Setting up server for WWW access.

[eschwartz]

Check the router configuration page (should be at the IP of the router, usually http://192.168.0.1), somewhere under Advanced Settings you *should* see a section for port forwarding.

Enter in the external starting port (what you type in the browser) and the end port (whatever is in calibre) and the IP address of your computer.
It should look something like this I believe: http://screenshots.portforward.com/r...Forwarding.htm

[darryl]

This is the link to a pdf about port forwarding on your particular router.

http://files.dlink.com.au/Products/D...Forwarding.pdf

I am not currently aware of any vulnerabilities in the Calibre Content Server. However, your reluctance to open ports is both understandable and prudent. Whenever we allow access from the internet we have to accept that there is some risk involved. I don't believe the risk is a particularly high one in this case, and many people use the content server outside of their home networks. You must of course use your own judgement and of course take responsibility for what you decide.

[Saxguy]

Enter in the external starting port (what you type in the browser) and the end port (whatever is in calibre) and the IP address of your computer.
It should look something like this I believe:

Okay, so im still not sure what the first bit means, when you say "what you type in the browser", and, is the end port the calibre 8080 (now changed by me to a different number)

And the IP of my comp, is dynamic.... and im still trying to figure out the Duckdns http, which i started looking at yesterday.

Sorry, i am a bit slow with all of this... such a big learning curve.

[eschwartz]

Well, lets say you type in http://eschwartz.duckdns.org:4567 -- the external port is "4567".
But in calibre, the server is set to start on http://192.168.0.254:8080 -- the internal port is "8080".

So in the router settings, just create a rule for machine "192.168.0.254", sending all router traffic on external port "4567" to go to internal port "8080", on machine "192.168.0.254" of course.


Obviously, fill in your own values instead.

[BetterRed]

@Saxguy - couple of tips

If your running the server on Windows, then rather than using your computer's local IP address you can use its machine name, you can get that in Control Panel->All Control Panel Items->System. The advantages include - a) you control its value, b) its easier to remember, c) the IP address may change if you 'lease' the address from a DHCP server (usually in your router, which have been known to break).

You can run the server from the command line see ==>> calibre-server — calibre User Manual. I have several one line command files for running different instances of calibre-server against different libraries.

BR

[Saxguy]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Well, lets say you type in http://eschwartz.duckdns.org:4567 -- the external port is "4567".
But in calibre, the server is set to start on http://192.168.0.254:8080 -- the internal port is "8080".

So in the router settings, just create a rule for machine "192.168.0.254", sending all router traffic on external port "4567" to go to internal port "8080", on machine "192.168.0.254" of course.


Obviously, fill in your own values instead.

oh, so, let me try this. My ducks thingy is http://mylibrary.duckdns.org so do i just then make up a four digit number say for example 4567 and add it thus. http://mylibrary.duckdns.org:4567 and then this becomes what you call a "external port"

And then, the calibre port, which i have changed to 8090 for example, is the "internal port" and finally, the computer running the server is 192.168.1.6 so that is the machine.

In the router i have the following boxes in port forwarding
Server Name : (do I just put calibre?)
Schedule : (Always, maybe?)
View Available Schedules
Server IP Address : (?)

External Port Start (?)
External Port End (?)
Protocol (TCP maybe?)
Internal Port Start (?)
Internal Port End (?)
Remote Ip (?)

[darryl]

Server Name : Calibre1
Schedule : Always
Server IP Address : 192.168.1.6

External Port Start: 31811
External Port End: 31811
Protocol TCP and UDP if possible. Otherwise just TCP
Internal Port Start: 8090
Internal Port End: 8090
Remote Ip: Leave blank

Once setup, you should be able to access the content server from the internal network using:

http://192.168.1.6:8090

You should be able to access from the internet using:

http://mylibrary.duckdns.org:31811

Finally, if you can now access it from the internet, change the 31811 external port to some other number. Select one at random beween, say, 20000 and 59000, and modify your port forwarding settings accordingly, and remember to substitute the new port number when accessing from the internet. If you stay with the port number I used here, everyone who reads this post will know both the internet address and port number to access your content server. This is why it is important to setup username and password security on your content server.

[HarryT]

A much more important reason to set up security on the content server is the fact that if you don't, you've just set up a server from which anyone can steal your books.

[Saxguy]

Harry, thank you, but I havent actually used any of the above numbers, they were just examples.. also my duckdns isnt called my library.... but thank you for the heads up.