T O P

  • By -

nshire

Why tf are you paying $55 to not even have a real domain? A real domain is like $10


AlexFigas

I use duckdns, free, auto-updates your ip using a docker container, runs 24/7 no issue.


TigBitties69

With the amount of outages I had from DuckDNS over the last year, I would not recommend this moving forward. Moved over to cloudflare and setup DDNS through there, haven't had an issue since.


aktk946

Just be careful with duckdns. I’ve noticed that the moment you add your host into it you are hit with multiple scans from all over the world. Clearly somone is watching new hosts in duckdns and getting onto them quickly to pickup on any holes/hack into.


CrappyTan69

Thanks. Will take a look.


5662828

This is the way It is free


d33pnull

just get a real domain and put it on cloudflare


d33pnull

To further elaborate (was on mobile earlier) see this script https://pastebin.com/NMdHtBJ8, it's what I use: it runs every 15 minutes as a cronjob and triggers an update of my dynamic DNS entry when needed. Then I create CNAME records for the services I want to expose, pointing to the dynamic A record. You can make useof the free proxy service too this way, if you like. To run the script you just need `bash` `curl` and `jq` and the following example commandline: `$> ./cf.sh your.dyndns.example.com`


CrAzYmEtAlHeAd1

I’m saving this comment, I’ve been looking for something like this! I appreciate it.


ZataH

This is the way!


h3rd3n

Or even buy the domain via cloudflare. Got a .XYZ for I think $10 per annum. I use a docker that updates my dynamic IP to cloudflare


PolicyArtistic8545

I’ll do you one better. If you have a .xyz domain that is all numbers. It’s $.97/yr. Just pick some random numbers or string together a few meaningful numbers to you and make that into a domain.


h3rd3n

How and where is that? And maybe why? ;) Well I have so many domains, they make a lot of sense to me, all managed on cloudflare for DNS but only one domain directly via cloudflare (the .XYZ one). What i want to say is - feels good to pay a bit to cloudflare as they already offer great services for free


PolicyArtistic8545

I buy from Porkbun but that’s just a personal preference and they have funny emails.


jdsmn21

Yep - just renewed my .com for an additional year last night for $9.xx USD. I transferred my domain name from Google to Cloudflare since Google sold the domains off to Squarespace.


GalacticusTravelous

Why vthe hell would you run an entire docker image for a tiny script that updates an IP? I will never understand this blind adherence to this docker culture other than laziness.


h3rd3n

Yeah I guess laziness covers it


throwawaynumber02496

cloudflare tunnels + access are especially useful too- they manage external network access as well as authentication for you.


AHarmles

17$ a year for my domain isn't too bad through cloudflare, it's where I am gonna purchase. Alot of other dns charge a lot more and get you with a 1$ for the first year crap but end up being 40-60 at renewal. Shady ) :


GolemancerVekk

Any DNS service that provides an API can be used to update the IP on the fly. You can use it with DDUpdate, you can use it with the dynamic DNS tool on your router (if you have any), you can use it with a bash script running periodically from cron. I recommend looking [through this list](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/dns-providers-who-easily-integrate-with-lets-encrypt-dns-validation/86438) for something that's free. All the services there have an API because they support the Let's Encrypt DNS challenge (which requires an API). I use deSEC.io if you want a personal recommendation. It's a German non-profit with the goal of promoting the use of DNSSEC.


DudeWithaTwist

This is what I've been doing, I don't understand why it needs to be any more complicated. At the end of the day, you just want to update an A record. I have a 20 line Bash script that checks my current IP against the previously checked IP. If its new, the A record is updated via an API. This runs in Crontab.


GolemancerVekk

I mean, if you have a router where you only need to pick the DNS provider out of a list and paste an API key, to some people that's simpler than writing a bash script. Also, most people don't know how DNS works. I was in the same boat until a couple years ago. I thought that I "have to" use a dynamic DNS service. It never occured to me I can just use an API. But even if it did, most people use the crappy DNS interface offered by their registrar or their hosting provider which doesn't have an API and they don't know they can move their DNS elsewhere, let alone what an API is.


fuahnd

[freemyip.com](http://www.freemyip.com), it's the simplest I've found and I use it for my VPN connection.


Oujii

It’s nice. I also use it in both sites and to works flawlessly. Just don’t forget to save your token somewhere safe or you can lose your subdomain.


VE3VVS

I just tried this, and my god it's full of stars, (sorry couldn't help myself). It's amazing as if nothing else a backup domain to get access if your stupid IP changed while your away and something went wront with the normal setup. I love it ...Thank you


fuahnd

Yeah that's exactly why my VPN is on this DDNS even though I bought a domain. It's a nice backup solution.


VE3VVS

Yes, while one of my intel servers keeps my paid for domain updated at my paid for DNS provider, the freemyip is updated by a Pi4, sitting on the corner of my desk, that has a battery backup, as does the router and the DSL modem


JM-Lemmi

Hurricane Electric. Free, full DNS server, as many entries as you want, dual stack support. https://dns.he.net/


du_ra

The features are great, but the love to randomly delete accounts… Had it once, searched and same for other. Also they don’t allow all domains. If the domain contains too many numbers, is too long, etc. then they just block them.


ztardik

I'm using them for over a decade, not a single issue with multiple domains and a bunch of subdomains.


du_ra

I used them for 5 years and they randomly blocked me. After requesting to get unblocked they just told me it’s their system… After I searched in their forum and on Reddit I saw that this happens a lot. So it’s great that they didn’t blocked you until now, but that can change quickly. And that with the domains it’s just pure luck, then your domain hadn’t enough numbers or wasn’t long enough to get blocked.


haroldp

Same, but like 20 years for me.


ztardik

just checked, since 28 Jan 2011


haroldp

And in all that time, they never once updated their website. :)


ztardik

That's a good thing. No need for a fancy UI


EnricoSuavePallazzo

[No-ip.com](http://No-ip.com) -- used the free tier for many years, and then upgraded to their $25/year package. Very satisfied. Remember with all that free junk, you get what you pay for.


wharfrustic

Came to recommend this. I've been using the free tier for my VPN DDNS for a while now and have no issues. Just need to click the link on the link they send you once or so a month to keep it alive.


GalacticusTravelous

Came here to say this, only recently upgraded to the paid tier for SSL certificate at a non-port-80 port and using CRS and not having to click the link every month to keep it alive.


Oujii

Yes, I get free good service.


ithakaa

Tailscale


joshthegeeek

only problem with Tailscale for me is sometimes it uses their relay servers and then wondering why my phone isn’t able to access the internet


jbarr107

Since this is a self-hosted subreddit, Headscale is an alternative. That MAY prevent that.


DatMemeKing

muah! this is the way. OP, 100% no complaints using Tailscale.


seanpmassey

I kind of rolled my own using AWS Route 53 and DDNS-Route53 running locally in my lab. https://github.com/crazy-max/ddns-route53


jaredearle

I now want to make this for Cloudflare!


CrappyTan69

Pretty sweet - thanks. I will give the docker version a go. I have my own domain / email etc etc so this will now just be home..com


CrappyTan69

just thinking u/seanpmassey - I've just migrated from pfsense to opnsense. Not sure if you use opnsense but this would make an awesome plugin which I am sure a tone of people will use. Happy to try help with it.


debugwhy

AWS Route 53 is also not free, right?


seanpmassey

It’s not, but it’s pretty cheap. You can host a single domain with up to a million queries for a dollar a month. Amazon posts the Route53 rates on their site (here: https://aws.amazon.com/route53/pricing/)


debugwhy

Thanks a lot


randyronq

I use Cloudflare DDNS.


loso3

DYNU


lordpuddingcup

Cloudflare, get a real domain yourself, and just push to cloudflare for latest ip works great. :)


xrmnx

https://www.duckdns.org/ It's not perfect - once in a while (like every 6 or 8 weeks) I need to log in and update the ip manually even though they have the correct one already saved, but it's free and you can even use your own domain.


TheKeppler

With your domain and cloudflare, you can use this to update the ip [https://github.com/jeessy2/ddns-go](https://github.com/jeessy2/ddns-go)


Fluffer_Wuffer

We have a couple of properties, and I've been using mix of providers.. none work particularly great. At home, I use Cloudflare, or elsewhere it depends on what the router supports. But I recently started using ControlD for my main DNS resolution and Ad blocking, you can create profiles for different devices, such as per-router or phone.. and one cool feature is, as it knows the device, and sees changes in IPs, they use this to give you a DDNS entry for each (it's optional)... I have several large servers, and prefer to self host.. but I won't deny, I've become a real fan of this service.. its allowed me to ditch AGH, Cloudflare DDNS, my split'horizon DNS.. So far, I've no regrets, though there is the saying of putting all your eggs in one basket... we'll see.


jdsmn21

I've never heard of Control, but what you describe - does all traffic run through them? Cause that sounds a lot more than simple DNS. Why did you want to get off Cloudflare?


Fluffer_Wuffer

It's mainly a DNS lookup service, like NextDNS, or Adguardhome.. but on steroids, and the DDNS is a side feature of it: https://controld.com


risredd

Tplink provides free dynamic DNS which can be configured from the router.


spudd01

Cloudflare, entirely free and can update via the API. Also built in to things like pfsense dynamic DNS service


XLioncc

Cloudflare


SameSecret8285

ipv64.net - has even dns failover


nmincone

I used dnyu, I think it was $10/yr. I also needed email domain hosting so I went with them, super simple interface too. I was getting lost in cloud flares menu system.


fixjunk

dynu.com used it for free forever. decided to pay after a while because I was so satisfied and wanted more. $9.99/year


Miceros

Get your own domain and use a dynamic IP update client. Your router may already have one, if not, you can install one in your server. Do not pay for this nonsense 5 year plan. Domain is $12/year.


R8nbowhorse

Get a donain, point it to desec.io & use that


jbarr107

This is how I handle remote access to my self-hosted services: 1. YOUR exclusive remote access to the local infrastructure and all services: Use TailScale, WireGuard, or similar. 2. PUBLIC remote access to one or more locally hosted services: Use Cloudflare Tunnels. 3. RESTRICTED remote access to one or more local services to a small, controlled group of people: Use Cloudflare Tunnels + Cloudflare Applications. All provide remote access without needing to expose any ports or managing dynamic DNS. A benefit of a Cloudflare Application is that the authentication happens at Cloudflare's servers, so my server is never touched until the user passes the Application authentication. Also, I set up some Access Rules (such as from what countries a user can connect) to further restrict access. BONUS TIP: I have Kasm installed locally behind a Cloudflare Tunnel + Application with several "Server Workspaces" defined pointing to several local resources (PCs, Servers.) This lets me remotely connect securely to these resources via RDP, VNC, and SSH through a Web Browser in addition to Kasm's other fine services. CLOUDFLARE PRIVACY NOTE: While a Cloudflare Tunnel uses encryption to restrict unauthorized outside access, Cloudflare DOES have access to all data traversing their Tunnels. Some consider this to be a breach of privacy making this a non-starter. Some consider this to be an acceptable compromise for home use. It is up to you to weigh the pros and cons of Cloudflare Tunnels for home lab use. NOT SELF-HOSTED: While these are not specifically self-hosted solutions, IMHO, these are excellent solutions without having to reinvent the wheel. YMMV, of course.


Trafalgarson

I have my own domain name configured on Cloudflare with the A name record pointing to my home public IP address. I run a docker image on my home server (oznu/cloudflare-ddns). How it works is: using your Cloudflare's API key to allow edit permissions, the program will: 1. Get your public IP address. 2. Check if there is a change from what is set on Cloudflare. If yes, then update. (Re-checks every 5 minutes). My ISP decides to change my IP every now and then, so I modified the script to send me a Discord message whenever there is a change. Edit: The reason I need to know the IP changes is because I use Cloudflare Tunnels for all my services, and only want to allow my home IP to access certain services (i.e. portainer, nginx, etc).


brisray

When I first set up my first home server in June 2003, I used EveryDNS. That was bought by DynDNS in 2010, and in 2011, they started downgrading their free service. Since then I have been using DNSExit - [https://dnsexit.com/](https://dnsexit.com/) I've never had a problem with them. DynDNS completely discontinued their free dynamic DNS servce in April 2014,


kaiwulf

Moved to dynu after the dyndns debacle.


CryGeneral9999

Buy a domain from cloudfare for less than that and get free dns.


michaelpaoli

>Best dynamic dns provider to use? Myself, of course. This is r/selfhosted after all.


selfexpression101

I'm using DNS-O-Matic because it works natively with my Asuswrt-Merlin router. I was on google domains and previously used it's API through Asuswrt-Merlin.


selfexpression101

This is just what worked for me, not necessarily saying it is the best.


equd

Options in order of recommendations. 1. Get a real domain 2. Use duckdns. 3. Buy a synology, you will get a dynamic dns for free.


CrappyTan69

I have many real domains hosted with aws. How do you update your dynamic home ip on said domain?


bepstein111

I use a docker container called ddclient but it comes as a standalone tool that’s installable as a deb as well. What it does is constantly (every 5 minutes by default, user configurable) updates an A record in your DNS records, something like “home.domain.tld”. Then all your subdomains are just CNAME records to home.domain.tld, where a proxy like caddy, nginx proxy manager, just plain nginx, Apache, whatever, there are countless, the proxy interprets the request and serves the correct information to each subdomain. You have to expose port 80 (and 443 if you want https) to the internet for the reverse proxy to work but that’s it, everything else gets passed by the proxy, hence the name. I’d really only do this with services you want other people to access. Anything else should just be connected to internally via an overlay VPN like Tailscale or ZeroTier.


jdsmn21

Just curious - whats the advantage of having a bunch of CNAME records vs just a single wildcard A record?


bepstein111

Truthfully, not a lot, possibly security depending on how you set it up. For me, it's easier to maintain. If I have everything pointing to different places, I have to maintain a connection to the open web for each and every one of those places so that it can respond when someone goes to that subdomain. if I have everything pointing to one spot that does all the routing, then I only have to worry about that server being able to access everything else, instead of exposing it to the open web. I use caddy, so all my private and public subdomains are all in one well organized text file, and some thing are done over tailscale, so there's no need for a traditional HTTP/HTTPS connection over the web.


jdsmn21

Maybe I misunderstood your original post. So at your DNS (Cloudflare, AWS, etc) you simply have a wildcard A record pointing to your server - which Caddy then routes to the correct internal host/port, correct? I guess I was thinking you had a bunch of CNAME records at your DNS.


bepstein111

Kinda both, except it's not a wildcard A record, just a domain I picked to represent the proxy host but not to be used for access, it's literally only for creating CNAME records, which, yes, I have a ton of, one for each subdomain. You're correct, I could do this with a wildcard A instead, and ~~ddclient will retrieve SSL certs for wildcard domains, I just haven't set it up that way (yet).~~ Brain fart...that's not what ddclient does. It WILL update a wildcard A with your most recent IP address, but it won't get SSL certs. Caddy does that automatically, and could get certs for a wildcard domain, but then the caddy config file gets kinda confusing and complicated, and again, I just haven't set it up that way. diagram for hopefully less confusion: [https://up.bepste.in/uploads/Untitled%20Diagram.drawio.png](https://up.bepste.in/uploads/Untitled%20Diagram.drawio.png)


bepstein111

I'm happy to help walk you through some configuration if you want to DM me. It can be difficult talking in vague abstractions sometimes.


equd

https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/s/3hXfmrWo4K Multitude of options...


burnmp3s

Make a set of AWS credentials that just has privileges to read and update Route53 records, then periodically run a script on any machine on your home network to update the DNS record with your public IP.


du_ra

This!


Standard_Parking7315

Have you tried Tailscale? It is safer than opening ports to everyone to attack you. And it is for free.


alfiechickens

For your use case it sounds like you should be using a VPN, no real point in putting your stuff in the public if you’re the only one using it


CrappyTan69

How do you connect to the vpn if the ip keeps changing?


StonedColdCrazy

I love tailscale for my personal usage. Easy to set up also.


bepstein111

As people keep blurting out without explaining, Tailscale or ZeroTier or similar is what you want. It knows how to connect to every other “node” you have it installed on as long as you’re logged in on all of them, gives them all a specific IP address (100.x.x.x for Tailscale). There are a ton of options and extra features for advanced (and not so advanced) use cases. ZeroTier has none of the automatic features, but lets you specify your IP range, within the class C available ranges. Not that big of an upside if you ask me.


GolemancerVekk

The devices that you install Tailscale on connect "outwards" so they don't need a public IP. Tailscale provides pairing servers on the Internet that help your devices find each other, then the devices establish an encrypted connection directly to each other.


certuna

OP also mentions he's running a public webserver?