For the ones who are new to Ngrok, we have a brief overview of “What is Ngrok?”, “What is the usage of Ngrok?”, “How to download and setup Ngrok on Mac OS?”. Let’s have a quick look over these questions and we are here to address you all the solutions for these questions.
What is Ngrok?
Ngrok is a third party open source application that allows a user to expose the web server running on the local machine to the internet.
What is the usage of Ngrok?
Ngrok is an open source application for multi-platform tunneling that helps to reverse proxy software which establishes a secure tunnel from a public endpoint to a locally running network service. Just tell ngrok, the port your web server is listening on it generates an “HTTP” and “https” endpoint that can be accessed over third-party applications.
How to download and setup Ngrok on Mac OS?
To download and setup Ngrok on Mac OS, follow the below steps which provides you a clear description of the process. It takes very few minutes to perform the complete installation process and you can use the URL generated with ngrok for any public URL tunneling.
-
- Navigate to the “Download Ngrok” URL and choose “Mac OS X” version.
- A “ngrok<latest_version>.zip” file gets auto downloaded when you click on “Mac OS X” version and you need to extract this zip file to “Applications” folder to find the “ngrok.exec” file.
- Double click on the “ngrok.exec” file to begin the installation process.
- Once the process completes, we are done with the download and installation of Ngrok.
- Now switch to bin folder using the command “cd /usr/local/bin” from terminal and then enter “ln -s /Applications/Ngrok Ngrok”
- Now, coming to the setup process, make a note of your localhost address and use the same port for Ngrok.
- Open a new terminal and enter “Ngrok HTTP <port number>” (example: Ngrok HTTP 8080 if your localhost is running on port 8080).
- Ngrok now generates two URLs one with “HTTP://<randomnumber>.ngrok.io” and “https://<randomnumber>.ngrok.io” with the respective localhost port with a “Forwarding text” before each URL.
- You can make use of these URLs based on your requirement and configure the URL with the third-party applications.
This is how you can download and setup Ngrok on Mac OS. Follow the above steps to make a quick Ngrok installation and make use of this url for public URL for multiplatform tunneling.
