During a compile, I kept getting 'missing file' errors.
Solution: Use packages.debian.org to fing the package that includes the missing file, so I can install it.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
ddclient on a Debian 6 server
This post is an update to my original in March 2011.
Every time I reconnect to the internet, my router is given a different IP address by the upstream internet service provider. That's called dynamic hosting. But if I'm out on the internet, I cannot connect to my server unless I know the current IP. A Dynamic DNS (ddns) host simply tracks my ever-changing IP for me in an internet-accessible way.
The ddns host isn't psychic - I need a small piece of software (a ddns client) on my server that figures out whenever the IP changes, and sends that update to the ddns host.
That should be it. ddclient should automatically update the ddns host regularly (or event-driven) now.
Usage: If you're out on the internet and need to know your server's IP, just look it up:
Kingbaron: Sometimes my server is also an internet-facing router, sometimes it's just a LAN server. I don't want it erroneously feeding LAN addresses to the ddns. Happily, the dhclient-exit-hook script thought of that already. If the new IP address is in the normal LAN range, ddclient ignores it.
Every time I reconnect to the internet, my router is given a different IP address by the upstream internet service provider. That's called dynamic hosting. But if I'm out on the internet, I cannot connect to my server unless I know the current IP. A Dynamic DNS (ddns) host simply tracks my ever-changing IP for me in an internet-accessible way.
The ddns host isn't psychic - I need a small piece of software (a ddns client) on my server that figures out whenever the IP changes, and sends that update to the ddns host.
- Register for a dynamic DNS service. Any good search engine can point you to a good free service.
- The 'ddclient' package is the server program that sends the new IP to the ddns host. Install ddclient using the command
apt-get install ddclient. The installer will ask questions about the newly-registered dynamic dns account. - There are two ways to run ddclient - as a daemon or as an occasionally-triggered non-daemon.
- To run ddclient as a daemon (always-on), edit the file /etc/init.d/ddclient, and change the line:
run_daemon=false #from run_daemon=true #to
Restart ddclient (service ddclient restart) to reload the new config. - To run ddclient as a non-daemon, take a look in the /usr/share/doc/ddclient/examples directory for a bunch of possible trigger mechanisms.
I chose to run ddclient whenever my server picks up a new IP address:cp /usr/share/doc/ddclient/examples/sample-etc_dhclient-exit-hooks /etc/dhcp/dhclient-exit-hooks.d/ddclient
It's not perfect for my use, but we'll fix that later.
- To run ddclient as a daemon (always-on), edit the file /etc/init.d/ddclient, and change the line:
That should be it. ddclient should automatically update the ddns host regularly (or event-driven) now.
Usage: If you're out on the internet and need to know your server's IP, just look it up:
dig +short myaccount.dyndns.org # Elsewhere on the internet nslookup myaccount.dyndns.org ns.dyndns.org # Another way from the internet http://www.dnscog.com/dig/myaccount.dyndns.org/ # As a web pageOr have the service look it up for you by simply using the domain name:
ssh myaccount.dyndns.orgKingbaron: Sometimes my server is also an internet-facing router, sometimes it's just a LAN server. I don't want it erroneously feeding LAN addresses to the ddns. Happily, the dhclient-exit-hook script thought of that already. If the new IP address is in the normal LAN range, ddclient ignores it.
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