TrueConf Server can operate both in the LAN and connect users on the internet (e.g. during web conferences).
If your TrueConf Server instance is connected to the internet with NAT, router or any other network device, external users can call only this device and not the server.
Thus, if you would like to make TrueConf Server visible from the internet, you should set additional addressing between the computer where TrueConf Server is installed and the router.
In other words, the signal from the router should be sent further in correct direction (to your TrueConf Server instance).
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Case study: setting up a router
As an example, let’s consider a network with two participants: a router and TrueConf Server. The router is connected to the internet and computer with TrueConf Server installed is connected to the router. On the diagram below you will find other network participants, but their addresses should not be taken into account.
After TrueConf Server has been installed, the administrator can find their TrueConf Server IP address in the Web → Settings section in TrueConf Server control panel. This address indicates internal router network address (not its internet address) and differentiates it among other computers in this network (see 10.2.2.200 on the picture below). Correspondingly, this address applies only to your router, while it can be considered non-existent for the internet in general.
Only the router has an external address (see 95.101.102.104 on the picture below) accessible from the internet.
Correspondingly, internet users should contact the router that in turn transmits data and any queries to TrueConf Server.
Certain ports should be defined for such queries and redirection should be set from them to the local server address so that the router sees which queries are to be addressed to TrueConf Server.
On the diagram below router port :80 is associated with local network address 10.2.2.200:80. Due to this fact port :80 of the computer where TrueConf Server is installed cannot be accessed from the internet by address 95.101.102.104:80.
All in all, to provide access to your TrueConf Server instance from the internet, you should do the following things:
- Read our article about the ports used by TrueConf Server and choose the ones you need. You will definitely need:
– 4307 – for TrueConf Server connection with client applications
– 80 – for the control panel access.
- Go to Web → Settings section on the TrueConf Server control panel and find out TrueConf Server in the local network in External Web Page Address… section.
We don’t recommend using the address obtained by DHCP to connect it with the computer where TrueConf Server is installed. Instead, you should assign it manually.
- Your system administrator should set selected ports redirection to the local TrueConf Server address in the router settings. The order of settings depends on your router model, so we cannot give detailed recommendations for this procedure.
- Find your router internet IP address (e.g. using ipconfig command).
It is recommended to ask your provider whether your address is static, i.e. if it may change in the long run.
- Set your external address in the TrueConfServer settings as described below.
After this you will be able to:
- submit your external address to the users to connect from the client application.
In our case this address is 95.101.102.104:4307
- use the external address for web conference URL.
In our example conference page with ID 12345678 is accessible by address95.101.102.104:80/c/12345678.
As TrueConf Server can automatically work with addresses, it would be reasonable to inform your TrueConf Server instance about its new “alias”. The next section covers the possible ways to do it.
How to set external address
If you’d like your client applications to be able to find your TrueConf Server when scanning the network, you should list the addresses in use in the Network → Network Settings section of the TrueConf Server control panel.
Set local network server addresses (10.2.2.200 in the example above) in the Internal Addresses section.
Set the addresses from which your TrueConf Server instance can be accessed in the External Addresses section:
– local network address (the same as in the Internal Addresses section)
– new address to access TrueConf Server from the internet (95.101.102.104:80 in this example).
Don’t forget to press the Apply button after having entered these changes.
Web conference URLs
With TrueConf Server, you can send automatic email invitations to the conference participants. Such emails contain the scheduled conference details including conference page address.
Set this address in the Web Page External Address… subsection in the Web → Settings section of the TrueConf Server control panel and press Apply so that these addresses as well as widget addresses contain correct IP address and port details.
NAT Settings
NAT or any other network mechanism should be set similarly. It is important to set aliases as network ports interfaces accessible from the internet for the local address of the computer where TrueConf Server is installed and set corresponding redirections within your network.
Same ports and internal addresses can be arranged in the router settings in NAT/Forwarding section. NAT settings always have peculiarities so we recommend you to contact your administrator for further assistance.
