Install and Use Ngrok to Securely Expose Local Web Server to the Internet
Table of Contents
1. Introduction to Ngrok
Ngrok is a tool that allows you to expose a web server running on your local machine to the internet. It creates a secure tunnel between your local machine and a public URL, which can be used to access your local web server from anywhere in the world. This can be useful for testing and debugging web applications, as well as for providing access to locally hosted services to users outside of your local network.
2. Installing Ngrok
- Go to the Ngrok website at https://ngrok.com/
- Click on the “Get started for free” button on the home page.
- Download the Ngrok executable file
- Extract the downloaded file to a directory on your computer.
3. Using Ngrok: Starting a tunnel
Ngrok will generate a public URL that you can use to access your server from public internet. (for example: https://
// 1. Change the directory to the path where Ngrok is installed
$ cd ~/Downloads/
// 2. Starting a tunnel (./ngrok http <Local Ip>:<Port of Server need to expose>)
$ ./ngrok http 127.0.0.1:8080
Session Status online
Account topaz@gmail.com(Plan:Free)
Update update available (version 3.2.2, Ctrl-U to update)
Version 3.1.1
Region Asia Pacific (ap)
Latency 83ms
Web Interface http://127.0.0.1:4040
Forwarding https://<ramdom_str>.ngrok.io -> http://127.0.0.1:8080Try it out! Access the https://
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