Provide Dashboard Handshake (Keepalive) Trigger on Startup

[rubengg70]

In headless/VPS environments (e.g., Ubuntu on IONOS), ctrld does not appear as active in the Control D dashboard until it handles its first DNS query. This complicates automation and monitoring, especially on new deployments where DNS queries may not occur immediately.

Proposed Solution:

Add an option to force ctrld to register as “active” in the Control D dashboard at startup, even if no DNS queries have been received yet.

Examples:

A --ping-dashboard flag that sends a handshake/keepalive on service start

Built-in registration behavior when launching ctrld

Use Case:

This would greatly improve compatibility in server/cloud scenarios where initial DNS traffic may be delayed or nonexistent, and administrators rely on dashboard visibility for health checks.

Current Workaround:

A cron job that triggers dummy DNS queries (e.g., using dig or ctrld) every few minutes to force sync.

Reference Contribution:
https://github.com/rubengg70/controld-contrib-rubengalindo

[cuonglm]

Kindly cc @kittenflapz

[rubengg70]

Hi @kittenflapz, just tagging you here as requested by @cuonglm.

Let me know if you'd like any more details or examples of the use case. Happy to share more from the implementation and testing process.

Thanks again!

[yegors]

@rubengg70 If this requires a special flag at launch, then it's a custom launch. If you're willing to do that, why not just have a dig command that runs after the service is started? I imagine in a mass deployed scenario you're already using some kind of RMM or automation, running a dig command after seems like the simplest solution here.

[rubengg70]

Thank you for the follow-up, I appreciate you taking the time to respond.

That said, I must admit I’m not fully satisfied with this outcome. From an operational standpoint, relying on a cron job or manual dig calls feels more like a workaround than a proper solution.

The original proposal was aimed at improving out-of-the-box reliability for ctrld in headless and automated environments — without requiring administrators to build extra layers just to make the dashboard show an agent as “active.”

I still believe this deserves a cleaner, built-in approach rather than leaving it to custom scripts.