Skip to main content

3 - App

This chapter will guide you through the necessary steps to get the App working.

After you installed the plugin, you may have to change some settings to use the App.

Port​

The usage of the plugin requires (at the moment) an open port on your server, so you can reach the web server through the web interface or the app. By default, your server is accessible through minecraft.example.com:5718 (minecraft.example.com is your server domain or IP) and with the HTTPS checkbox ticked. If you need to change the port (5718 by default) you can do that inside the file /plugins/ServerCtrl/config.yml.

HTTPS​

By default, the web server and interface is using HTTPS. If you don't want HTTPS and instead access the web server and interface unencrypted you can disable the usage of HTTPS in the config file at /plugins/ServerCtrl/config.yml.

HTTPS however, requires the server to provide a certificate to ensure an encrypted communication. The plugin will automatically generate a so called "self signed certificate". No device you use to access the web interface will trust this certificate by default. There are a few options to change this.

It is highly recommended to use HTTPS

You should never use just HTTP communication unless you really know what you are doing. HTTPS is used to ensure an encrypted communication between you and the server. If you don't use it, you put your server at a high risk of getting hacked. This applies to the app as well as the web interface.

Manually trust the certificate​

After you added your server to the App you will get a message similar to the following:

Connection is not secure

You can click on Yes at the bottom to let the App trust the provided certificate.

warning

This option is pretty safe to use with the app. Whenever the certificate changes (e.g. when someone is trying to intercept the traffic to get your password) the app will send you a new notification before connecting. You should accept the warning only if you changed the certificate. However, I still recommend to get a proper certificate.

Get a proper certificate​

To get the best security you can simply get a proper certificate from e.g. ZeroSSL or LetsEncrypt. All you need is a domain, you can get a free subdomain on dynu.com.

The following steps will show how to use ZeroSSL in combination with dynu.com to get a certificate.

1. Create an account on dynu.com and zerossl.com​

Head over to dynu.com and create an account.

Head over to ZeroSSL and create an account there too.

2. Add your domain​

Go to DDNS Services (https://www.dynu.com/en-US/ControlPanel/AddDDNS), add a domain name of your choice and choose a Top Level you like. In this example I will be using serverctrl and freeddns.org. After you click Add, you can now set the IPv4 Address to the IP-Address of your server and click on Save.

3. Request certificate​

Login to ZeroSSL, go to Certificates and then Create Certificate ->. There you put in your previously created domain, in my case serverctrl.freeddns.org. You then need to choose the 90-Day Certificate, no Add-Ons and leave the Auto-Generate CSR option ticked. In the last step, choose the Free plan.

4. Verify your domain​

After you clicked through the wizard, it is time to verify your domain to prove that this domain actually belongs to you. To do this, we will choose the option DNS (CNAME).

Now you copy the values shown under Name (e.g. _12345.serverctrl.freeddns.org) and Point To (e.g. example.com) and go back to dynu.com. There you click on DNS Records and fill in the following information:

  • Node Name: Name from ZeroSSL, BUT just the part before your domain, in my case _12345
  • Type: CNAME
  • TTL: 120
  • Hostname: Point To from ZeroSSL (example.com)

Then click Add DNS Record to save, you should now see a new entry in the table below like this:

HostnameTypeDataTTL
_12345.serverctrl.freeddns.orgCNAMEexample.com120

Now you can go back to ZeroSSL and click on Next Step and Verify Domain.

If you get an error message, don't worry! The update of the DNS records usually take a couple of minutes. Just wait 5-10 minutes and try again. If it's still not working, wait another 5 minutes. After around 20 minutes you can be pretty sure that you did something wrong.

5. Install certificate​

If your domain got verified successfully, you can download the necessary files. Please choose Default Format and click on Download Certificate (.zip). After the file is downloaded, extract the zip archive, you should see three files in there: ca_bundle.crt, certificate.crt and private.key.

Now open the App (Access your server through the manual trust method) and go to Settings > Upload HTTPS certificate. For the Certificate file you will choose certificate.crt and for the Certificate key file private.key.

After you uploaded both files, you will need to restart the server.

6. Congratulations​

You can now access the Server with the App through your chosen domain and port (e.g. https://serverctrl.freeddns.org:5718) in a secured way. For this you have to re-add your server to the App with the chosen domain and port. I know these are quite a lot of steps but if you don't want your server to get hacked (That's not a joke), you should do it.

tip

This is the recommended method and allows access from all your devices.

Other options​

You can read more about the other configuration options under Plugin Configuration