Starting a Rails development server that is publicly accessible

Question

Is there a way to start a Rails 3 development server (rails server) that is not bound to a specific IP address? I'd like for others working on a project with me to be able to use the application from remote locations.

Answer 1

Not quite sure what you like to do here. The server itself is not usually "bound" to a specific IP address, just to its port. It will happily answer all requests coming in on that port.

If your problem is that you are on a line with a dynamic, changing, IP address (DSL or dial-in), you could use a service like dyndns. That service gives you a host name that you can point to your current ip address. The people you work with can then use that host name to connect to, and don't have to remember the ip. Many modems/routers have an option that can automatically update your dynamic ip settings on that service each time you connect/log on.

Obviously if you have the application running on your own computer, it will only be available from remote locations when it is on and connected to the net.

You could also use a public hosting, like heroku. Heroku also allows you to redeploy through a git push (if I see correctly), so that could be useful if all the development team wants to use it.

Is that what you were looking for?

Answer 2

Being bound just means it will answer all requests sent to that specific address. I believe by default it will use 0.0.0.0 meaning it'll answer all requests. Just make sure the ip address is your public one and you don't have anything blocking the port.

Answer 3

You can use some service like Tunnlr, has worked for me.