How to run an Apache Tomcat Webserver on my PC and access it from a real Android Device?

What I have

I have a Tomcat 7.0 server running on my Windows 7 PC and I have a dial up internet connection. IP I get on whatismyip is 117.xxx.xxx.xxx. I want to use this machine to test my Android Application.

I access the servlets on my Apache Tomcat 7 via Android Emulator through

http://10.0.2.2:8084/MyServer

I want to access the Server via my real Android Device.

What I did

I'm using No-IP Free to covert my dynamic IP (I have a dial-up connection) to a static IP.
I changed the Inbound Rules for port 8084 on my Windows 7 firewall, but it did not work.
As suggested by @slhck I have been able to access my router and did Advanced Setup » NAT » Virtual Server Setup and on this screen,

I added TCP, external and internal port both 8084, internal server set to 10.0.2.2. The "Service Name" - "Tomcat".

Gaurav Agarwal

Posted 2012-05-18T08:30:19.833

Reputation: 851

@slhck We are not on the same network. I want to connect to my computer from outside. – Gaurav Agarwal – 2012-05-18T13:44:14.937

@slhck Hey, Thanks it worked I changed 10.0.2.2 to 127.0.0.1. This [Wiki]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Localhost helped.

– Gaurav Agarwal – 2012-05-18T20:04:04.147

Hm.. 127.0.0.1 is always the address of your own computer. I don't think you put 127.0.0.1 into your Android device and it worked? – slhck – 2012-05-18T20:21:53.720

So you had to put in 127.0.0.1 in your router? – slhck – 2012-05-18T20:26:11.157

I did so — you just forgot one comment above :) – slhck – 2012-05-18T20:32:12.833

@slhck This by farthest someone tried to help me on Stack, Super, Server. Deepest Thanks to you. – Gaurav Agarwal – 2012-05-18T20:36:32.000

Answers

Firewall rules on your Windows PC and wired/wireless router will both need to allow incoming connections to port 8084.

On the router, set up incoming connections to 8084 to redirect to your Windows PC's local IP address (127.0.0.1). This is called "port forwarding" – look into your router's manual on how to do it.

Once your router forwards incoming port 8084 requests to your Windows machine, you can access it from the outside:

http://your-dynamic-address.com:8084/MyServer

Ali

Posted 2012-05-18T08:30:19.833

Reputation: 1 151

I am very new to all this. Can you please explain how to go about doing what you have proposed? – Gaurav Agarwal – 2012-05-18T13:44:56.043

@blackcrow I added a little to Ali's answer. Port forwarding should be supported in your router. Check its manual for details on how to set it up. Then, all outside requests to your Tomcat port will be forwarded to the Windows machine – slhck – 2012-05-18T14:06:42.570

@slhck Thanks. I tried doing what you said. But I am still having difficulty. I have updated my question. I hope you will help. – Gaurav Agarwal – 2012-05-18T18:04:38.763

@blackcrow Protocol is TCP; external and internal port are both 8084, and your internal server is obviously 10.0.2.2. As "Service Name" you can just put "Tomcat". That's all. – slhck – 2012-05-18T18:27:11.357

@blackcrow Then leave out the www. I'd suggest you edit your question and add details as to what you've tried accessing and pinging – I probably can't help you any further, sorry. – slhck – 2012-05-18T19:39:39.733

@slhck Will do. Thanks you so much. I really appreciate your time and effort. – Gaurav Agarwal – 2012-05-18T19:41:27.047