Port Forwarding/Reverse Proxy

Port Forwarding

Pick a port number between 1024-65,535. This is how Cloudflare will send data and remote connections to your instance without worrying about blocked ports. I like to use 5050 because it’s simple, easy to remember and not used by any of my other self-hosted services. To be consistent, for the rest of this guide I will use port 5050 as an example. Feel free to replace it with any port number you feel like using.

Router settings are different for each device, refer to a manual or call your ISP for support depending on your situation.

1. SSH login to your Raspberry Pi and enter the command hostname -I
   • This will print the IP addresses used by the host machine. The first IP address printed will be your local IP address. The rest of the addresses are NOT needed and can be ignored.
2. Access your Port Forwarding settings in your private network router.
3. Find your Raspberry Pi device by the Local IP address
4. Add a rule to allow TCP connections on port 5050.
   • If your router port forwarding settings show Internal and External fields, simply add 5050 to both fields.
5. Save

If you are only hosting a Lemmy or PieFed instance, you will be able to do that without the need of a Reverse Proxy which is described below. In this case you can simply use the default ports for Lemmy or PieFed. Replace my example port 5050 with the following depending on your needs:

• Lemmy default port: 10633
• PieFed default port: 8030

Reverse Proxy

A reverse proxy allows the local host machine to distribute incoming user connections to different services hosted on the local machine. For example, all data from Cloudflare comes in on port 5050 when accessing the DOMAINNAME.COM address. I can use Subdomains to redirect incoming connections on port 5050 to open ports on my local host machine.

For example, both Lemmy and PieFed can be hosted at the same time. We can use the subdomains lemmy. and piefed. to redirect traffic. When a user types lemmy.DOMAINNAME.COM into the address bar, Cloudflare will send the connection through 5050 to your home and private router which then continues to the Reverse Proxy. The Reverse Proxy running on the local host machine will catch the subdomain request and immediately switch to port 10633 where a connection to Lemmy will be completed. Typing in piefed.DOMAINNAME.COM will guide all requests to port 8030 where PieFed is running and complete that connection.

For simplicity, Nginx Proxy Manager is docker based with an easy to use web user interface that’s accessible through your local network connected Web Browser. It has it’s limitations but works fine for the current needs.

Nginx Proxy Manager (LOCAL HOST)

NPM is extremely simple to set up. Simply create a new folder, create a docker-compose.yml file filled with the necessary information and then run the container.

• NPM Instructions

1. mkdir ~/npm
2. cd ~/npm
3. nano docker-compose.yml
4. Paste the following into the docker-compose.yml file and save:

• docker-compose.yml

services:
  app:
    image: 'jc21/nginx-proxy-manager:latest'
    restart: always
    ports:
      - '5050:80'
      - '81:81'
      - '443:443'
    volumes:
      - ./data:/data
      - ./letsencrypt:/etc/letsencrypt

Note that port 5050: externally connects to NPM internally through port :80. Make sure 5050 matches the Cloudflare Tunnel port you have decided on using.

5. docker compose up -d and wait for the services to start running
6. In your Web Browser on any device connected to your private network, type your Raspberry Pi’s local address followed by :81 into the address bar. For example 192.168.0.100:81. See Port Fowarding for help finding your local IP address.
7. The login page will ask for account details. Enter the following:
   • Account = [email protected]
   • Password = changeme
   • You will now be asked to create a new admin account
8. Reverse Proxy Setup:
   1. After Login, click Hosts -> Proxy Hosts -> Add New Proxy
   2. Domain Names field: Your DOMAINNAME.COM
      • Press Enter to store that domain name, NPM won’t store your domain name if you don’t hit enter
   3. Forward Hostname/IP field: Your local host machine ip address (example 192.168.0.100). See Port Fowarding for help finding your local IP address.
   4. Forward Port field: I like to use port 81 to test Cloudflare Tunnels before installing Lemmy or PieFed. This is the login page for NPM. This can be quickly changed to the ports listed below after confirming a secure connection from Cloudflare Tunnels.
      • Lemmy: 10633
      • PieFed: 8030
   5. Block Common Exploits: Enabled
   6. Websockets Support: Enabled
   7. Save