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Android personal Home Server

by AppsByDavideV on February 6, 2016

Table of Contents

Android personal Home Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Intro: Android personal Home Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Step 1: Download and install the app . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

File Downloads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Step 2: Set up the app . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Step 3: Connecting to the server... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Step 4: The administration page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Step 5: Create your own Hello world web page... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

File Downloads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

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Advertisements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

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 Author:AppsByDavideV AppsByDavideV
I like to develop android apps and electronics devices that can be controlled by that apps. My first pc was a commodore VIC20 hacked to program Eprom
chips :)

Intro: Android personal Home Server

This tutorial will cover an Android Home Server using my unofficial app MyHomeServer.

With this app you can connect your Android phone or tablet to other devices connected to the same WiFi network (at home, work...) and explore it via Web browser . The
app doesn't work on cellular networks.
The server has an authentication page and a management page that will be explained later.
The app also support dynamic DNS trought No-IP or DuckDNS but this isn't covered in this tutorial for now as it requires additionals tricky steps on your home router to
be accessed from internet.

Using a web browser you can download/upload/delete/rename files and folders and host your webpage at home on your device.
So, what can i do with this? Some examples:

-Share photos on your device with friends and family or show them on a PC or smart TV...
-Host your own web page and amaze your friends...

http://www.instructables.com/id/Android-Personal-Home-Server/
Step 1: Download and install the app
1) Download the Android app from here and copy it on your device's SD card (no matter if internal or external).
The app is made by me, is advertising free, virus free and doesn't collect personal information. I always suggest to check it with your preferred antivirus before install.

This app is compatible with android 2.3.6 up to android 6

2) If you are familiar with Android probably you already enabled the Unknown sources. Anyway go to Settings> Security> Phone Administration and tick (enable) on
Unknown sources. Please note that the path could be different from device to device.

3) With the default File manager app point to the MyHomeServer.apk file copied before and click on it. The installation process should start. Choose INSTALL then
DONE.

4) If all goes well you will see the new installed app icon: MyHomeServer

http://www.instructables.com/id/Android-Personal-Home-Server/
File Downloads

MyHomeServer120.apk (1 MB)
[NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'MyHomeServer120.apk']
Step 2: Set up the app
This step isn't mandatory as the app already has a basic setting to run immediately after installation.
Anyway here is an explanation of the available settings except for No-IP and DuckDNS that are not covered by this tutorial for now, as said before.

1) Start the app and click on the big Server configuration button (also reachable from the 3 dot menu or menu button on your device) and confirm to stop the server in
the Change Settings dialog, the settings menu will open...

2) Settings explained from TOP to BOTTOM:

- Server autostart: tick to start the server automatically when you start the app.
- App autostart: tick to start the app automatically when the device boots, if enabled togheter with Server autostart, the server is always available on the device, no need
to start manually. Useful if you have an old device at home to use as server and always powered on..
- DynDNS autoupdate: the time (in minutes) after that the server looks if your router's IP has changed. Useful only with No-IP and DuckDNS services. Not important for
this tutorial.
- DynDNS service: allow you to choose the service for your server from No-IP, DuckDNS and INTRANET (default). For this tutorial must be INTRANET.
- No-IP settings: enter your No-IP account details here if you choose No-IP service, this isn't covered by this tutorial for now.
- DuckDns settings: enter your DuckDns details here if you choose DuckDns service, this isn't covered by this tutorial for now.
- Server Administration username and password: choose an username and password to access the server from the web browser. Default are user: Android,
password: Android. Change them as you like.
- Auto Log Off: the time (minutes) after that the server asks for authentication again if no activity is detected.

- Folder exploration: if you tick it then only folders inside the app can be accessed. This is a security setting as files and folders can be modified from the connected
client. Anyway if you plan to share photos with other this setting must not be enabled as photos are outside the app folders.
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- Website basics home page: this is the filename of the first page you will see when connecting to the server with the browser. If you will build your own web page this
setting must match the first page to start from.

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http://www.instructables.com/id/Android-Personal-Home-Server/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Android-Personal-Home-Server/
Step 3: Connecting to the server...
Now you are ready to test the connection...

Note that to get all things working you need the device running the app and another device with a web browser both connected to the same WiFi network!

1) Start the app and make sure the server is running: the first big button on top must show a green led when the server is started and red when the server is stopped.

2) Open the web browser on a PC, phone, tablet ... and type in the address bar the IP address shown in the server main page under Server info>Device status and IP.
For example look at the image: the IP in this case is 192.168.1.7:5555

3) after a little (depend on the router) the browser should show the server default home page with the Under construction image and the Login button. Click on it and in
the login page enter username: Android , password: Android or the credentials you set in the previous step if changed.
If you get problem connecting to the server try reload the page, turn the display on or power the device with the AC adapter (in some devices the standby mode slows
down operations due to deep sleep).

4) After submitting, the welcome back (username) page should open. Click on continue and go to the next step...

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http://www.instructables.com/id/Android-Personal-Home-Server/
Step 4: The administration page
This page is the most important as it allow to:
- copy files to server.
- download files from server
- navigate folders
- create folders
- rename files/folders
- unzip files in the current folder
- backup files (for example all files uploaded for your own website)

Using this page is quite simple. The page has 2 panels: on the left panel you can work with files and folders, the right panel is the files and folders navigation. At bottom
there is a link to return to the main page and logout automatically.

- The right panel:

The first link on top of the right panel allow you to refresh the file list. Normally there isn't need for this as it is done automatically when you navigate files/folders or make
changes on the left panel.
Under that link there is the actual path (where you are).
The first folder (with the arrow) will bring you up one level in the directory tree. This folder is followed by a list of folders (if there) and files (if there) found in the current
path.

Now try navigate to your DCIM/Camera folder to see some of your photos (these could be in the internal memory or external SD card of your device depending on it's
configuration). Before doing this make sure that the Folder exploration Limit setting of MyHomeServer is disabled (see Step2) otherwise you will not able to explore that
folder.
When you reach the correct folder you should see something like in image1 of this step.

Click on a photo to open it in the web browser. You can do all files operations supported by your browser as usual internet browsing except for streaming music/video that
is not supported by MyHomeServer.
Now navigate back to the app folders as in image2 of this step.

- The left panel:

Now try create a new directory: type a name, (test folder for example), in the Create a directory box and click Create directory, the new folder will appear in the right
panel. Click on it to open, it's empty.
Upload a file in this directory by clicking select file then upload the file in the left panel >upload files tab. Your file will appear in the folder you created before.
Note that file upload is slower than download. In some cases the device should be kept ON or powered by AC adapter to keep the CPU running faster and get more
speed.
In the same way you can delete files using the Delete a file or a directory tab. Make sure to not delete important files: there isn't an UNDO function.

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Step 5: Create your own Hello world web page...
Now it's time to create your own web page.

First of all, if you don't know nothing about HTML language i suggest to start (or search on) here:
http://www.w3schools.com/

For this step download the hello.zip file.

Open it, connect and login to your web server and upload the hello.html and the login.jpg.
Now logout from the server by clicking the link at the bottom.
Open the server settings and change the Home page to 'hello.html'
Connect to the server again with the browser and you should see a new page like in the image in this step.
Try to login to enter the administration page.

Now open the hello.html file with your preferred text editor and, based on your experience or by reading the link above, try modify it (colors, texts, background, add
images...) and upload to server. In this way you can personalize your welcome page and amaze your friends :)
It recommended to not remove this part of code as it needs to enter the administration page:
<!-- login to enter the server with the browser -->
<div align="center">
<a href="/maintenance/login.html" target="_parent">
<img border="0" alt="Please login" src="login.jpg" width="300" height="120">
</a>
</div>

Anyway if you do mistakes please enter the server settings and change the Home page back to 'working.html'

Enjoy :)

File Downloads

hello.zip (6 KB)
[NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'hello.zip']

http://www.instructables.com/id/Android-Personal-Home-Server/
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