WEB WORKBENCH

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

@
mail
autoconfig
server

This ensures each subdomain stays correctly updated independently.

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