To access the Amahi apps from the internet, too difficult

[sckang]

I've introduced the Amahi to many peoples and tried to see from their viewpoint.
So i learned that accessing the Amahi apps from the internet is too difficult for average user or mainstream user.
They are not tech-savvy and don't want (or have no ability) to edit *.conf.
Can they access Apps use something like "https://username.yourhda.com/apps_name" without editing config files, directly?

[bigfoot65]

No, that will not work with Amahi as far as I know. I could be wrong, but I am sure it would take some modification of the configuration. There is an application called Web-Apps Proxy that simplifies things a bit though and might work.

In my opinion, the primary purpose of Amahi is not to access applications from outside the network unless using VPN. It is meant to be a home server on your local network, improving the sharing of data and applications to a household. The VPN feature adds that extra layer of security and allows access to apps as if you were inside the network. There is more info in the wiki at http://wiki.amahi.org/index.php/VPN.

[rgmhtt]

I've introduced the Amahi to many peoples and tried to see from their viewpoint.
So i learned that accessing the Amahi apps from the internet is too difficult for average user or mainstream user.
They are not tech-savvy and don't want (or have no ability) to edit *.conf.
Can they access Apps use something like "https://username.yourhda.com/apps_name" without editing config files, directly?

The first challenge for a home user is how to set up their NATed router for port mapping. Very few users have more than one public IP address. For them at best it will be "https://username.yourhda.com/apps_name:nnnn" where nnnn is the port assigned in the router to point their public address to the internal port 80 on Amahi. IF they have a few public addresses, then things are actually more complex as they not only have to do an address mapping in the router, they have to change the address in yourhda.com. It MIGHT be that the address mapping will make this happen DYNDNS automajically.

Now assuming the home user gets their router's NAT configured (reason to get IPv6 working already!), doing this could open ALL webapps to outside access. Like username.yourhda.com/PHPmyAdmin:nnnn!!! If you have installed PHPmyAdmin, game is over for your server. Same probably with PHPmyBackup and a few other 'neat' apps. Minimally we need to change the app install that there is an option to change the port number certain apps listen on so if you don't map that port to the outside, it is simply NOT available. Or if you did an address NAT mapping, you filter that port.

There are more issues here that need to be worked out. Right now internal access has been 'simplified' to wepapp.yourinternaldomain.com and getting this mapped outside is going to be a bit of a challenge. So we would have to have multiple URLs that an app can reply to.

Perhaps someone can detail a good approach to opening Amahi webapps to direct internet access. I will note that I have one Amahi 4.n server currently running Squirrelmail that is externally available, but I am good at DNS things and it will NOT be so easy with Amahi 5 migration now in the works.

[dukenet]

Perhaps in webapp configure, we can choose witch apps to have access from outside the home network.
i.e., a check box "outside access", maybe even a another option to require authentication. when outside access is checked, you could access it from in the home net like usual and outside like domain.yourhda.com/web_app.