The need
Occasionally I need to access a computer using remote desktop, however the IP address of the computer is dynamic and changes every few weeks making the computer unreachable via remote desktop.
Here I describe how I setup a couple of simple batch files that will record the computers IP address to a secure website. More importantly the website can be used to trigger a new IP discovery on the remote computer. Oh yeah, it’s all for free :-)
Outline
- Install DropBox webservice in order to store the IP address of the computer(s) you wish to interrogate.
- Install two batch files on the target PC’s one which run in the scheduled tasks manager in windows.
- Create a ‘trigger’ text file on the target PC.
- Rename the trigger file to a given name to initiate the interrogation and publishing of the IP address.