Automate DDNS on AWS with Docker

How to get DDNS on AWS's Route53 working fast with a automated locally run docker image. This is perfect for a home server!

1. Create a folder like ddns-aws-route53 to put the following configs on your computer with docker.

2. In AWS, create a user in IAM with the following policy. Make sure to replace HOSTED_ZONE_ID with your Route53 Hosted zone ID for the domain you wish to update. This policy allows you to change any and all records for the domain. You may wish to restrict this further. Finally, generate access keys for this new user.

   {
       "Version": "2012-10-17",
       "Statement": [
           {
               "Action": [
                   "route53:ChangeResourceRecordSets",
                   "route53:ListResourceRecordSets"
               ],
               "Effect": "Allow",
               "Resource": "arn:aws:route53:::hostedzone/HOSTED_ZONE_ID"
           }
       ]
   }

3. Create a ddns-route53.yml file in the ddns-aws-route53 folder with the template below. Repuace ACCESS_KEY_ID and SECRET_ACCESS_KEY with the credentials from the previous step Also, include the HOSTED_ZONE_ID and corresponding DOMAIN_NAME. Do not delete the trailing ..

   credentials:
     accessKeyID: "ACCESS_KEY_ID"
     secretAccessKey: "SECRET_ACCESS_KEY"
   route53:
     hostedZoneID: "HOSTED_ZONE_ID"
     recordsSet:
       - name: "DOMAIN_NAME."
         type: "A"
         ttl: 300

4. Create a docker-compose.yml file. Update the TZ as needed

   version: "3.5"
   services:
     ddns-route53:
       image: crazymax/ddns-route53:latest
       container_name: ddns-route53
       volumes:
         - "./ddns-route53.yml:/ddns-route53.yml:ro"
       environment:
         - "TZ=America/New_York"
         - "SCHEDULE=*/5 * * * *"
         - "LOG_LEVEL=info"
         - "LOG_JSON=false"
       restart: always

5. Run docker compose up -d while in the ddns-aws-route53. This will start the ddns-route53 container with the settings from your configuration file. Check the logs for any errors.

Note: You may need to actually create the entry first in order to update it. Go to Route53 and create the A record for your DOMAIN_NAME from before and give it a made up address. Rerun your container and then refresh Route53 to see if the update applied with the correct IP.

OG documentation on the docker container is here (opens in a new tab) for reference but a bit out dated.