How to connect to a localhost Rails site via mobile device locally?

Question

I have a Rails site that I'm developing on localhost Ubuntu and I have a mobile. My site is running on http://localhost:3000.

I want to access this directly via my mobile browser not going through the internet.

Is there any way to access it via WiFi or some other way?

Answer 1

If your computer is accessible from internet, just enter in your mobile browser:

http://your.ip:3000/

You could also create a local network (via wifi for instance), connect to it with your cell phone and then do the same thing.

If you are using Rails 4.2+, start the server using:

 rails server -b 0.0.0.0 

(see http://edgeguides.rubyonrails.org/4_2_release_notes.html#default-host-for-rails-server).

Answer 2

1.) get your local ip by typing:

ifconfig |grep inet

into your shell/terminal. your ip usually looks like this: 192.xxx.xxx.xx

2.) then start the rails server with:

rails server -b 0.0.0.0

3.) your application can now be reached by typing:

192.xxx.xxx.xx:3000 into the browser.