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It's my first time trying to serve an online website, I have bought a domain name www.example.com and I have set up Nginx and a CMS for serving content. I can reach the content locally through my router.

What I want to do is, I want to link this domain name to the website, but I have no idea how to, I'm serving from a Debian and its IP is always changing since I'm changing places frequently. I also don't have a static external IP.

I have made some research before asking but couldn't find a detailed guide for this purpose. Thanks in advance for any suggestion. (Also I'd appreciate an edit since I might have made some mistakes in terminology)

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  • Are you trying to host your own website in your own pc? If so it'll be cheaper to just buy hosting.
    – Abu Nooh
    Commented Jul 25, 2015 at 2:53
  • Not in a pc in a Raspberry Pi, price isn't much important I'm doing this for experience @AbuNooh
    – Tolga Varol
    Commented Jul 25, 2015 at 15:02

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You can use dynamic domain name services known as DDNS. While recommendations are considered off topic here, you can search Google for ddns and several options will show up. The second entry (http://www.noip.com/free) is recognized as a DDNS provider. I cannot speak to the service quality. There are other service levels/options/sites available too.

You will be required to install a client that informs the DDNS that you are online at ???.???.???.??? IP address.

This is a simple process. However, please understand that your website will not be available when your system is not on-line and there are security issues that you will need to contend with.

You will want to use a firewall https://wiki.debian.org/DebianFirewall on the computer itself along with anti-virus software such as CLAMAV http://www.clamav.net/index.html. I would also recommend keeping your system up to date as much as possible.

One other option to consider is installing MODSecurity https://www.modsecurity.org/ or other option to protect any installed web application from attack.

CMS software packages can often contain vulnerabilities that can make your system very vulnerable to attack and complete loss. For example, the most hack software on the planet for over a decade is WordPress. It is not that WP is poorly coded, quite the opposite. Vulnerabilities can exist in the CMS, plug-ins, and even themes.

You can check out any known vulnerabilities in software and hardware using the CERT NVD database https://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/search?execution=e2s1 which is the clearing house for all vulnerabilities.

Once you have signed up for DDNS service, you will want to follow their directions and set any required DNS setting within your domain name registrar so that your site can be found. And please do not forget to install the small code required to update your IP address within the DDNS.

This is not commonly done anymore now that broadband is so prevalent. However, it is a good option for those on the go and those who are running demos onsite.

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  • Thank you for your answer, I guess these DDNS providers give you a new DN in your choice am I right? If so, is there any other way I can have my website just as www.example.com , since I paid for it I'd like to use that DN
    – Tolga Varol
    Commented Jul 24, 2015 at 16:41
  • @TolgaVarol Sorry- I was out. No. What they do is host your domain name and tie it to the IP address your computer reports back to them. With your registrar, you will need to point the NS names to the DDNS providers NS (name servers) where your domain SOA and name will likely reside.
    – closetnoc
    Commented Jul 24, 2015 at 19:33
  • So my will my website be in the browser like www.example.com or dyndns.example.com after pointing the NS names to them?
    – Tolga Varol
    Commented Jul 25, 2015 at 15:06
  • @TolgaVarol I was on the tractor in the fields all day. It was a long day. You should be able to use your domain name as you expect- www.yourdomain.tld.
    – closetnoc
    Commented Jul 26, 2015 at 1:30
  • Must have been fun, up to some time .Thank you for your time and answers.
    – Tolga Varol
    Commented Jul 26, 2015 at 20:15

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