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DynDNS Account
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To accesses your home web server you do not need an entry in a DN (domain name) server. Users can access it by typing in that IP address assigned to you by your service provider.
{Note: A newer version of this write-up can be found here}
No Need for DNS
Give this number to your friends, e-mail it to them they will rush off and view your site was that 007.007.007.007 or 1406.1406.1406.1406 even with memorable numbers it is a pain. Your service provider has not assigned you a static IP address no problem e-mail your friend with the new IP address yep only one friend saves you all them e-mails.
Real world
In the real world, you do need a domain name and an entry in a DN server. Hard up for cash, cannot afford a domain name, would be happy to have any domain read on.
There are numerous free domain name providers that said most fall short of providing the service they state. My personal favourite is DynDNS apart from a reliable service and no quibble set-up they go that extra mile and offer wild cards free. The importance of this will become apparent if you want to host multi websites using the same domain name.
Advert over, new to this service at first it looks daunting however it is just a matter of navigating round the site and knowing what buttons to push. Lets go and push a few buttons.
Sign up to DynDNS
As sign up processes go this has to be one of the quickest. You are normally forced to enter a load of dross that only leads to mistakes and frustration. This is clean all bureaucrats please take note.
- Go to DynDNS site located at http://www.dyndns.com/
- Click on Sign Up Now (Top right of screen) Open the Create account page
- Check I have read and agree to the Acceptable Use Policy box
- Check the next box only 1 free account (why be greedy)
- Enter a user name (Required when you login)
- Enter your e-mail twice (Must be a real address to activate account)
- Enter password twice (Required when you login)
- Check a mail list box (not sure if this is optional)
- Click on create account
- A conformation page is displayed (if not you need to correct the above)
- Open up your e-mail and read mail from DynDNS Support
- Click on the link to confirm your account.
- A confirmation page will be displayed.
- You are now ready to login.
Setting up your DynDNS account
DynDNS does not separate between free and paid accounts, they both use the same user interface. Follow this little guide to locate and set up your account for dynamic DNS hosting.
The Add New Dynamic DNS page opens this is where you fill in your domain name. I have decided I would like to use domain: fredtest.mine.nu When you click add host it may have already been taken shame but you will have to select another. |
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Next time you view Account > My services you will see your newly created host and any others you have created displayed in host level services.
To edit your hosts click the corresponding link under DNS service this bring up the edit page:
I purposefully disconnected and re-connected to my service provider to show you what this edit page looks like with a new IP address.
Import the current IP value in the DynDNS data base is not your current IP address allocated by your service provider. Click on modify to update host IP address. You need to do this every time you re-connect to your service provider and want your servers online. (This is a real pain see next section Dynamic IP address automatic update)
Testing
A quick test will reveal if every thing is working type your newly created domain name into a browser (http://fredtest.mine.nu ) your index page will be displayed.
If it does not you either have disconnected from your service provider and need to update the DynDNS database as above or the new domain name has not had enough time to propagate to the DN servers.
Note 1 : Wildcards
DynDns allows you to use wildcards the importance of this becomes apparent when you want to host several sites using the same domain name. For example take, the domain name fredtest.mine.nu wildcards allow you to type the familiar www.fredtest.mine.nu into a browser to access your site. You can type anything in place of www. to access your site. These examples all access the same site:
- www.fredtest.mine.nu
- www.my_site1.fredtest.mine.nu
- www.my_site2.fredtest.mine.nu
- home-fredtest.mine.nu
Apache can use name-based VirtualHosting (doesn't need to worry about IP addresses) what this means it can take each of the above names and access a diffrent site. Hence, with a single domain name and using wildcards you can host several different independent sites on an Apache server.
Where to next
The next page looks at automatic IP address updates.
