Creating and running a service is great, but it is useless if users cannot or do not know how to find it. To do so, you need to provide a  simple name that your users can easily remember. IP addresses (specially with IPv6) are not the best option. The Domain Name System (DNS) is the hierarchical and decentralised naming system used to identify computers, services, and other resources reachable through the Internet or other Internet Protocol (IP) networks. In our case, we will use it to provide our service with a static address easy to remember (together with many other functions).

There exist multiple DNS registries in the market, however they normally charge a fee or have limited features. Luckly, as we are inside the EOSC framework, FEDCLOUD.EU offers the free dynamic DNS service we are going to use.  To create our DNS name, first we Check-in at nsupdate.fedcloud.eu with EGI and go to the section “Overview”.

Figure 1. Your list of hosts at fedcloud.eu

You will see the list of hostnames you own. To add a new host click on “Add Host”, introduce a name, a comment, select the Domain and click “Create”. Once created, you will be redirected to a page with the instructions to follow in order to use that hostname in your service.

If you visit the hostname configuration page a new secret is generated and the old one becomes invalid. In such cases you have to update the connection at your service server. 

Figure 2. Dynamic DNS update url

Figure 2 displays the URL you have to annotate to later configure your server with the generated address and secret.