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+---- Thread: Connecting to website? (/t-connecting-to-website)
Connecting to website? - spyware - 2023-06-21
bought a website domain 2 years back and I never really knew what to do with it
how would i go about connecting a jellyfin server to that website for remote connection to the server?
edit: the domain was bought from namecheap, if it makes any difference.
RE: Connecting to website? - Fallenbagel - 2023-06-21
You could reverse proxy your jellyfin to that domain.
Here is a comprehensive guide to setting up jellyfin using caddyV2 (a very beginner friendly reverse proxy)
https://forum.jellyfin.org/t-access-your-jellyfin-anywhere-with-caddy
RE: Connecting to website? - Graeme - 2023-06-21
There are 3 major steps to this, but the details of each one will depend on your individual circumstances and needs. Working through these logically will get you to the result you're after. There will be things you will need to learn along the way, but there will also be plenty of help.
The one thing you've already told us is that your domain is registered. Assuming you've kept it registered by paying the regular registration fees, we can proceed from this assumption.
- Your domain needs to be "hosted" somewhere. This means there is a DNS server or servers which will answer DNS queries about your domain. This service is often provided by the same company where you registered your domain.
- You need to create a "record" on your DNS host that points to your Jellyfin server. This could be a simple "A" record that has your IP address in it, or it could be a "CNAME" which is a kind of alias that points to another name which in turn points to your current IP address. "Your IP address" here means the public-facing IP address of your Jellyfin server.
- You need to ensure that your Jellyfin server can safely receive and respond to web connection made to that public-facing IP address.
Here are some hints and options you can consider to complete each of those main steps:
Step 1 - DNS Hosting:
The company where you registered the domain will often offer a simple hosting solution. Remember this is DNS hosting only. You do not need "web site hosting" which is a whole different thing. Of course you could also use your domain to host a website, email service or various other things, but that is outside the scope of your question.
A quick google shows that Namecheap offer a basic free DNS hosting service called "FreeDNS". This could be a very good solution for you.
Step 2 - DNS records
For this we need to know a bit about the internet connection your Jellyfin server is connected to. There are 3 main possibilities. I'll call them "static", "dynamic" and "CG-NAT".
"Static" means your Jellyfin server is connected to the internet with a service that has a static, public-facing IP address, this is simple. Just create an A record with a name like jellyfin or media that contains the static IP address.
"Dynamic" means you have a public-facing IP address that changes from time to time. In this case you might need a "Dynamic DNS" service that can automagically update your DNS in some way each time your IP address changes. Fortunately it appears such a dynamic DNS service is also included in Namecheap's FreeDNS service, so that could be handy for you. We can look into the details of this if it turns out this is what you need.
"CG-NAT" is a bit more complex again as we would need to find a way for clients to connect inwards without a public address you control. The issue here is that your ISP shares a single public IP address with many subscribers, and you won't have the ability to redirect traffic from the public side to your server. If this turns out to be your situation then we can look into the various options to get around this problem, but the best one for you will depend on a few factors we will need to ask you about.
Step 3 - Accepting connections
Unless you are on CG-NAT, this will involve setting your server up to use HTTPS, possibly with a "reverse proxy server" helping out and also setting up your router to redirect certain "ports" to the right internal address of your proxy server or Jellyfin server. Again the fine details here can be worked out once we know more about your situation.
A final note
You talked about "connecting a jellyfin server to that website". I want to clarify this point. I have assumed you are using "website" here loosely as a synonym for your domain. If so, I'd suggest being careful about terminology like this as these do NOT mean the same thing to a technically-aware audience.
The other possibility is that you really did mean you have an existing web site, and you want your Jellyfin server to be "connected" to that; maybe to show up as a link from that website. If this is what you mean then let us know so we can add steps to the process. Not only to help you set up the link, but also to ensure we don't break the existing site or other services on your domain.