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I want to use an ec2 instance just to do work on some personal programming and text processing projects in the cloud (from an ssh terminal) rather than on a desktop. I don't always need access to the instance, so I want to stop the instance whenever I don't need to work. However, when I restart the instance, the public dns has changed and I have to recopy the dns to my ssh command to gain access to the instance.

Is there a free way to make the public dns for such an ec2 instance fixed?

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I doubt you can change the way Amazon works, but you could have more than one DNS name. Sign up for a free dynamic DNS account and create a DNS A record (host record). Then download, and install the stub app that updates your new hostname's IP address.

http://www.dyndns.com/services/dns/dyndns/ (sign-up for account)

http://www.dyndns.com/support/clients/ (client to load to update your DDNS)

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P.S. I have used their DDNS for my personal mail server for about 5 years, and it has never failed me. As soon as my IP changes, it is updated immediately, although I use my firewall to do the updating, not the stub app. – KCotreau Jul 19 '11 at 5:09
Are you suggesting running dyndns from the instance? Is it possible to update the dns record from the instance automatically when it's started (sorry if this is a dumb question. I'm an ec2 n00b.) – jonderry Jul 19 '11 at 5:18
That is exactly what I am saying. You do plan on saving the instance, right? With certain things installed on it all the time (including the DDNS app)? It seems to me like this would work. – KCotreau Jul 19 '11 at 5:19
For the record, I am also not very versed in ec2, but I do know DNS, and networking, so if you can save the instance (and I know you can somehow, whether you have to buy storage or whatever), it will work. – KCotreau Jul 19 '11 at 5:21
OK, I'll see if I can get this to work tomorrow, and yes, I save the instance. Everything is stored in EBS when the instance is stopped. The only question is whether I can run dyndns or something similar automatically I guess. – jonderry Jul 19 '11 at 6:12
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