Synology DSM 6.2 DDNS "Failed to connect to the server" for Namecheap

 So DNS-O-Matic is shutting down, forcing me to find a new solution.

I was so happy to find that my Synology could do this too.  I was not so happy to find it didn't seem to work, with multiple users saying they never got it to work with Namecheap.

 

[Yes, my Synology is old, and is running 6.2.  I'm not dropping $5k on a new model that whines like a little bitch every time you stick in a new hard drive, even if Synology belatedly walked those back.  (More like ran those back, like sprinted.)  

Congratulations Synology, you've tarnished your brand forever, and are, and will now heretofore forever be, the textbook cautionary tale on how to alienate a loyal customer base.  Forever.]

My experience

It does work.  The NAS will throw an error every time it updates, but the NAS does still seem to update the Namecheap records correctly.

How to do it: 

1.  Follow the instructions here.  

 2. In my setup, I used the query URL:

https://dynamicdns.park-your-domain.com/update?host=@&domain=__USERNAME__&password=__PASSWORD__&ip=__MYIP__

3.  "Hostname" is the domain you want to be updated:  i.e. "mydomainname.com"

4.  Username/Email:  Your Namecheap user name.

5.  Password/Key:  NOT your Namecheap account password, but the really long key generated by Namecheap specifically for DDNS (i.e. '7a0354e9ae547b9d30ab0ea4ff0a30f7').

 6.  Click "Test Connection".  DSM will barf an error message "Failed to connect to the server. Please check the network connection of the server."

  Side note:  One of the dumbest error messages of all time - people are smart enough to buy a NAS and gain access to the web UI, yet *somehow* forgot to plug in the bloody cable?  Really?

7.  Click "OK" anyway.

8.  Go back to Namecheap and check the "A + Dynamic DNS Record" for the domain.  In my case, it >had< actually updated despite the DSM error message(s).

 I can't swear it updated correctly the first try, or even the second try, as I was goofing with different query URLs trying to solve the issue.  But eventually I noticed that the above URL seemed to have worked on the Namecheap side.  

Obviously YMMV, but you may want to check Namecheap before deciding the the Synology DSM  DDNS updater isn't working - "Test connection" button be damned.