OS X Yosemite Server Part 4: Port Forwarding

05/12/14 09:00 Filed in: Technology

If you ever plan on accessing your server remotely you will have to learn how to forward ports in order to get into your network to access the services your server offers. Ports are basically doors into your network. Each door has a number which is linked to the services that go in and out of that door. The walls around the door are either your router or a software firewall you have in place. Both function to keep unwanted traffic out and to be a gatekeeper to allow only wanted traffic into your network. This is what keeps our network secure.

When you forward a port you are creating the door for the service to go through as long as the user of that service knows he username and password needed to go through the door. This verification serves as the key to that door and let’s authorized users to have access to that service through that port. In OS X Server, if you have an Airport Extreme Base Station or AEBS, the server software itself handles opening and closing ports. If you have a third party router you will have to look up how your router handles port forwarding and you will need to set it up manually.

In this screencast I cover how to set up port forwarding using an AEBS with OS X Server. I cover the basics of port forwarding and how it works on your network. I also cover how to set up and use port forwarding with the built in service with OS X Server and how to do it manually if you don’t have an Apple Router. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them here or on my Youtube Channel.

Tags: Tutorials, Apple, Mac OSX, Server