Monday, June 16, 2014
Deployment: Accessing the Web App

You will need to know the local IP address for the deployed application if you want to access the app on the local network. If your server is configured to be publicly accessible on the internet, then you will need to find the public IP address of the server.

Local Network

Connect to the host computer that hosts the web app. Press the Start button and type in “cmd”. Select “cmd.exe” from the result list.

Starting command prompt.

In the command prompt, type in “ipconfig” and press Enter.

Finding the local IP address of the server.

Launch the web browser on your mobile device. Enter the IP address listed under “IPv4 Address”, and add the name of the folder containing the app, as shown in the URL bar of the picture below.

Using a Nexus 7 to navigate to the locally accessible application.

At this point, all users that have access to the local network will be able to use your application by entering this address.

Internet

Use Remote Desktop to log in to your server. Open a browser, type in “my ip”, and press Enter. The public IP address of the server will be displayed.

Finding the public IP of the server.

Switch to your personal device and open the browser. In the URL bar, enter the public IP address and add the name of the folder. Your site will now be accessible from the internet! The site below was accessed via the URL “http://23.97.64.229/northwind”.

Accessing a publicly visible web application on an iPad Air.