ngrok Rocks!!
So, what if you want to expose your locally running server to the bigger world wide web (WWW)? The answer: “port forwarding on your router and time setting up dynamic DNS solutions”. I am glad that there is a tool now which allows developers to expose their local server to the internet using a single command with a plethora of options: over secure channel, with authentication enabled and also live inspection of the requests coming to the server to name a few. You can find the whole deal at ngrok website.
In the following screen cast I have a locally running server at 8080. In the subsequent step I fire up a terminal and issue the command ngrok http 8080 which connects to ngrok cloud and creates a unique URL using which my local server can be accessed anywhere from the WWW. The devices don’t even have to be in the same network. By default it also provides a console where you can see all the requests coming through.
