I recently found out that you can get up to 3 free .eu.cc domain from GNAME, which also claims that you can renew for free when its within 90 days of expiring. So I got one to check it out.

Obviously, the next step is making one of my local machines act as the target destination for any queries to the address, so it becomes accessible for the wider web. I’m not entirely sure, however, what to configure on GNAME (there’s the option to setup A and AAAA records, which I suppose I should just point to my IP, but there’s also CNAME, TXT, NS, SRV and what configurations/programs my local server (rPi 3) needs to have running besides a webserver (Apache2 or Nginx)

My intent is to have it run a single-user fediverse server, possibly friendica, as it seems to have the best support for seeing all sorts of APub posts. If that proves too heavy for my old pi, I’ll try one of the lightweight APub alternatives

I know I’ll also need to do some configurations on my router, so I’d appreciate help on this, too.

  • SayCyberOnceMore@feddit.ukEnglish
    10·
    13 hours ago

    Kinda overlapping other replies, but to answer your question: A = your external IPv4 address

    The rest could be empty AAAA = an external IPv6 address NS = a DNS server MX = Mail Server

    TXT is just text, but it can be used by, ie Lets Encrypt to prove you own that domain for your SSL certificate

    If you open TCP 80 / 443 on the open internet EVERYONE will probe you, but you want to run a Friendica server, so you kinda need that (disclaimer: I do not know how Friendica is setup)

    So, you’ll need something (firewall, Fail2Ban, etc) to protect your server whilst also allowing it to federate to other servers.

    I’d strongely suggest you put your server on a VPS with a provider that has some level of defense already setup for you.

    I wouldn’t run this in your home network with putting it into a DMZ of some kind.

    • lemmyvore@feddit.nlEnglish
      5·
      10 hours ago

      Should probably note that “DMZ” in this context means a separate VLAN. Because the term is also commonly used to mean “DMZ host” where a router exposes a machine directly to the Internet. You want the former, not the latter.

      But, more to the point, a beginner really shouldn’t be exposing anything to the Internet. 🙂 Running a public service as a person who doesn’t know how domains work will not end well.