BBB External Access with IP address instead of hostname

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Yoboy

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Apr 17, 2012, 5:12:44 AM4/17/12
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Hello there,
 
I've been building a proof of concept network in the lab with routers. In my internal network, I have BBB as one of my servers. My internal host devices can access BBB server fine using the internal IP address (192.168.123.3). I've added a static NAT to address linking it with 198.1.1.4, to enable external access. I saw the FAQ in the link below, and it suggested me to use an external hostname. But there is no internet connection in the lab. What would I change if I use an IP address instead?
 

Fred Dixon

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Apr 17, 2012, 7:27:49 AM4/17/12
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Hi Yoboy,

For the instructions to work, you need to use a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) to provide external access to BigBlueButton outside your firewall.  You can create your own domain name using such services as 


We're not sure if we understand the question ... if there is no internet connection in the lab, then how would external users access the lab?

 
Regards,... Fred
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BigBlueButton Developer
BigBlueButton on twitter: @bigbluebutton



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Yoboy

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Apr 17, 2012, 10:26:12 AM4/17/12
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Hi Fred
 
Thanks for replying. I'm simulating external and internal networks in the lab using cisco routers (reason: my lecturers would like to see a lab-demo before requesting the University to open up the ports for the actual implementation). Ive set some devices outisde my routers with public address, and some in the internal network, as shown in the diagram below.
 

The internal BBB address is 192.168.123.3. In my router configurations, I've opened all ports to external address 198.1.1.4. I can ping the BBB server from my external devices (the computer that says VoIP software). However, when I try to access BBB server with the 198.1.1.4 address, it says 'welcome to nginx'.. I can access BBB server internally with 192.168.123.3 though. I tried following the instructions by replacing the domain name with 198.1.1.4 - no luck.
 
Does that mean it is a must to use FQDN to provide external access to BBB?
 

On Tuesday, 17 April 2012 12:27:49 UTC+1, Fred Dixon wrote:
Hi Yoboy,

For the instructions to work, you need to use a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) to provide external access to BigBlueButton outside your firewall.  You can create your own domain name using such services as 


We're not sure if we understand the question ... if there is no internet connection in the lab, then how would external users access the lab?

 
Regards,... Fred
-- 
BigBlueButton Developer
BigBlueButton on twitter: @bigbluebutton

On Tue, Apr 17, 2012 at 5:12 AM, Yoboy <yob...@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello there,
 
I've been building a proof of concept network in the lab with routers. In my internal network, I have BBB as one of my servers. My internal host devices can access BBB server fine using the internal IP address (192.168.123.3). I've added a static NAT to address linking it with 198.1.1.4, to enable external access. I saw the FAQ in the link below, and it suggested me to use an external hostname. But there is no internet connection in the lab. What would I change if I use an IP address instead?
 

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Fred Dixon

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Apr 17, 2012, 10:36:08 AM4/17/12
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>  Does that mean it is a must to use FQDN to provide external access to BBB? 

Yes.  A FQDN lets you have external users point to the external firewall, have the firewall forwards request to the BigBlueButton server, and have the BigBlueButton server accept incoming requests using the FQDN, but then have the BigBlueButton server use it's IP address for the FQDN by modifying /etc/hosts.


Regards,... Fred
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BigBlueButton Developer
BigBlueButton on twitter: @bigbluebutton

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Yogaratnam N.

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Apr 17, 2012, 10:41:38 AM4/17/12
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Well in that case I will convince the IT department to open up the ports anyway. Can I ask you another thing. I was trying to register free FQDN from the link that you gave previously, and it's asking me to choose the host type that I'd like to add. These are the options:
 
DNS Host (A)

 
 

Fred Dixon

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Apr 17, 2012, 10:51:52 AM4/17/12
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Hi  Yogaratnam,

I did some searching through the no-ip.com site and found the following getting started guide


You'll find the answer to your question in that guide.


Regards,... Fred
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BigBlueButton Developer
BigBlueButton on twitter: @bigbluebutton


Yogaratnam N.

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Apr 17, 2012, 2:53:21 PM4/17/12
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I tried it at home, and I think it worked! You're a legend. Thank you so much!

Yoboy

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Apr 17, 2012, 3:53:21 PM4/17/12
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Might have spoken too soon. I can access my server fine using http://bigbluebutton.zapto.org internally. But when I tried to access it externally, I'm getting a gateway timeout message. Any idea what might be causing this or how I can fix it?

Yoboy

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Apr 17, 2012, 5:21:26 PM4/17/12
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Added a default gateway and I think it's working fine now, at: http://yoga-bigbluebutton.no-ip.org/

Used this to add a default gateway:
sudo route add default gw <default gateway IP>

Thanks again Fred!
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