How to access local through internet?

[schipleon]

Hello everyone!

I installed with the stack installer(with SQL Server) sugar 5.5 on my computer , I were wondering wether it is possible to access it now through the internet, for example to connect it to a domain?
And also how?

I'm new to this, therefore perhaps my silly question.

Thank you in advance!

[roblaus]

This can be done in principle but requires some skills and the right environment.

First and foremost you need to make your computer visible and accessible to the outside world. The former you can do by using a service like dyndns or similar. This will keep track of your changing IP address by assigning a domain name to it (assuming that you do not have a fixed IP).
The latter can be done by drilling a hole in your firewall (port triggering or forwarding) - so if somebody types in the domain name (probably with a particular port number) then this request can pass your firewall, changes port and IP (to a fixed internal one) and ends up at your Apache web server which then will serve the correct website.

But I wouldn't do that. It's fairly complicated for a beginner, it's slow and insecure. Besides your box must run 24x7. If you need just occasional access use the wake up function of your NIC and connect through a remote tool like teamviewer or similar. This is much faster and also much more secure. Downside: There is just one connection per session possible (and Win has only one...)

[schipleon]

Hey, thank you for the reply!

Well, it is running 24/7 anyway, so that's not a problem. I filled in my ip at dyndns and got a .info domain. When I ping it at an another location, it gives response. However when I go to firefox and fill the domain into the addressbar, it is giving no reply at all.

I turned off the firewall in my router, I forwared the ports, but it is not showing up, even though the ping is giving full response. So what am I doing wrong then? Am I forgotten something?

Thank you in advance!

[roblaus]

Turning off the firewall is NOT a good idea...

However, the principle is simple: inernally (on your network) your computer has an IP address (most probably 192.168.x.x or 10.x.x.x). Externally you have another one (the one that you got covered by dyndns).

If somebody from outside wants to reach your computer inside your network (firewall on or off) you must tell your router how to connect these two IPs. This is the port forwarding part.
Everything that comes from outside should be forwarded to 192.168.x.x on port 80 (or whatever Apache is running on). If then Apache is set to accept everything from everywhere (which is most likely the case) then you should be able to reach your web application (=Sugar).

In order to make this work you need to set up a fixed IP on your machine where Apache is running and you need to try it first from inside your network (by using the 192... from another machine on the same subnet).

Since you are running Win it would be also good to set your Win firewall in a way that it accepts connections on port 80 (create an exception for a webserver).

But I bet you'll find much better step by step instructions on the web - Google is your friend...