How this site reaches the public internet

This site runs on a home server, but visitors reach it through its public domain. A Cloudflare Tunnel connects the two without an inbound port-forwarding rule on the home router.

How the connection works

A connector on the server opens an outbound connection to Cloudflare. Requests for the configured hostname travel through that tunnel to the local web service. The home connection does not need a fixed public address for this arrangement.

What the tunnel changes

The router does not accept direct inbound connections to the web service. Public traffic reaches the configured service through Cloudflare instead. Cloudflare becomes part of the connection path, so its availability and account security matter too.

What still needs looking after

A public website is still public through a tunnel. Its login, uploads, permissions, updates and abuse controls need attention. A tunnel does not make an application secure by itself or decide who should be allowed to use it.

Private administration and public pages should have deliberately different access arrangements. Check which hostnames and services are exposed, and test the result from outside the home network.

Try it on a small page first

The Share a local web page with a temporary tunnel is a starting point for sharing a test page. For a persistent address and routing, follow Give a home service its own web address.