How-To Setup DNSMadeEasy Dynamic DNS on a Synology

Sep 21, 2013 · Comments
How ToKnowledge Base

I had a lot of trouble finding any help to get Dynamic DNS (DDNS) set up between a Synology NAS (a great product!) and DNSMadeEasy.com DDNS service so I thought I would post the solution that I worked out in case anyone else was looking.

1. Set up your DDNS domain on DNSMadeEasy.com

The wrinkle that DNSMadeEasy.com throws in the mix is that instead of the domain being updated, they use a unique ID number that’s generated when you save a record with the “Dynamic DNS” box checked.

After creating the record keep track of the password and the ID. You’ll need them later.

2. Add the DDNS provider for DNSMadeEasy.com on your Synology NAS

If you open the DDNS control panel on your Synology (Control Panel > ezCloud > DDNS) you will notice that there is no DNSMadeEasy.com option on the service provider menu.

To add the Service Provider you need to SSH into the terminal. If you need help setting up terminal access check out this tutorial on the Synology wiki.

Once you have terminal access use vi to edit the /etc.defaults/ddns_provider.conf file with this command.

$ sudo vi /etc.defaults/ddns_provider.conf

The vi editor can be found on almost every POSIX system. It can be confusing for people who have never used it before, so if you need help with vi check out this cheat-sheet and tutorial.

Add the DNSMadeEasy.com entry to the end of your ddns_provider.conf file as shown in the following Gist on Github:

We are actually using the same provider as DynDNS and only using the “hostname” variable to support DNSMadeEasy.com’s “id” variable. I was a little concerned that the Synology would do some sort of validation on the HostName field and bounce the string of numbers as invalid. But fortunately they don’t and we can use that field to supply the ID without any further customization.

Save the file and reopen the DDNS control panel on the Synology.

3. Setup DDNS on your Synology NAS

Now you should have the DNSMadeEasy.com option in the “Service Provider” field. Put your “Dynamic DNS ID” from DNSMadeEasy.com into the “Hostname” field. Use the email address associated with your DNSMadeEasy.com account for the “Username” field, and the “Dynamic DNS Password” from the DNSMadeEasy.com record in the “Password” field and “Confirm password” field. Hit apply and if your status says “success” you are in business!