No-ip monthly free host confirmation

[evalf]

I've been using the no-ip free service for a couple of years now, previously with a router running DD-WRT, and since a bit over a month with an AC-68U running rmerlin. No-ip requires the free hostnames to be verified every month by logging onto their website or whenever the router reports a change. Somehow I never required to do it with the old router: this is probably because I had it auto reboot every day since it was so unstable, which forced an IP renew.

The new router is so stable though, that I haven't rebooted my new router in over a month, and I assume my IP has stayed the same all along. I received an email from no-ip a few days ago requesting my to login on their website to complete the monthly confirmation of my free host, otherwise it would be deleted. This is not a huge hassle, but I'm wondering if there is a way to have the router complete whatever contact is necessary with no-ip's servers that would reset that monthly confirmation requirement.

In the DDNS tab of the WAN configuration I have "Forced refresh interval (in days)" set to the default 1; I checked in the router's log and indeed every day there was a contact made to no-ip:

Apr 1 02:26:58 watchdog: start ddns.
Apr 1 02:26:58 rc_service: watchdog 600:notify_rc start_ddns
Apr 1 02:26:58 ddns update: ez-ipupdate: starting...
Apr 1 02:26:59 ddns update: connected to dynupdate.no-ip.com (8.23.224.120) on port 80.
Apr 1 02:27:01 ddns update: request successful
Apr 1 02:27:01 ddns update: asusddns_update: 0
Apr 1 02:27:01 ddns: ddns update ok

So since this daily contact from the router did not remove the requirement to do the monthly confirmation I assume something more must be done. In the DDNS configuration tab there is another option, "WAN IP and hostname verification" which by default is set to No, and that can be set to Yes in which case a certain number of minutes must be specified. I tried it and from the log it does not seem to do the same thing as the daily update. I tried to look online for what this option did exactly, but couldn't find anything detailed from Asus' documentation or elsewhere.

So is there a way to have the router do whatever is necessary to reset that monthly counter with no-ip? Alternatively I've thought of using the Asus provided service, but if there is a simple enough solution that would allow me to keep on using no-ip I'd rather do that.

Thanks for your help!

 

[RMerlin]

No-ip forces you to go to their website and answer a Captcha every month if you have a free account. There's no automation around this, you have to manually do it (it's a Cpatcha). This is separate from the other requirement that most free DDNS providers put that you must update your IP at least once a month.

 

[evalf]

Wow, that was fast! Thanks for your reply, I'm gonna give Asus' service a try then.

 

[RMerlin]

Wow, that was fast! Thanks for your reply, I'm gonna give Asus' service a try then.

Another alternative worth considering is afraid.org. You will have to use a custom ddns script with their service, an example script can be found on the Wiki.

 

[evalf]

Thanks for the tip!

 

[martinr]

If you are going to change DDNS provider, consider the ASUS DDNS provided through the firmware. I came from Duckdns and DDWRT to ASUS-Merlin, and the ASUS DDNS was simple to set up (and over the 6 months I've been using it, totally reliable). In fact, it was so easy to set up, compared to what I'd been used to, I spent more time looking for non-existant settings in the belief that setting up DDNS couldn't possibly be so easy.

 

[evalf]

I set Asus' service up after Merlin's first reply, indeed it was surprisingly easy. I've now changed my VPN settings and everything seems to be running smoothly. I wanted to keep using no-ip as it wasn't tied to a router manufacturer, but again as Asus' solution is so easy to use I'll be lazy for now and reassess the situation the day I decide to change routers.

 

[martinr]

........ but again as Asus' solution is so easy to use I'll be lazy for now and reassess the situation the day I decide to change routers.

That's not lazy:that's smart.

 

[RMerlin]

If you are going to change DDNS provider, consider the ASUS DDNS provided through the firmware. I came from Duckdns and DDWRT to ASUS-Merlin, and the ASUS DDNS was simple to set up (and over the 6 months I've been using it, totally reliable). In fact, it was so easy to set up, compared to what I'd been used to, I spent more time looking for non-existant settings in the belief that setting up DDNS couldn't possibly be so easy.

The main problem with Asus's DDNS is that it's tied to your router. If you change router in the future, you will lose your registered hostname, unless you switch to another Asus router, and you remember to de-register your existing hostname first.

 

[argh0815]

You can force a no-ip update by changing the IP address to 127.0.0.1 or similar and immediately changing it back to your WAN IP. I put this script into /jffs/scripts and let it execute twice a month via cron job.

#!/bin/sh
SERVICE="noip"
USER=YOURUSERID
PASS=YOURPASSWORD
HOST=YOURHOSTNAME
IP="127.0.0.1"
/usr/sbin/ez-ipupdate -S $SERVICE -u $USER:$PASS -h $HOST -a $IP
/usr/sbin/ez-ipupdate -S $SERVICE -u $USER:$PASS -h $HOST -i eth0

and the cron job in services-start

#!/bin/sh
/usr/sbin/cru a DDNS-NoIP "0 4 1,16 * * /jffs/scripts/ddns-noip.sh"

Works perfect for me.

 

[martinr]

The main problem with Asus's DDNS is that it's tied to your router. If you change router in the future, you will lose your registered hostname, unless you switch to another Asus router, and you remember to de-register your existing hostname first.

Point taken, Merlin, but I for one will never leave Asus so long as there is available such rock solid custom firmware contolled by one trusted individual, which is the perfect balance between stock firmware on the one hand and the dog's breakfast of a muddle that at least one open-source firmware represents.

 

[Faizan]

You can force a no-ip update by changing the IP address to 127.0.0.1 or similar and immediately changing it back to your WAN IP. I put this script into /jffs/scripts and let it execute twice a month via cron job.

#!/bin/sh
SERVICE="noip"
USER=YOURUSERID
PASS=YOURPASSWORD
HOST=YOURHOSTNAME
IP="127.0.0.1"
/usr/sbin/ez-ipupdate -S $SERVICE -u $USER:$PASS -h $HOST -a $IP
/usr/sbin/ez-ipupdate -S $SERVICE -u $USER:$PASS -h $HOST -i eth0

and the cron job in services-start

#!/bin/sh
/usr/sbin/cru a DDNS-NoIP "0 4 1,16 * * /jffs/scripts/ddns-noip.sh"

Works perfect for me.

Can someone assist me with this script?

I created below file but i am not sure how to create cron job in services-start
(sorry i am a noob at this)


I created a file in /jffs/scripts with the name ddns-noip.sh

with the below content

#!/bin/sh
SERVICE="noip"
USER=myemail@myemail.com
PASS=password
HOST=hostname
IP="127.0.0.1"
/usr/sbin/ez-ipupdate -S $SERVICE -u $USER:$PASS -h $HOST -a $IP
/usr/sbin/ez-ipupdate -S $SERVICE -u $USER:$PASS -h $HOST -i eth0

Where am i supposed to add this? and how
#!/bin/sh
/usr/sbin/cru a DDNS-NoIP "0 4 1,16 * * /jffs/scripts/ddns-noip.sh"

I am using program called winscp

 

[argh0815]

Can someone assist me with this script?

I created below file but i am not sure how to create cron job in services-start
(sorry i am a noob at this)


I created a file in /jffs/scripts with the name ddns-noip.sh

with the below content



Where am i supposed to add this? and how
#!/bin/sh
/usr/sbin/cru a DDNS-NoIP "0 4 1,16 * * /jffs/scripts/ddns-noip.sh"

I am using program called winscp

You create a file with the name services-start in /jffs/scripts with this content:
#!/bin/sh
/usr/sbin/cru a DDNS-NoIP "0 4 1,16 * * /jffs/scripts/ddns-noip.sh"

A good starting point to get more familiar with these scripts is Merlin's Wiki https://github.com/RMerl/asuswrt-merlin/wiki/User-scripts

 

[bigeyes0x0]

I use cloudflare with my own domain. It's free if you already have your own domain, here's the script:

admin@RT-AC56U-84E0:/tmp/home/root# cat /jffs/scripts/ddns-start
#!/bin/sh
if [ `ps|grep "$0"|wc -l` -gt 3 ]; then
  exit 0
fi

# Cloudflare
USER_CF="email"
PASS_CF="api key"
ZONE_ID="zone id from https://api.cloudflare.com/#zone-list-zones"
ZONE_CF="zone name"
NAME_ID="name id from "
NAME_CF="sub domain name from https://api.cloudflare.com/#dns-records-for-a-zone-list-dns-records"
SET_IP=`nslookup $NAME_CF.$ZONE_CF|tail -1|cut -d' ' -f3`
WAN_IP=$1

if [ "$SET_IP" != "$WAN_IP" ]; then
  (
  while [ true ]; do
  if [ `nvram get ntp_ready` -eq 0 ]; then
  sleep 5
  else
  # Cloudflare
  TMP=`curl -s -X PUT "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/zones/$ZONE_ID/dns_records/$NAME_ID" \
  -H "X-Auth-Email: $USER_CF" \
  -H "X-Auth-Key: $PASS_CF" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data "{\"content\":\"$WAN_IP\",\"type\":\"A\",\"zone_name\":\"$ZONE_CF\",\"name\":\"$NAME_CF\"}"`
  if [ '`echo $TMP|grep "success.*true"`' ]; then
  /sbin/ddns_custom_updated 1
  else
  /sbin/ddns_custom_updated 0
  fi
  break
  fi
  done
  )&
fi

 

[Faizan]

I have created the script as mentioned by argh0815 , however i still have to once a month confirm hostname on their website.
Hostname is being updated but for some reason manual update is required

is there any solution to that?

 

[john9527]

I have created the script as mentioned by argh0815 , however i still have to once a month confirm hostname on their website.
Hostname is being updated but for some reason manual update is required

is there any solution to that?

Get a paid account All free accounts needs to be confirmed monthly regardless of whether or not they have been updated. For a long time the confirms weren't being sent, but I've gotten one the last two months.

 

[vincom]

i use dnsexit, its free, lots of options to customize, but needs a pc app to be run to update your ip.
i wish it was preconfiged in asuswrt instead of trying to use custom settings which i dont know how to use

 

[mad_daddy]

For updating dnsexit, see Merlin's page:
https://github.com/RMerl/asuswrt-merlin/wiki/Custom-DDNS