DNS

Dynamic DNS (DDNS) for changing IPs

Update an A or AAAA record automatically when your home or office IP changes, with routers, NAS devices, ddclient or curl using the dyndns2 protocol.

What it is for

If your home or office connection has a public IP that changes, dynamic DNS updates your subdomain (e.g. home.example.com) whenever the IP changes. If the device is behind NAT without a public IP, use a tunnel instead.

1. Create a token

From Account → API tokens create a token with only the dns:write permission, limited to the relevant domain. The token acts as the password.

2. Configure the client

NorthDNS uses the dyndns2 protocol, supported by many routers, NAS devices, ddclient and inadyn:

Server	`northdns.it`
Path	`/nic/update`
Username	any value (e.g. `northdns`)
Password	the API token
Hostname	the full name, e.g. `home.example.com`

With curl, your public IP is detected automatically:

curl -u northdns:nd_YOUR_TOKEN   "https://northdns.it/nic/update?hostname=home.example.com"

To set a specific IP add &myip=203.0.113.10. Separate several names with commas.

Responses

good IP: record updated or created.
nochg IP: the IP was already set.
badauth: invalid token or missing dns:write.
nohost: the name does not belong to one of your domains.
notfqdn: invalid name.
dnserr: non-public IP or a conflict with another record.

A missing record is created with a 60-second TTL. Requests are limited to 30 per minute: configure the client to update only when the IP changes or every 5 minutes.