How to generate fixed url with ngrok

Question

I am working on Facebook messenger.

My Facebook app only accept one url for a webhook but ngrok is generating a new URL every time. Now I am unable to test my app because the webhook URL has changed.

Answer 1

UPDATE May 2020

Serveo is up and running again! No installation, no signup!

All you need to do is to run this:

ssh -R <unique subdomain>:80:<your local host>:<your local port> serveo.net

like

ssh -R youruniquesubdomain:80:localhost:8000 serveo.net

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UPDATE January 2020

Since there are some issues with Serveo and localtunnel, I want to share with you another free ssh-based self-hosting service: Localhost.run

Unfortunately, it does not provide unique subdomains but it is ssh-based so you do not have to install additional applications. Still waiting for Serveo coming back.

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UPDATE April 2018

I've found Serveo just now! And it is totally incredible!

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UPDATE November 2017

Probably, it is not the best option for you but I started using localtunnel instead of ngrok.

An installation and run flow is very simple:

npm install -g localtunnel
lt --port <your localhost port> --subdomain youruniquesubdomain

Then I can go to my http://youruniquesubdomain.localtunnel.me That's it!

Answer 2

You need to set up auth token. You can find it here https://dashboard.ngrok.com/auth. (W̶o̶r̶k̶s̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶f̶r̶e̶e̶ ̶v̶e̶r̶s̶i̶o̶n̶,̶ ̶n̶o̶ ̶n̶e̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶p̶a̶y̶ it's now paid feature, see ngrok pricing).

Then you can use it like this:

ngrok http 80 --subdomain yoursubdomain

Answer 3

No more free subdomain support from ngrok.....pls have a error as below

Tunnel session failed: Only paid plans may bind custom subdomains. Failed to bind the custom subdomain 'arvindpattartestfb.ngrok.io' for the account 'arvccccc'. This account is on the 'Free' plan.

Upgrade to a paid plan at: https://dashboard.ngrok.com/billing/plan

ERR_NGROK_313

Answer 4

Neither localtunnel.me or Serveo are working for me right now so I created a temporary solution that works for some use-cases including mine (react-native local development): using the ngrok npm package one can save the generated ngrok url into a json file, and that file can be read for any other app.

First make sure to install ngrok using npm install ngrok then use this node script:

const ngrok = require('ngrok');
const fs = require('fs').promises;

(async function() {
  const url = await ngrok.connect(3000);
  const api = ngrok.getApi();
  let data = await api.get('api/tunnels');
  data = JSON.parse(data);
  let dict = {'domain': data.tunnels[0].public_url}
  await fs.writeFile("config.json", JSON.stringify(dict));
  console.log("saved " + data.tunnels[0].public_url);
})();

Then from your app you may read it using code similar or equal to:

const backend = require('./config.json').domain;

Answer 5

For DHIS2 local installation, I did this on the terminal on ubuntu server.

Make sure your web is running on the specified port. Mine was on 8080.

ssh -R dani.serveo.net:80:localhost:8080 serveo.net

The beauty of this serveo.net is you can reuse the same hostname prefix url before serveo.net as many time as you want, even if power goes off or internet diconnection.

Answer 6

Staqlab tunnel is providing domain for free. Its works great but need a binary to be downloaded from there website. Using this service for month without any hassle

Answer 7

In 2022 (almost 2023) pagekite.me works for me. It is very similar to ngrok, and requires the installation of pagekite.py (and, obviously Python).

After installation click on pagekite.py opens pagekite shell.

Run command: 8080 subdomain.pagekite.me

Answer 8

I noticed that no one mentioned how to have static ngrok urls, which was the main question about.

A way to do it is to edit the ngrok.yml file, which is located at

Linux: "~/.config/ngrok/ngrok.yml"
MacOS (Darwin): "~/Library/Application Support/ngrok/ngrok.yml"
Windows: "%HOMEPATH%\AppData\Local\ngrok\ngrok.yml"

You can have content such as:

version: "2"
authtoken: valid_auth_token
tunnels:
  first-app:
    addr: 3000
    proto: http
    hostname: yourfixedngrok_id1.ngrok.io
  second-app:
    addr: 8000
    proto: http
    hostname: yourfixedngrok_id2.ngrok.io

This will help you expose multiple ports, and have a persisted url for each of which based on the value you set for hostnames.

After that, you run your ngrok using this command:

ngrok start --all

Answer 9

Though its not a solution but take it as workaround, I had the same problem while testing. What i did is keep the ngrok running with my http port, so my ngrok url is not changing. but I frequently changing and restarting my server for testing and debugging.