Somewhere in the shuffle I've lost the ability to update my IP from the FreeNAS DDNS service.

I haven't figured out how to attach a screenshot of my DDNS service configuration. But I'll give it a try. Anywhay, here's what I've got set:

Code:

Provider: dyndns.org
Check IP Server SSL: checked
Check IP Server: checkip.dyndns.org:80
Check IP Path: /.
Use SSL: checked
Domain Name: <mydomain.com>
Username: <username>
Password: <password>
Confirm Password: <password>
Update Period: 600

And when I start the service I see this in the console:

Code:

Jun 29 09:29:23 freenas inadyn[51203]: In-a-dyn version 2.2 -- Dynamic DNS update client.

I don't see any other warnings or errors, and I can't find anything in /var/log.

Here is the content of inadyn.conf at /etc/local:

Code:

period = 300
provider default@dyndns.org {
	username = <username>
	password = <password>
	hostname = { "<mydomain>.com" }
}

Obviously substitute <...> with my particular known good settings as entered in the GUI.

If there might be any help you could provide, I would be very grateful. I'm not sure how I might debug this further. And putting the Dyndns update client in a VM or even docker container seems a bit heavy handed. Thanks.

 

[DrKK]

To be clear, the dynamic DNS update service was working fine before you upgraded your FreeNAS version?

 

[ej2pi]

Yes, definitely working in FreeNAS 9.3 with Dyn 'standard DNS' service. Now running FreeNAS 11.1-U4 with excellent results except for this dynamic IP update issue. Also switched from Dyn Standard DNS service to their Managed DNS Express service.

I can update using their client on my macbook. Also, I was able to spin up a Kubuntu 14.04LTS VM on FreeNAS and install their client there as well. That seems to work too, but wow what a resource heavy solution. At least that is a decent workaround as the VM is always inside the local network, whereas the macbook is apt to roam.

So everything is great, except no love from the built-in FreeNAS DDNS service. And I'm at a loss for how to debug it further. The folks at Dyn are not helpful for anything other than their own cross platform client, understandably.

(Thanks for your reply!)

 

[DrKK]

So, I run my own inadyn-mt in a jail, NOT the one built into FreeNAS services. For me, I have a inadyn-mt.log in my /var/log directory. Do you have such a log file?

 

[ej2pi]

Unfortunately no, do not have anything like that in /var/log. I also did a recursive search under /var for anything *inadyn* and only came up with one file in /var/cache/inadyn/<mydomain>.com.cache and it happens to contain the correct IP address of my WAN facing interface.

I do like your idea to run inadyn-mt in a jail. That would be a nice lightweight solution. Presently I have a full KDE session running in a VM with dyndns gui client. Granted, I have the benefit of the nice gui, and supposedly they support the linux client. So my system is working now.

Maybe I can look into the jail solution. Would you be so kind as to share a sanitized version of your inadyn.conf file? The one I have is posted above, and I would presume that's what the built-in FreeNAS DDNS service writes before it actually starts the service (?)

Sounds like I need to read up on the details of inadyn-mt as well...