Router Setup

OpenWrt

OpenWrt uses the ddns-scripts package and supports both the LuCI web UI and direct UCI configuration. Install the package first if it is not already present.

$ opkg update && opkg install ddns-scripts luci-app-ddns

Via LuCI: navigate to Services → Dynamic DNS → Add and fill in the following fields:

Alternatively, configure via the UCI config file directly:

config service 'novadns'
  option enabled       '1'
  option service_name  'custom'
  option update_url    'https://novadns.io/api/update?token=YOUR_TOKEN&myip=[IP]'
  option ip_source     'url'
  option ip_url        'https://api4.my-ip.io/ip'
  option check_interval '5'
  option check_unit    'minutes'
  option use_https     '1'

$ service ddns start

pfSense / OPNsense

Both firewall distributions ship with a built-in Dynamic DNS client. Navigate to Services → Dynamic DNS → Add and set the following values. The %IP% placeholder is replaced automatically by the client with the detected WAN address.

Save and click Force Update to trigger an immediate test. A green checkmark in the status column confirms a successful update.

ASUS (AsusWRT / Merlin)

Stock AsusWRT and the Merlin third-party firmware both expose a DDNS configuration panel under WAN → DDNS. Set the service to WWW.ASUS.COM first if required to unlock custom fields, then switch to Custom.

On Merlin firmware you can also add a custom DDNS provider entry in /jffs/configs/custom_ddns.conf for finer control, but the UI fields above are sufficient for most setups.

Synology DSM

Synology DSM supports custom DDNS providers via the External Access panel. Navigate to Control Panel → External Access → DDNS → Add and choose Customized as the service provider.

DSM will call the query URL periodically and record the result. The __IP__ placeholder is not needed here because NovaDNS auto-detects the source IP from the incoming request — which will be your NAS's WAN IP.

UniFi Gateway

UniFi gateways (UDM, UDM Pro, UDR, UCG) support Dynamic DNS via the UniFi Network controller. Navigate to Settings → Internet → WAN → Dynamic DNS and click Create New Dynamic DNS.

UniFi uses the DynDNS protocol under the hood. NovaDNS is fully compatible — the /nic/update endpoint accepts the same credentials and returns a standard DynDNS response string.

MikroTik RouterOS

MikroTik does not have a built-in DynDNS client that supports custom providers, but you can use a RouterOS script triggered by the IP change event or a scheduled task.

The simplest approach uses /tool fetch to call the NovaDNS API whenever the script runs. Paste the following into the RouterOS terminal:

# NovaDNS update script
# Replace YOUR_TOKEN with your host token from the dashboard

:local updateUrl "https://novadns.io/api/update?token=YOUR_TOKEN"

/tool fetch \
  url="$updateUrl" \
  mode=https \
  output=none

Schedule the script to run every 5 minutes under System → Scheduler → Add:

/system scheduler add \
  name=novadns-update \
  interval=00:05:00 \
  on-event=novadns-update \
  policy=read,write,test