Documentation
Summary
The Dynamic DNS Client .NET Edition is a utility to automatically update dynamic DNS
services with your current Internet IP address. The program works with many dynamic
DNS service providers, some are free and some are premium pay services. To use the Dynamic
DNS Client you will need at least one account with a supported dynamic DNS service provider.
A list of supported services providers can be found on the software's product page.
Why do I need a dynamic dns service provider?
Most broadband and dial-up services dynamically assign IP addresses. This means that
you cannot count on your address being the same the next time you use your computer.
This makes hosting services such as web pages, ftp sites, email or chat services very
difficult because the user of these services would need to know your current IP address
in advance. Dynamic DNS service providers allow you to request an easy to remember domain
name that can be assigned to your computers Internet IP address. This allows users of
your services to use a simple domain name instead of needing to know your current IP
address. The Dynamic DNS Client is used to automatically keep your current Internet
IP address assigned to your new domain name.
Requirements
The requirements for the Dynamic DNS Client .NET edition can be found on the softwares
product page.
Software Overview
The Dynamic DNS Client's user interface is organized into tabs. Each tab represents
a status, configuration or information grouping. The tabs allow you to see only the
information you need for performing a specific task. Below is a brief description of
each tab:
Status
The status tab displays current information about your system along with the status
of each configured account. The status tab is divided into two sections; system information
and status.
System Information Section
The system information section displays your local computer name, the last action performed
by the client and the Internet IP address detected by the client.
Status Section
The status section displays information about each of the active accounts you have configured.
You will see the update status for the account (success or failed), account description,
date and time of the last update, and the last IP address that was used for updating
the account. If you right click on an account listed in this section you will be shown
a context sensitive menu that will allow you to perform several different actions:
Report
The report is additional information about the reason an account was successful or not
during an update. This information is helpful in troubleshooting account update issues.
Online
This option operates the same as the online button displayed at the bottom of the client
except it only applies to the one service. The online option places a request to the
client to update the account selected with the current IP address. Just like the online
button at the bottom of the client, this option will not update an account if the last
IP is the same as the current IP address. This is part of the update abuse prevention
system required by most dynamic DNS services.
Offline
This option is the same as the online option above except it updates the account with
the offline IP address specified in the preferences tab.
Force Online
This option is the same as the online option above except it overrides the abuse prevention
system and will always update the account with the current IP address.
Force Offline
This option is the same as the offline option above except it overrides the abuse prevention
system and will always update the account with the current IP address.
Accounts
This is where you see all of the dynamic DNS services you have configured and their
active status. You can add, edit or delete accounts from this screen.
Add
This button allows you to add a new dynamic DNS account. The add account screen is configured
into two sections; service information and configuration.
Service Information
Service - List of supported dynamic DNS services. The name listed is the plug-in filename
and is a shortened version of the actual dynanic DNS service followed by the .SVC extension.
When you select a service from the list you will see general service information and
the configuration section will be updated with the properties for the service.
Description - A description of the service. Version - Version number of the service
plug-in file. Web - The URL for the dynamic DNS service. Click on the link to have it
open up in your default browser.
Active - When checked allows the service to be updated by the Dynamic DNS Client. If
this is not checked the service will not be updated.
Configuration
The configuration section lists all of the properties for the selected service. To update
the value of a property, double click on the property name. A pop-up window will allow
you to enter in a value or select a value from a list. Every service has a username
a password property, but not all services require them to be filled in. Check with your
dynamic DNS service provider if you are unsure if you need to fill in both fields. All
of the other configuration properties displayed are specific to the service.
Edit
The edit button will allow you to make changes to the configuration of the selected
account. See the “Add“ section above for a description of each field.
Delete
The delete button will delete the selected acount and its configuration information.
This does not delete your actual account at the dynamic DNS service provider.
Copy
The copy button will make a copy of the currently selected account including all configuration
information. The copied account will be marked inactive and the domain name will be
“copy of somedomain“ where somedomain is the domain name of the copied account. You
will need to modify the domain name for the account prior to marking it active.
Preferences
The preferences tab is where you can configure the performance and options of the software.
The preferences tab is divided into three sections; ip detection, service updates and
background.
IP Detection
The Dynamic DNS Client offers two different IP detection schemes. You may select either
standard IP detection or web based IP detection. Both schemes are described below.
Standard IP Detection
Standard IP detection retrieves your current IP address directly from your network interface
card (NIC). This method works well for computers connected directly to the Internet
(not behind a NAT device or firewall). The Dynamic DNS Client's standard IP detection
will also work on multi-homed machines (systems with more than 1 NIC) that are being
used to route internal network traffic to the Internet. To configure the standard IP
detection system to work in a multi-homed environment you need to click on the configure
button and add all IP addresses on the computer used on your internal network. In most
configurations this would just be one IP address. For example: your computer has 2 NICs,
one connected directly to the Internet and one connected to your internal network. The
NIC connected to the internet receives its IP address from the ISPs DHCP server. The
NIC connected to the internal network has a static IP address of 192.168.0.100. You
will configure the Dynamic DNS Client to use standard IP detection. You will also click
on the configure button and add 192.168.0.100 to the list of non-internet IP addresses.
192.168.0.100 should be the only IP address in the non-internet IP list.
Web Based IP Detection
Web based IP detection retrieves your current Internet IP address by using a script
located on a remote website. The website examines the connection and determines your
true Internet IP address. Web based IP detection should be used if the computer running
the Dynamic DNS Client is behind a NAT device such as a broadband router. The system
will check for a new IP address using the web based IP detection method every 5 minutes.
Configure
The application comes preconfigured with several web based IP detection sites. The application
will start with the first site in the list and then will advance to the next site in
the list each time the application needs to do IP detection. If for some reason one
of the sites is no longer functioning, you can remove it from the list by selecting
the site and then clicking on the delete button. You can test an IP detection site by
selecting it and then clicking on the test button. If you wish to edit an existing site,
select the site, modify its properties and then click on the save button. To add a new
site, select
, enter in the appropriate information in the fields on the right, and then click on
the save button.
* URL is the complete url to the web based IP detection script.
* IP Position is used to select what IP address should be used if a web site returns
multiple IP addresses. This feature allows the application to work with some of the
status pages for broadband routers.
* Username and Password need to be specified if the web based IP detection site requires
authentication. The application only supports basic web authentication. NTLM, Forms
and Digest authentication is not supported.
Offline IP
The offline IP address allows you to specify an IP address to send to the dynamic DNS
service when you click on the "offline" button. Some people use this feature to redirect
their domain name to a different server if they are taking their computer offline. Note:
This feature does not work with all dynamic DNS service.
Service Updates Auto Refresh Days
Some dynamic DNS service providers will delete any account which is considered to be
inactive. To prevent this from occuring the program will automatically do a "forced"
update for any service that has not been updated in the specified number of days. This
feature is very important for users that have semi-static IP addresses.
Proxy Server
If the application is running behind a proxy server, you will be required to specify
the proxy server address, port, username and password.
Background
The Dynamic DNS Client can display a custom desktop background automatically that includes
your computers name and current Internet IP address. This feature is available in the
desktop version, and is also available in the service version when the user interface
is running.
Enable Background
This options configures the client to automatically update your desktop background each
time your IP address changes.
Font Size
This is the size of the font used for displaying your computer name and IP address on
the desktop.
Font Color
Click on the font color button to select a font color to be used when displaying your
computer name and IP address on the desktop.
Background Color
Click on the background color button to select a background color to be used for your
desktop.
Background Image
You may select an image to use as wallpaper for your desktop. Your computer name and
IP address will be displayed on the wallpaper. If you do not specify a background image
the background color will be used.
Startup Minimize on Startup
This option when enabled will cause the user interface to minize to the system tray
when the program starts.
Events
Events allow the client to perform some action based on a system event. The events are
On Update, On Update Error, and On IP Change. You can configure any of these events
to send an email, ftp a file or run a program. Many people use the On IP Change event
and have it send them an email to their mobile phone or text pager so they always know
what their systems IP address is. The on Update Error event is handy also to notify
you if a problem occured updating your IP address with your dynamic DNS service.
FTP
The FTP event action will transfer a text file from your local computer to a remote
server. This text file can have special tags that will be replaced with Dynamic DNS
information. See the special tags section below for more information.
FTP Server
The domain name or IP address of the remote FTP server.
FTP Username
The username used to log into the remote FTP server FTP.
Password
The password used to log into the remote FTP server.
Local File
The complete path and filename of the text file you want transfered. This text file
can contain special tags (see section below) which will be replaced with Dynamic DNS
information.
Remote File The path and name for the file when placed on the remote server. (example
\myIP.txt). You must specify the leading backslash.
Use PASV
Uses PASV transfer when checked, else uses Active transfer.
Email
The email event will send an email via a standard SMTP server. The email event does
support SMTP servers that require authentication.
Email From Address
The email address that outgoing message will be addressed from.
Email To Address
The email address where to send the outgoing message.
Email Subject
The subject of the outgoing message.
Email Body
The body of the outgoing email message. The body can contain special tags which will
be replaced with Dynamic DNS information. (see section below).
SMTP Server
The name or IP address of your SMTP server.
SMTP Username
Username (if required) for the SMTP server.
SMTP Password
Password (if required) for the SMTP server.
Run Program
The run program event will execute any program.
Program
The complete path and filename of the program to run.
Parameters
Any additional parameters the program needs.
Special Tags
The following special tags have been defined and can be used in the body of an email
or the text of an FTP file.
Tag Description
[ip] Current IP Address
[services] List of configured services and their status (is empty for the on IP change
event) [date]
Current Date [time] Current Time
Logging
This shows system events and error messages. This is usefull for troubleshooting problems.
Service
The service tab is only available on the service version of the software. This tab shows
the current operating status of the service and allows you to start or stop the service.
Help
The help tab offers quick links to documentation, news and announcements.