Port Forwarding
To access WebVT outside your local or corporate network (internal), you must either connect using a VPN or configure Port Forwarding.
Using a VPN is more secure; however, this requires you to have knowledge of your internal network and be comfortable configuring and maintaining a VPN.
In this article, we'll discuss the easier option of using port forwarding.
🖥️ What is port forwarding?
By default, routers and internet gateways have a firewall that blocks incoming web traffic. This ensures all of the devices on your internal network can not be accessed by external devices.
Some devices also have device-specific firewalls. An example is the Windows firewall, which is likely to be turned on.
Port forwarding allows a specific port (in WebVT's case, port 1079) through your firewalls so external devices can talk to the internal device.
When you set up a port forwarding rule, you tell the firewall which port to allow through and which machine to route the traffic to once allowed through.
The diagram below shows that the firewall inside the router or gateway has opened port 1079 and port 95. port 1079 is being routed to the WebVT server. Port 95 is being routed to a printer.
🌐 Configuring a port forwarding rule
Configuration varies depending on your router or gateway. We recommend you seek support from the manufacturer for specific guidelines, however, you'll need to specify:
- The external port number to open
- The local IP address of the device to forward traffic onto
- The local port number of the device on your network to send the traffic to.
In the case of WebVT, this will be:
- External Port: 1079
- Internal IP Address: The IP Address of your PlayoutONE server (e.g. 10.10.0.10)
- Internal Port: 1079
If you have multiple PlayoutONE servers on the same network or other devices using the same port 1079, you can choose a different external port number but the rule must direct traffic to port 1079 on your PlayoutONE server for WebVT to work.
💻 Checking a port forwarding rule
Once you've configured your port forwarding rule, the easiest way to check to see if it works is to go to this address.
Make sure you do this on a computer on your local network; otherwise, you'll need to type in the external IP address of your network.
Type in the external port number to check, and you should receive either an 'open' or 'closed' status. If the status comes back as 'open', then the port forwarding rule is working, and users of WebVT should be able to access it.
❓ Troubleshooting
If your port forward rule comes back with a 'closed' status or suddenly stops working, here are some things you can try:
Internet router/gateway
Has this been changed recently? Has the configuration changed? Login to the router/gateway and check that the port forward rule is still in place. Try power cycling the router/gateway.
Check the PlayoutONE server's internal IP address
If your PlayoutONE server was not configured with a fixed IP address on your network, there is a possibility that it's been assigned a new local IP address, and the port forward rule now needs updating to point traffic to the new address.
If you'd like to set up a static IP address on your PlayoutONE server, please contact Aiir's support team.
Windows firewall
When WebVT is configured, Support will open up the port inside the Windows firewall on the server. Sometimes, the firewall can be reset after Windows updates or configuration changes. Check whether the WebVT port (usually 1079) has been allowed through the Windows firewall.