AirPort Extreme, AirPort Express and Time Capsule with Dynamic DNS

DynDNS.com is currently experimenting with Zero Configuration Networking capabilities, including support for dynamic DNS updates from Apple networking devices.

Getting Started

First, let's make sure you have all of the requirements for DDNS in the AirPort in place:

  1. A domain name of your own (e.g., example.com)... if you don't have one, register one now
  2. Custom DNS service from DynDNS.com fully configured for your domain... if you don't have one, purchase one now
  3. An Apple AirPort Extreme, Apple AirPort Express, or Apple Time Capsule device
  4. A computer running the AirPort Utility (5.4.2 or later)

Note on Apple Bonjour: If you're looking to make Wide Area Bonjour, DNS Service Discovery, and NAT-PMP work with DynDNS.com, you may be interested in this knowledge base article instead. The tutorial below is only for configuring the DDNS client in the AirPort devices to use DynDNS.com.

Note on DynDNS Free and DynDNS Pro: We currently do not support the AirPort or Time Capsule devices on our Free and Pro Dynamic DNS services. You must use Custom DNS with your own domain name for this to work properly. If you're intent on using our DynDNS Free or DynDNS Pro devices with an AirPort or Time Capsule, you must use one of our DynDNS.com Update Clients.

Setup Your Custom DNS Zone for Updates

The AirPort Extreme, AirPort Express and Time Capsule devices do NOT use the DynDNS HTTP Update API [IETF Draft] to dynamically update DNS servers. Instead, these devices use the DNS Update [RFC 2136] protocol combined with TSIG security [RFC 2845].

Your Custom DNS zone requires a couple of special records to enable these devices to find where and how to update DynDNS.com with your information.

Enable the Expert Interface in Custom DNS
  • Under Zone Level Services, select the Custom DNS zone for which you wish to enable for updates.
  • In the upper-right corner of the zone page, you will see a button labeled Preferences. Please click this to view your zone's settings.
  • On the Preferences page, you will see a button labeled Enable Expert Interface in the lower-right hand corner. Please click this to change your interface type from Standard to Expert (you can change this back at any time).
  • You should be returned to the configuration page for your Custom DNS service. Your records will be displayed as shown at left, in a format closer to the layout of records in BIND.

Create a SRV record within the Custom DNS zone so that your Apple devices can discover where to send their updates. Set the values as follows (example shown at left):

HostTTLTypeData
_dns-update._udp
60
SRV
0 5 53 update.dyndns.com.

This record instructs Apple dynamic update devices where to find the target host and port for DynDNS.com's update services. The record is required because the devices by default will attempt to perform their dynamic updates at your zone's name server (e.g., ns1.mydyndns.org) on port 53, but DynDNS.com operates its TSIG server at update.dyndns.com on port 53. Further details are available at the registry of DNS-SD service types.

Create five PTR records within the Custom DNS zone. While these are not strictly required for dynamic updates, they are required if you wish to use the Wide Area Bonjour and DNS Service Discovery features built into Apple products in the future. Set the values as follows (example shown at left), but be sure to use your zone name as the value for Data:

HostTTLTypeData
b._dns-sd._udp
60
PTR
your-custom-zone.com.
lb._dns-sd._udp
60
PTR
your-custom-zone.com.
db._dns-sd._udp
60
PTR
your-custom-zone.com.
r._dns-sd._udp
60
PTR
your-custom-zone.com.
dr._dns-sd._udp
60
PTR
your-custom-zone.com.

These records tell Wide Area Bonjour clients how to browse your zone for services ('b' for browse, 'lb' for legacy browse, and 'db' for default browse) and register their own services ('r' for register and 'dr' for default register). For more details on the usage and meaning of each record, see the DNS Service Discovery web site.

When you're finished, you will have six additional records in your Custom DNS zone as shown to the left.

Setup Your Dynamic Global Hostname in the AirPort or Time Capsule

Now that your Custom DNS zone is configured to receive dynamic updates from Apple devices, we can use the Apple AirPort Utility 5.4.2 (or later) to configure dynamic DNS in the Apple device.

Open the AirPort Utility, select your AirPort device at left, and go into Manual Setup.

Select AirPort at top, and then Base Station.

Under the location for configuration the name of your device, click Edit.

Locate the Hostname, User, and Password fields. This is where we will populate the settings from DynDNS.com, and enable your dynamic global hostname (just a fancy term for a hostname that supports Dynamic DNS updates, and is visible to the global Internet).

Populate the Hostname field with your full hostname from your Custom DNS service. This would typically be:
your-computer-name.your-custom-dns-zone.com.

The User and Password fields are NOT the DynDNS.com account username and password! Instead, they refer to a special type of authentication for Dynamic DNS updates called Transaction Signature, or TSIG.

Retrieve your TSIG information from your TSIG account settings page, and populate the information in the User and Password fields as shown in the diagram, and then click OK.

Click Update. Do not forget to click Update!

Wait for your AirPort to reboot, and your DynDNS.com authentication information should be successfully stored.

Community Support

Once your setup is complete, your global dynamic hostname will start updating at DynDNS.com. If you need further assistance, you can reach out to the experts in the DynDNS.com Community.

Bonjour, the Bonjour logo, and the Bonjour symbol are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.