I'm using the Dynamic DNS service in OPNsense 26.7 with No-IP. My WAN address can remain unchanged for months, so the service may go a long time without contacting No-IP after a successful update.
No-IP expects periodic updates even when the address hasn't changed. Otherwise, it may warn that a hostname is becoming inactive. Their software client updates much more frequently than necessary, but OPNsense currently doesn't appear to offer a configurable forced-refresh interval.
Could Dynamic DNS gain a per-account option such as:
Force update after: [5] days
Suggested behavior:
- Track the last successful provider update.
- If the address hasn't changed, force an update once the configured interval has elapsed.
- Reset the timer only after a successful response.
- Retry during the next normal check if the forced update fails.
- Allow the feature to be disabled by default.
- Ideally configure it per Dynamic DNS account, since provider requirements differ.
- This would preserve the current change-triggered behavior while ensuring providers such as No-IP receive an occasional confirmation. A configurable interval would also avoid unnecessarily contacting the provider daily.
As a workaround, I currently run a daily guard that checks the last successful update timestamp and invokes OPNsense's existing Force ddclient update action once it is five days old. This works correctly, including when No-IP returns nochg, so it seems like functionality that could fit naturally into the existing Dynamic DNS component.
Thanks for any consideration!
A GitHub ticket in OPNsense/plugins may be a faster way to gain traction on this.