WEB WORKBENCH

My Project Workspace

A collection of systems, experiments, and builds

🧭 Stage 8 — Namecheap DNS + Dynamic DNS Client Setup (Going Public)

At this stage I move the system from a local environment to a publicly reachable server.
This is done using Namecheap DNS combined with a Dynamic DNS client that keeps my home/residential IP updated automatically.

🌐 DNS setup in Namecheap

Inside Namecheap DNS settings for webworkbench.co.uk, I create the required records.

For Dynamic DNS records, Namecheap requires an initial placeholder value, so I set:

127.0.0.1

This is only a temporary placeholder used during setup. It will be replaced automatically by the Dynamic DNS client.

📡 DNS records created

I create four A + Dynamic DNS records:

Host: @ Value: 127.0.0.1
Host: mail Value: 127.0.0.1
Host: autoconfig Value: 127.0.0.1
Host: server Value: 127.0.0.1

Each one will later be updated automatically with my real public IP.

🧠 How Dynamic DNS actually works

Even though all records start as 127.0.0.1, this is not the final destination.

The Dynamic DNS client will:

Detect my current public IP
Authenticate with Namecheap using the Dynamic DNS password
Update each DNS record automatically
Replace the placeholder with the real external IP

💻 Installing and configuring the Dynamic DNS client

A short intro before the body. Click any field to edit.

On the Windows host machine, I install the Namecheap Dynamic DNS client.

Once installed, I create a new profile for each DNS record.

⚙️ Creating Dynamic DNS profiles

Profile 1 — Root domain

Host: @
Domain: webworkbench.co.uk
Enable: ✔ Auto-detect IP address
Refresh interval: ✔ 15 minutes
Save profile

Profile 2 — Mail server

Host: mail
Domain: mail.webworkbench.co.uk
Enable: ✔ Auto-detect IP address
Refresh interval: ✔ 15 minutes
Save profile

Profile 3 — Autoconfig (email clients)

Host: autoconfig
Domain: autoconfig.webworkbench.co.uk
Enable: ✔ Auto-detect IP address
Refresh interval: ✔ 15 minutes
Save profile

Profile 4 — Server access

Host: server
Domain: server.webworkbench.co.uk
Enable: ✔ Auto-detect IP address
Refresh interval: ✔ 15 minutes
Save profile

🔄 Important: One profile per record

Each DNS record must have its own profile:

@
mail
autoconfig
server

This ensures each subdomain stays correctly updated independently.

🚀 Windows startup setup (critical step)

The Dynamic DNS client does not include an automatic boot option, so I configure persistence manually.

I add the client shortcut into:

Windows Startup Folder

So it automatically launches when Windows boots.

This ensures:

The client starts at login/boot
DNS updates begin immediately
No manual intervention is required
IP changes are always synced

🧱 Stage result

At the end of this stage:

  • Namecheap DNS records are created

  • All records use 127.0.0.1 as initial placeholder

  • Dynamic DNS client installed on Windows

  • Four profiles configured (@, mail, autoconfig, server)

  • Auto-refresh set to 15 minutes

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