Getting a constant DNS for my EC2 instance

Question

I have an EC2 instance. Every time I stop and start it, Amazon gives it a new IP and a new DNS.

This is annoying because then I have to reconfigure a bunch of software on my local computer to interact with the new DNS.

Is there a way for me to have one DNS address that will always point to my instance?

Setup a DDNS name and configure your instance to update it a boot. There are quite a few DDNS providers and loads of help on configuring software to update it at boot time. — Chris S, Jan 18 '11 at 19:44
@Dan, if he contacts Amazon they'll tell him to buy an Elastic IP as James points out. — Chris S, Jan 18 '11 at 20:21

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 18 '11 at 20:07

4

Amazon's solution is called an "Elastic IP address" - a static external IP address that always points to your machine, regardless of its internal address.

There's some information on it on the ec2 page, and more information on how to configure it in this walkthrough (which is aimed at solving a slightly different problem, but still mostly applicable here)

answered Jan 18 '11 at 20:07

James Polley

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it's 2021 and ELastic IP are now limited to 5. – jitbit Oct 23 '21 at 09:28

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 18 '11 at 19:54

Besides the DDNS suggestion Chris S has ( such as http://www.no-ip.com/services/managed_dns/free_dynamic_dns.html ), if you run your own DNS you can use Dynamic Updates ( IE Bind's http://www.zytrax.com/books/dns/ch7/xfer.html#update-policy ) with TSIG/SIG

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 11 '20 at 10:02

As James Polley mentioned, Elastic IP adresses may be way to go in your case, I think.

Moreover, they're quite inexpensive.

Elastic IP Addresses

No cost for Elastic IP addresses while in use

$0.01 per non-attached Elastic IP address per complete hour

$0.00 per Elastic IP address remap – first 100 remaps / month

$0.10 per Elastic IP address remap – additional remap / month over 100

Getting a constant DNS for my EC2 instance

3 Answers3