[Freedombox-discuss] Action Needed: Dynamic DNS Server Migration

[Sunil Mohan Adapa]

## Summary

On 15th December 2021, the Dynamic DNS server corresponding to the 
freedombox.rocks domain is moving to infrastructure provided by the 
FreedomBox Foundation. Keeping your privacy in mind, we need your 
explicit consent for moving your account and you need to update the 
Dynamic DNS configuration in your FreedomBox.

## Target Audience

FreedomBox users who are using the Dynamic DNS service provided by 
gnudip.datasystems24.net with the domain freedombox.rocks must take action.

Users who are not using a Dynamic DNS service are not affected. Also, 
users who are using Dynamic DNS services other than the one provided at 
gnudip.datasystems24.net are also not affected.

sds-ip.de domain is not being migrated, so no action is needed. However, 
you are advised to move to freedombox.rocks domain. See below.

## Action Needed

You must take the following actions before the 15th of December.

1) You need to provide your consent to migrating your account to the new 
server.

- Login with your Dynamic DNS account at https://gnudip.datasystems24.net.
- Click on "Go" against "Change Settings"
- Click "Consent to transfer data to Freedombox foundation*" and click 
"Save Changes".

2) Update your Dynamic DNS configuration in FreedomBox web interface to 
use the new server. Change the "GnuDIP Server Address" from 
"gnudip.datasystems24.net" to "ddns.freedombox.org". Also change the 
"URL to look up public IP" from "http://myip.datasystems24.de" to 
"http://ddns.freedombox.org/ip/". You final settings should like this:

    - [✓] Enable Dynamic DNS
      (same as before)
    - Service Type: GnuDIP
      (same as before)
    - GnuDIP Server Address: ddns.freedombox.org
      (changed from gnudip.datasystems24.net)
    - Domain Name: <mydomain>.freedombox.rocks
      (this is same as before)
    - Username: <myusername>
      (this is same as before)
    - Password: <mypassword>
      (this is same as before, leave it blank so as not to change it)
    - URL to look up public IP: https://ddns.freedombox.org/ip/
      (changed from http://myip.datasystems24.net)

## Forgot Password?

If you have forgotten your password to the GnuDIP account, use the 
"Forgot Password" option on the login page to get a one-time login link. 
Use this to login. Change your password after login and update 
FreedomBox's Dynamic DNS settings with the new password.

Alternatively, you can also peek the current password configured on your
FreedomBox by reading the files /etc/ez-ipupdate/ez-ipupdate.inactive or
/etc/ez-ipupdate/ez-ipupdate.conf using command line interface.

## Non-consent/Inaction

If you don't consent to this migration or don't take any action before 
the migration date, your subdomain under freedombox.rocks will stop 
working after 15th December. Your subdomain and username will still be 
reserved on the new server and no one else can claim them. After 
December 15th, if you wish to migrate your account to the new server and 
resume the service, you can contact the administrators of both services 
via email to Daniel Steglich <admin at datasystems24.de> and FreedomBox 
Administration Team <admin at freedombox.org>.

## sds-ip.de

Apart from freedombox.rocks, sds-ip.de domain was also provided by the 
Dynamic DNS service at gnudip.datasystems24.de. However, sds-ip.de 
domain is not being migrated and will stay on the current server. So, 
without any action on your part, you can continue to use this domain. 
However, you are advised to close the sds-ip.de account and move to 
freedombox.rocks as it may not receive newer planned features (see 
below). You can do this before or after the migration date. If you do it 
before the migration, perform the consent and configuration actions 
described above.

## Migration Details

Dynamic DNS service has been provided by FreedomBox contributor, Daniel 
Steglich, to all FreedomBox users, free of cost since 2015. Notably, 
users could assign domains <mydomain>.freedombox.rocks and 
<mydomain>.sds-ip.de to their FreedomBoxes. Now, we wish to move this 
service to infrastructure provided by the FreedomBox Foundation. This 
service will be managed by FreedomBox Administration Team. Currently, 
the team consists of Daniel Gnoutcheff from the FreedomBox Foundation 
and contributors Sunil Mohan Adapa, James Valleroy and Joseph Nuthalapati.

If you consent to data migration, the following information related to 
your account will move to the new server provided by the FreedomBox 
Foundation: email address, account name, account password (MD5 hash), 
domain name, current IP address and account settings.

We are doing this so that we can potentially improve the service:

- Automatically manage DNS entries related to mail exchange and spam 
protection. This will be useful for the upcoming email server app in 
FreedomBox.
- Automatically manage subdomains for your domain. Enable setting up 
apps that require a dedicated subdomain. Obtain Let's Encrypt wildcard 
TLS certificates for such domains.
- Obtain Let's Encrypt certificates using an auto-assigned domain name 
to simplify initial FreedomBox setup.
- Improve the Dynamic DNS client side implementation while maintaining 
server compatibility.
- Provide IPv6 support.
- Replace the outdated GnuDIP server software with better software.
- Improve user interface for Dynamic DNS domain setup with automatic 
registration.
- Share server maintenance burden among members of current 
administration team.

## Acknowledgments

Many thanks to Daniel Steglich for implementing Dynamic DNS support in 
FreedomBox, setting up and maintaining the server and continuing to 
contribute on Dynamic DNS efforts.

Thanks,

-- 
Sunil