Matthias' Software Blog - DynDNS Service

DynDNS Service - Web-Configuration

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From version 2 the DynDNS Service provides the download of the configuration directly from a web page. You can try it: If you are reading this page on a computer that has been installed DynDNS Service, you are able to click on the following demo link in order to download the configuration of a DynDNS provider with dummy values and add it to the configuration of the DynDNS Service

DynDNS Service - Auto Web Configuration Test

DynDNS Service - Auto Xml Web Configuration Test

The successful import of the configuration of new DynDNS providers is displayed by a dialogue and subsequently there are new providers displayed in DynDNS Service by opening the configuration dialog of the DynDNS Service or updating the configuration (move right the slide switch down in the configuration dialog).

Configuring Your Own Web Link

The following instructions describe how you can set up your own link for automatic configuration of the DynDNS Service on a web page. For that you only need to place a link on their web page, as this example shows:

 <a href="DynDNSService.WebConfig:[KeyValuePairs]">Descriptive text</a>

There are two different types of classes registrations for the DynDNS Service you can choice:

Web Link

Description

DynDNSService.WebConfig

Allows configuration for a provider by directly inserting the configuration data in HTML code. The advantage of this variant is the fact the DynDNS Service takes over the configation directly without needing to download more data from the Internet. Disadvantage is that all data (incl. password) are loaded from the user's Web browser and partly also can be displayed (for example, in tooltips etc.).

DynDNSService.XmlConfig

Allows configuration for any number of providers by downloading an XML-based configuration file from the specified source in the hyperlink. The advantage here is that sensitive user data downloaded only after the user clicks the hyperlink. Disadvantage is that the Download from DynDNS Service itself (not the web browser) is performing the download.

Both types differ only in the content of the attribute href in the HTML hyperlink element and are described in more detail below:

Configuring a direct web links

The attribute href is composed, divided by a colon ":", by a fixed part "DynDNSService.WebConfig", which marks the web link as a direct web link and by a variable part <KeyValuePairs>, of a through pipe symbol "|" separate parameter describes which evaluates the DynDNS Service for automatic configuration. The following example shows the contents of the demo links above:

 <a href="DynDNSService.WebConfig:ProviderName=DynDNS%20Provider|Enabled=True|DomainName=mydomain.contoso.com|Keywords=good,nochg|UpdateUrl=https://www.contoso.com/nic/update?hostname=[DOMAINNAME]&amp;myip=[IPV6]|UpdateTimeout=3|UserName=DynDNSUsername|Password=top_secrect">DynDNS Service - Auto Web Configuration Test</a>

Description of Parameters

The following table shows all available parameters for the configuration of a provider:

Parameter	Type	Description
ProviderName	Text	Freely selectable name of the provider
Enabled	True or False	Determines whether the provider immediately is active after configuration or has to be manually activated by the user.
DomainName	Text	Specifies the Domain Name for configuration.
UpdateUrl	Text	Sets the update url, to be used for the DynDNS updates.
UpdateTimeout	Integer	Specify the timeout in seconds that should apply during a DynDNS updates.
Keywords	Comma Separated Text	Determines which keywords in the response of the DynDNS provider signal the successful update.
UserName	Text	Specifies the user to be used for authentication of the DynDNS updates.
Password	Text	Specifies the password that must be used for authentication of the DynDNS updates.

Configuration via an XML-based configuration file

The following instructions describe how you can set up your own link for automatic configuration of the DynDNS Service from an XML-based configuration file on a web page. For that you only need to place a link on their web page, as this example shows:

 <a href="DynDNSService.XmlConfig:http://www.contoso.com/MyXmlConfiguration.xml">DynDNS Service - Xml Auto Configuration Test</a>

Description of Parameters

The following example demonstrates the structure of the XML-based configuration file using a configuration of 2 different providers:

 
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<DynDNSService>
  <Providers>
    <Provider>
      <Name>Test Item 1</Name>
      <IsEnabled>True</IsEnabled>
      <Url>http://dyndns.contoso.com/nic/update?hostname=[DOMAINNAME]&amp;myip=[IPV6]</Url>
      <Timeout>3</Timeout>
      <UserName>BarackObama</UserName>
      <Password>top_secrect</Password>
      <Authentication>RW5jcnlwdGVkIEtleQ==</Authentication>
      <Keywords>good,nochg</Keywords>
      <DomainName>www.contoso.com</DomainName>
    </Provider>
    <Provider>
      <Name>Test Item 2</Name>
      <IsEnabled>False</IsEnabled>
      <Url>https://dyndns.contoso.com?fqdn=[DOMAINNAME]&amp;ipv4=[IPV4]&amp;ipv6=[IP4mapped]&amp;forcehost=1&amp;authtype=secure&amp;token=[USERNAME]</Url>
      <Timeout>10</Timeout>
      <UserName>BillGates</UserName>
      <Password />
      <Authentication />
      <Keywords>success</Keywords>
      <DomainName>webcam.contoso.com</DomainName>
    </Provider>
  </Providers>
</DynDNSService>

Description of Parameters

The following table shows all available parameters for the configuration file:

Parameter	Type	Description
ProviderName	Text	Freely selectable name of the provider
IsEnabled	True or False	Determines whether the provider immediately is active after configuration or has to be manually activated by the user.
DomainName	Text	Specifies the Domain Name for configuration.
Url	Text	Sets the update url, to be used for the DynDNS updates.
Timeout	Integer	Specify the timeout in seconds that should apply during a DynDNS updates.
Keywords	Comma Separated Text	Determines which keywords in the response of the DynDNS provider signal the successful update.
UserName	Text	Specifies the user to be used for authentication of the DynDNS updates.
Password	Text	Specifies the password that must be used for authentication of the DynDNS updates.
Authentication	Text	Freely selectable string used to authenticate a DynDNS updates.

Authentication Parameter

The authentication parameter is a specific parameter that can be used to authenticate a DynDNS update. The parameter can not be viewed or edited by the user via the user interface. During each DynDNS update, performed by DynDNS Service, the content of the imported authentication parameter will be added as an additional header parameter 'Authentication' in addition to the header parameter 'Authorization':

				Authorization Basic QmFyYWNrT2JhbWE6dG9wX3NlY3JlY3Q=
				Authentication RW5jcnlwdGVkIEtleQ==

Remarks

You can create an XML configuration file also from the already configured DynDNS providers of DynDNS Service. Just go to the Windows notification area in the context menu of the DynDNS Service and select the menu item "Export". In the subsequently appearing dialog "Save File" select the XML file format.

If you want to create an XML-based configuration file itself, please consider to apply the XML file format syntax and semantics. The use of markup characters in the content of an XML tag, such as "<", ">" or "&" would lead to the termination of the import and output an error message by the DynDNS Service. Instead, you should work with HTML code, such as "<", ">" or "&"" for the examples above. Apart from the parameters for the password and authentication, the DynDNS Service translates all common HTML codes in all parameters, if these are used in the XML file.

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