How To Install DDclient On Ubuntu

DDNS is the answer for those networking devices that have no access to a static IP, a common need for residential users. Basically the target system needs to run a client that talks to a master DNS server, from which after authenticating will be forwarded all request coming from the Internet.

In this post I have a Linux server at home and need to have remote access from any location. I will be using DynDNS and DDclient to communicate with the service provider.

First install the required SSH and SSL socket

Self explanatory we want to be able to send the account password via a secure connection.

sudo apt-get install ssh libio-socket-ssl-perl

Install DDclient.

sudo apt-get install ddclient

Installation wizard

Select the DDNS provider

Provide the assigned qualified domain name

Provide your username

Provide your password

And the interface

The configuration file is located at /etc/ddclient.conf. Edit your configuration to make use of the secure configuration.

sudo nano /etc/ddclient.conf

# Configuration file for ddclient generated by debconf
#
# /etc/ddclient.conf
 
daemon=300
pid=/var/run/ddclient.pid
ssl=yes
use=web, web=checkip.dyndns.com/, web-skip='IP Address'
login=username
password=password
protocol=dyndns2
server=members.dyndns.org
hostname.dyndns.org

Now make sure DDclient is set to work as a daemon. You need to change run_daemon=”false” to run_daemon=”true”.

sudo nano /etc/default/ddclient

# Configuration for ddclient scripts
# generated from debconf on Tue Dec 9 19:52:12 EST 2008
#
# /etc/default/ddclient
# Set to “true” if ddclient should be run every time a
# new ppp connection is established. This might be useful,
# if you are using dial-on-demand
run_ipup=”false”
 
# Set to “true” if ddclient should run in daemon mode
run_daemon=”true”
 
# Set the time interval between the updates of the dynamic DNS name in seconds.
# This option only takes effect if the ddclient runs in daemon mode.
daemon_interval=”300″

Now verify DDclient is working by rebooting first and issuing the following two commands.

sudo /etc/init.d/ddclient restart

sudo /etc/init.d/ddclient status

If the client is working correctly you should see the same output.

Status of Dynamic DNS service update utility: ddclient is running

In case you want to reconfigure the client issue the following command.

dpkg-reconfigure ddclient

Don’t forget to allow port forwarding on your router otherwise all attempts will fail. Flased routers like the WRT54GL with Tomato firmware allow for a wide range of options when it come to DDNS provider from a simple web interface. This means centralisation and easy configuration.