acatalept/blog

(Applies to v3.1.0.15) DynDNS Updater is a simple, free to use dynamic DNS utility: it automatically detects changes to your external IP address - such as when your ISP renews your DHCP lease - and forwards this information to your DNS service provider to ensure your domain name always points to your most current IP.

However, this utility is distributed by DynDNS.org (although designed and supported by third party Kana Solution) primarily to support the use of their specific service. But with a little tweaking, you can make this well-designed utility work for other service providers - for this example we'll be using the domain registrar Namecheap.com, one of the better rated affordable service providers.

1. First, open the file DynDNS.ini in your installation folder, find the section titled [Options], and add the following line to the top of that section:

IsDynDNS=0

This will configure DynDNS Updater to support other service providers besides DynDNS.org.

2. In the same file, under the [SvcProvider] section, add the following line:

2="namecheap.com"

(Note: make sure the number at the beginning of the line is different from any other entries in that section.)

3. This step is optional - you can accomplish the same thing by setting up the account in the DynDNS Updater interface. But to avoid that, simply add the following section to your newly modified DynDNS.ini:

[namecheap]
NewConfig=0
Type=2
UserID=[YOUR DOMAIN NAME]
Provider=namecheap.com
Profile=C:\Program Files\DynDNS Updater\namecheap.cfg
Password=
NumOfHosts=1
Host1=[YOUR HOST NAME - enter @ if same as domain name]
Wildcard=1
MailEx=
BackupMX=0
Enable=1
Secure=1
UpdateResult=0

4. Next, create a new text file in the same location called namecheap.cfg with the following contents:

[default]
withpass=0
host=dynamicdns.park-your-domain.com
port=80
path=/update
protocol=http

[requests]
host=%HOST%
domain=%USER%
password=%PASS%
ip=%IP%

[result]
multilines=1
success=<ErrCount>0</ErrCount>
warning=<Err1>

Note that you can find configuration profiles for other service providers at KanaSolution.

5. Finally, you need to stop and restart your DynDNS Updater service (if you're unsure how to do this just reboot your machine). To do this, click the Start Menu, then Run, then type:

services.msc

Then click OK. In the list that appears, find the DynDNS Updater service and double click it. In the window that appears, click the Stop button, wait for the progress bar to complete, then click the Start button, and you should see the DynDNS icon reappear in your system tray in less than a minute.

6. Open DynDNS Updater from the system tray icon, click the Settings button, then double-click the namecheap.com entry. Here you'll need to enter your password, which DynDNS Updater will store in the config file as a secure hash. Note that this dynamic DNS updating password is not the same as your namecheap.com account password - it will be a long string of letters and numbers separated by hyphens. To get the correct password, go to namecheap.com, log into your account, and go to the management area for your domain. Click the link on the left edge of the page for Dynamic DNS settings, and you should see your password displayed. Copy and paste this into the DynDNS Updater window and save your configuration.