Just setup a server, now what?

[kenboyles72]

ok, i just setup a pc as a web server using IIS. how can i connect to it from a remote pc?

[filipino]

check your ip at www.showmyip.com then copy your ip address on browser address then hit enter.

[VHockey86]

Is IIS actually setup? or did you just install it.

By Default I believe anoymous access is disabled. You may also need to define the root web directory on your machine. This can all be done through the Computer Management/Administration panel (expand services and find IIS).

If you're behind a router/firewall/software firewall you'll have to look into port forwarding/allows inbound access for IIS.

[Mickwish]

Is it serving any pages yet? Also, remember you probably won't be able to connect on your own LAN via the external (internet) IP from behind a NAT firewall (like a router one). You'd need to use the internal LAN IP of the server to see the pages from there.

Cheers
Mick

[kenboyles72]

yeah, i got it all set up. when i type in "http://localhost" i get a page similar to this http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/...ons/damnsmall/. which means the server is running. i'm connected to the net by broadband with router. i already configured the router to port forward to the pc's ip, also configured firewall to accept incoming connections. now how do i know if i can access it from somewhere else?

[Shaitan]

You dont type in localhost, you type in your IP.

And make an index page

[VHockey86]

You might also want to look into a service like http://www.no-ip.com/

You run a small program on your computer that checks your external IP periodically, and then sends that updated information to their server. The net result is that your URL (Http://whatever.no-ip.com) will always be mapped to your IP, even if it changes periodically (dynamic),

Its also easier to remember a URL than it is to remember an IP address IMO.

[kenboyles72]

well, i tried to access the server today from work and couldn't. maybe i just overlooked something. i'm behind a linksys nr041-wm router. i disabled "Block WAN Request" today for the router, which i didn't do last night, maybe that had something to do with it. also set ms firewall to allow incoming router request and checked ftp server and http server for firewall. is there anything else i might need to disable or allow? also running avast av.

[kenboyles72]

i uninstalled IIS and setup my server running Apache. maybe i'll have better luck with apache.

[kenboyles72]

bump

[VHockey86]

Make sure your server is on a static IP on your local network, make sure port 80 TCP is forwarded to that IP.

If you can access the server from another machine on the local network then your software firewall settings should be good. If the only thing that doesnt work is remote access, then its almost definately something with your router.

[kenboyles72]

i think maybe port 80 is blocked by my isp. i have cox internet, and i read somewhere that cox blocks port 80. if it is blocked, what port do i need to use?

[VHockey86]

Technically any port would work.... you might want to avoid popular ports like 20,21,22,25,135-139.... the list goes on. Generally "non-reserved" ports are anything above 10k.

Just switch it to 81 if you want to test that it works.
Then you'd have to connect to your server via
http://your.ip.here:81

[washe]

Remember to open the port you are using on the router/firewall... so it can be accessed from the outside.

[johnnyis42]

more than likely cox is blocking port 80. cox is very inconsistant about what ports it blocks in certain markets versus others, but their TOS does EXPLICITLY forbid you from hosting a web, e mail or ftp server.

now, chances are the only implimentation they provide is port blocking and not protocol blocking, but it is definitely a bum deal that they are doing this kind of junk when there is no real reason to forbid all of their customers from doing it, since they would only have a few problem customers exploiting it (which should be easy to figure out who those ones are when they use 10 times the bandwidth of anyone else on their node).

you may have to resport serving the page on a non-standard port, possibly above a certain number as well.

[VHockey86]

It worked on 81, so evidentally its just port blocking.

[kenboyles72]

got my server all setup and running nicely, about time i can even connect to it from my cell phone, how cool is that