How to Port Forward on a DLink router for your server

It just hit me that most people in the world use Windows, (duh) so i had better do a quick tutorial on
port forwarding for various servers on a non-apple router, i will be using a DLink as an example.
Port forwarding on a Dlink is just as simple and straight forward as on an Apple Time capsule
or Airport Extreme.
Why would you need to Forward a port?
Simple answer: so people can access you server from outside you LAN or Local Area Network.
So lets get to it.
Note: this tutorial was requested by a Minecraft player i know by the name of Veyleus. ~Hope this helps :)

What you will need >>>

• Username and Password to your Dlinks admin page
• 5 minutes of time if all goes well
• 7 minutes if you have trouble and need to ask a question on the mini-forum

Step 1, how to access the routers admin page:

First you need to determine if your Dlink will let you access the admin page via wifi.
Some dont allow this for security reasons. But you can change that setting.
Open up and browser and type in 192.168.0.1 this is the default address for a Dlink router
For a Linksys and most other router its 192.168.1.1

If you get a page not found or and you cant connect and itsnot prompting you for a username and
pasword, then its probably not allowing wireless administration. To fix this find an old Ethernet back in the back of your desk drawer and plug in one end to your computer and the other to the back of your router in the Ethernet port. (Assuming that you have a laptop and can go to where your router is or have a long enough Ethernet cord)

Then just enter the same address: 192.168.0.1 in your browser.
It should supply you with 2 fields to enter you password and user name.
The default to Dlink routers is Username: admin Password: private

But normally the password is not the default one, you have to know that password or ask someone who does.

If all go well the admin page should be served up.

Step 2, forwarding the port:

Click the "Port Forwarding" button on the side, a page similar to this should be displayed

Move down to where you see a table like this:

Pick and name of you choice. e.g. Mincraft server.

Then for IP Address put the local ip or you computer, you should know how to find the local ip of your computer but if you don't, drop me a comment. 

Under ports to open:

Put a range of ports instead of just one port, i find it works better for server FTP servers and Minecraft.

For Minecraft i would put the ports like this: 24000-26000 assuming you Minecraft server is running at the default port of 25565.

Put the same port range both the TCP and UDP fields.

You can leave the "Schedule" and "Inbound Filter" selection boxes as they are shown in the image.

Step 3, saving changes and testing:

Click save changes at the top and let your router do its thing and reconfigure.

After that to test it, turn on your server and test it with your local ip to confirm it is working and serving.

Then find your external IP and whatismyip.com and then you that ip to connect instead.

If you can connect to your server using your external ip then grab a bag of pretzels and a glass of Koolaid and just marvel at how you were able to get it to work the first time you tried it :)

But things never work the first time with me so if you have any trouble, drop me a comment and i will see if i can help.

Trouble Shooting:

Some routers may not support ranged port forwarding, so instead of putting 24000-26000 for the ports, just put 25565 or whatever port you are looking to forward.

Some routers may also not allow outside connections from your local network. So you might need to go a to a friends house or an internet cafe to test it. But this is rarely the case.

Make you that you server is running on the port you think it is and that you port forwarded that port.

How to port forward on an apple router

When i first needed to port forward some ports for my FTP server on my router, in this case
a Time Capsule i had a bit of trouble finding a tutorial on how to do it.
Most of the port forwarding tutorials out there are for Linksys, Netgear, and Cisco routers.

So in this little tutorial i will show you step my step how to forward ports on an Apple Time
Capsule router or Airport extreme. Now the interface for the Airport utility has changed a bit
it the last update. i will be showing you using the most recent version.

What you will need:

Full password privileges to the router
You need to know what ports you want to forward for you server
A few minutes of time

Step 1:

Go to spotlight and type in "airp" , the Airport utility should come up
hit enter and start up the program.

Step 2:

Click on the you main router if you have more than one for instance if you have
another one to extend you network. Then Click "Edit" to edit the router configuation.

Step 3:

Navigate to the "Network" tab, and go down to where is says "Port mapping"
Check "Enable NAT Port Mapping Protocol"
Click the "+" button to add a new Port map.

Step 4:

Notice i have allowed a range of 10 ports.

Fill out the form like this>

Add a Description of your choice.

For Public UDP Ports: put the range of ports you would like to forward. For example
putting 18-25 will forward ports 18 through 25. Even though the standard ftp port is 21,
i found you were better guaranteed a remote connection if you forwarded a few other ports in
that range. For you info this will also forward the ports for FPT, SSH, and TELNET
protocols. So you killed 3 birds with one stone.
Put the same value in all these fields also:

Public TCP Ports

Private UDP Ports

Private TCP Ports

Now for "Private IP Address" you will want to put the local ip of the computer
you want to forward the public requests to. E.g the LAN ip of the server that you
want to access from the outside.

Click save. You will then need to update the router. Click Update.
The router will be unavailable for a few seconds while it reconfigures.

When you see a green icon next to the router appear again, then the router is a ready
and now accepting external requests on the ports you just forwarded and is sending those
requests to the IP address on the computer on your LAN that you specified.

Step 5, Testing it:

Now i am assuming you have the server up and running that you wanted to connect to from outside
your LAN e.g. from any hotspot in the world (pretty cool eh?) wether it be FTP or Minecraft.

I will use FTP as an example.
Go to whatismyip.com to find your external ip, your networks id on the www.
Copy the ip to your clipboard.
Go to your favorite browser and type in the following:

ftp://your_external_ip:21

( replace "your_external_ip appropriately" )( replace 25 with the port you forwarded )

if you are prompted with a username and password by the browser then you did it!
Congrats!
However nothing ever works the first time i do it so if you have any trouble
just drop me a comment and i'll help you.

Extras>>> Common Ports:

• FTP - 21
• SFTP and SSH - 22
• TELNET - 23
• SMTP mail server - 25
• NFS 2049
• MySQL - 3306
• Minecraft - 25565 (hehe :D)
• VNC - 5900
• For a complete list of known ports visit this wiki link

Security Note>>>

Remeber that forwarding these ports will allow people to connect from the outside world.

The only way to prevent evil-doers is to provide a strong password to you FTP os SFTP server.

If not people black-hat hackers can brute force the password to the FTP server, get in, steal you files and or delete them. Quite a serious matter. Btw just becuase i know how to brute force hack a network dosent make me a bad hacker, if you really know about the term, you will know it can used for good and bad. I use those skills to test my own network security.

If you would like me to do a tutorial on network security and penetration testing, just drop me a comment. I would be happy to.

Blog Updates, new stuff

Hey readers!
Im back from my little break. Thank you Knome for standing in for me and posting that bit about be being away. Enough talk, lets get to the point. I would like to include some of the following as new features/pages to this site.

• A Q&A page
• Here you can ask me IT related questions or state a problem you might have
• The least i can do for you readers is to check the site everyday and answer these

• Tutorial Articles and links
• I would like to get more tuts mixed in with my reviews
• Reviews are good an all but when i go searching the net to find out how to
• something i usually want a well-written blog tutorial
• You can also request tutorials on the Q&A page

I have a couple a cool things i would like to make tutorials on, things that i did not know myself and then
went out and found a tutorial or a combination of tutorials to teach me how to get the job done.

So stay tuned, use Google listen to jango.com  and play on Epicraft! :D

Busy

Hi, Knome here, owner of the blogs
I hope Rudker doesn't mind me posting this
Rudker has been quite busy recently and hasn't had time to make a post on this blog. Rest assured he shall return. When? I'm not sure, but I think it'll be soon
Stay happy, stay loyal, stay subscribed

        - Knome

VNC, IT Class 1, Installation

I know this post is something like a week late, but I'm not going to apologize. Mainly because I have found that if you keep making apologies and excuses every little time you’re late or something like that you will spend you time making excuses all your life and won't be able focus on the task at hand.

Well enough of my philosophies,  on to the review/tutorial.

So I have done some thinking about how I am going to run this internet related software training course and like all other things that have a beginning, it will be a bumpy yet I hope in the end an information filled and helpful experience.

So now, if you haven't read my introduction to this course and what it will be about in my last post, you should. It explains just what we are going to be doing throughout the course.

To summarize it all here; we will first learn how to control all your computers with keyboard and visual screen feedback from anywhere in the world. Even if you are not traveling you can easily access and control the desktop downstairs with your laptop or any other computer on your local network if you are admin of that computer. We will be working mainly with LAN or Local area network applications for the start of this IT Course. 

Later, we will get into how you access things like personal file servers, IP-cams, remote login from outside your home, web servers and more. 

Now why VNC is such, I think an interesting topic, is because there are so many ways to go about it. If one way doesn't work, for instance, the other will. VNC will work on virtually everything Windows, Mac, and Linux. There is even a VNC viewer and controller for iOS devices! This however I don think is free, people have to make a living you know :p

So no matter what OS you’re on, your still in luck.

I think I can write this tutorial, so that any user on any OS will be able to follow it. Certain things that differ between Mac and Windows for example, I will point out.

Getting started, what you will need:

• - At least 2 computers, preferably same OS but if not its ok.
• - An Internet connection with some bandwidth (to download the programs and..... DUH!)
• - 25, maybe 30 minutes of time if you follow this tutorial
• - 6 hours of time if you want to do all the research and experimentation yourself :p 
• - Basic knowledge of general program installation for your OS

Next, programs you need to download:

A complete VNC remote control system is comprised of..... you MAY have guessed it, a server and a client or viewer. The VNC server will run on the computer that you want to view and/or control. 

The VNC client or viewer will run on the computer that you want to view and/or control from.

There are many clients and servers out there for all OS's both free and commercial. The programs I will refer here will be free,  however, if you enjoy this tutorial and its outcome, or want to use VNC on a larger scale for school, work, or play, there is no reason you shouldn't buy the good stuff from the creators.

Because I am on a Mac, and posting this from a Mac, Mac OS will be my forte, but I have done VNC on Mac, Windows, and Linux. 

For Mac, go ahead and download these programs:

• Vine Server (SourceForge page) (Direct download from SourceForge)
• Chicken of the VNC - Viewer (SourceForge page) (Direct download from SourceForge)

For Windows

• RealVNC Free addition (Download page, server and viewer available from here)

I won't go into Linux unless specially requested by a member's comment

Program Installation:

For Mac,

Vine Server installation

The Installation is pretty straightforward. In the end you should end up with an app, which can be run from anywhere

Chicken of the VNC

This program is also in the form of a .dmg, just drag the .app to you applications folder.

You would probably be best off to install both the server and viewing on both computers. That way they can act as both if you need them to.

For Windows, 

If I remember correctly there was nothing complicated about the installation of the server and viewer on Windows.

Also install the Server and viewer on both machines.

Note: A Windows VNC server will work on a Mac VNC viewer and vice versa.

Seeing as this post is getting quite long, I will break it up into three parts; Installation, Configuration and troubleshooting/options, two of which I will write at a later time. The Configuration post I think will be the most fun.

Stay tuned, or rather subscribed for my next post on the configuration (the fun part, where we'll actually get something done :)

"All right, hold it!" BTC, a new way of blogging

Good day readers, today I would like to start a new way of blogging. (Might not be new, but hey, its new to me :) A sort of blog/Training-Course for Internet server-client related software.

This is be best area of my software expertise and I have found it incredibly fun, interesting, and helpful. I hope I can give you some of the same feelings after you finish this BTC (blog/training-course)

What is a BTC?

I don’t really know. To be honest I made up the term. Basically, I have quite a large and interesting subject I would like to cover and it wont all fit in one post. So I decided I would make a little course out of it. I don’t want to swamp you with a huge, lengthy, and information filled post. I want to give you regular class-like reviews with tutorials with assignments. Believe me this is going to be fun for me, and I hope this will be fun and maybe even useful for you too.

What will this BTC be about?
This BTC will be about Internet related software and will help you understand everything from Network Protocols to Port Mapping to Dynamic Naming Services to Virtual Network Computing. Don’t worry if you don’t know any of these terms. At the end of this blog topic/training-course, you will have at least a basic knowledge of the Internet, your computer, and only what they can accomplish together.

We will start this BTC off with a bang and go with something that’s real fun.

Not to long a discovered something in the world of computing, something that I think is the coolest thing since the web browser; it’s called VNC.  The acronym “VNC” stands for “Virtual Network Computing”. Developed by Cambridge University in England in the at the turn of the millennium and further developed by AT&T Research labs (These are the guys who invented the most powerful operating system in the world; UNIX) VNC allows you to have full control to a remote computer, right down to the very entering of text from your keyboard or the click of a mouse. It’s all transmitted to the remote computer via Internet or local area connection (LAN) at the same time it relays the remote computers screen.

This technology has endless applications. From browsing the Internet on the remote computer screen (don’t know why you would want to do that) to manually turning on a server that has crashed and you can find a remedy through SSH or the classic terminal remote login which been used for ages. (We will get to SSH later on) Now you might think: “remote server?” “That’s way too hard and too tedious to setup.” Or  “I don’t have use for that” or “I don’t have a website or a public fileserver or anything of the such.” It doesn’t stop there my friend.

How VNC has helped me:

Well I’ll be honest with you. I have something near 6 computers and all of them have to be managed and setup with new software, and time limits for those that use them, and more administration stuff.  Now, before I had to get up and go to those computer every time I need to change a setting, or install a new software, or start a server on that machine. Now I can just setup the VNC server on each of those machines. Each with a unique IP (and a password… or else…) so that I can just sit back and do all I want right from my favorite desktop. No need to go running around the house or the office. Right from logging into that computer to visiting the preferences panel of whatever I want to change.

Now you can too! With this course I will be making a regular post, each with a new aspect of VNC and a tutorial on how to set it up. Stick with me and soon enough you will feel the amazing felling of real control right under your fingertips.

Anyway I hope you enjoy this series of IT training I am going to put together.

Thank you for reading the introduction to this course. Hopefully it has whetted your curious appetite and you’re ready for some real fun. Please subscribe to receive updates on posts, which will include the review, tutorial, and assignments for this course.

HandBreak, Finally some real speed

Hey guys i thought i would bring this to you all before my next major post next week on tuesday or wednesday.

Before i go on you should know; i am on a Mac, so most of my reviews will be from a mac perspective. But, most of what i review will be available for Windows also. Im not asking you to join a side, Mac or PC. I have used both and there a good things about them both.
So anyway,
Handbreak is a free multi platform video converter. Both Windows, Mac and Linux programs are available.
I like it extremely well for Mac because it comes with a 64 bit version for that platform.
Now why have i brought up this freebie instead of all the other converters out there? Well, for one i love free and open source software. Secondly this converter is quite unique, simple and easy to use.
Personally, I don't think its get enough love.
Handbreak has provided me with an extremely fast and easy way to convert my videos to run on any platform i need. From my Nokia cellphone to my AppleTV.
it comes fully equipped and ready to use straight out of the box (so to speak). The thing that amazed me is its MPEG-4 encoding speed. Its the fastest i have ever seen! Even fast than some non-free converters.
It comes with some default presets which are really helpful if you don't know the right format for your iPod Touch, but it also lets you create your own presets.
Have an HD movie you need converted? No problem. Handbreak provides easy to read settings for retaining the full video quality through the conversion.
Easily change things like bit-rate to control output quality and size, or turn on auto-crop to remove extra black around the picture. Handbreak is a "setup and let run" platform. Have a whole season you need converted? No problem. Handbreak can do it. Import the video files, apply the settings, and add them all to the queue and let them run!

Note: Handbreak uses the full power of your CPU. I usually quit my other big programs (you can leave stuff like browsers and iTunes on) and just turn on the conversions while i am afk. Handbreak needs CPU power, but you will be rewarded with ultrafast conversions.

To make extra sure you kept all the quality in the conversion you can check the "Double-pass" check box. This actually converts your video twice checking the data of the first conversion with the second.
(Uncheck this box in most cases)

Good luck! Now go download this thing!


Direct Download links:

Windows
Macintosh


(if all that fails) Download Page:
Handbreak Downloads

~Edit

If you aren't sure which settings to go with for your device, just drop me a comment i will help you out.

Blender, The beauty in the beast

You may have heard of it, or seen someone’s video results from this software on youtube, but for those of you that don’t know, well, you should.

Blender is open-source 3D modeling, rendering, and animation software.

Developed by the Blender Foundation, it is fully equipped with an almost limitless powerhouse of tools to create anything, from cool little 3D intros to Fully Animated masterpieces.

The first time I opened up Blender was few years back. I pulled it up for a few seconds and said, “No way, Oh no no no.” “Way to many buttons and switches and settings and check boxes, and selection menus." *Click the close button*

Yeah, wow. It scared me away. There was just too much. Too much to learn. It was one of those programs that you have to know how to do something before you can do anything.

But later on, i asked myself. "With that kind of interface, amazing things must be reality"

So over a few years (yes years of on and off free time and youtube bandwidth) i came to love the program. I remember the first little animation i made with it. It was a set of a few simple shapes; a few pyramids and cubes. The animated part of it was a little double-jointed cylinder doing acrobatic jumps and flips over the cubes and pyramids. It was pretty pitiful now that i look back, but as soon and the rendering progress bar for the full 11 second feature film was at the end, it made my day.

So yes, it does have a steep learning curve, but thats nothing a few youtube tutorials cant fix. :p

Its worth it in the end. but thats the point there is no end to this amazing program. 

If you use it as nothing but a video editor (which it also does impressively) i will be proud.

So where do you start learning how to use this program? Well, youtube work fine for me for the first year or so. But, if you top that and are ready to move on to some really impressive stuff that you can do with blender, this guy's site is not even funny. BlenderGuru is probably the best site out there for top quality, and i mean top quality blender tutorials. His tutorials are medium to advanced, they are in the form of videos, and he does all the talking so you won't get lost, explaining every step from scratch.

Note: If you go straight to Blenderguru.com to start your blender journey, you will be COMPLETELY LOST if you are new to blender. They are very tempting i know, but unfortunately you will have to stick to the easy stuff on youtube until you are ready for that. :) 

But still take a look to whet you appetite (In other words, make creating those awesome things your first desire in life.)

Here is what i could do with the help of Blender and blenderguru.com:

Introduction

Hey people, my friend over at http://knomereviews.blogspot.com/ set this up for me as an extension/joint to his blog. We were talking before this all happened. He was telling me about his game review blog and i thought,"Cool, is there any way i could support it?" I was like, "Well i don't play many games, but i sure play around with a lot of software :) So he was kind enough to set this up for me. It was kind of a surprise.
Well thats about all my introduction. If I know anything about blogging, it's that people want to see the point, and fast. So stay tuned for my first review.