Before you Begin
This is for Local area network (LAN) sharing only, so you have to make sure you are connected to the same network. For networking reasons that are beyond my pay level, if one computer is connected to the ethernet cable in the same LAN and the other is on the wifi network, this won’t work. Both have to be on the ethernet or both have to be on the wifi of that router / LAN.
By the way – although I haven’t tested this myself, you “should” be able to put a USB-C-to-‘Big USB” adapter into your Ubuntu Touch device and then connect to one of those ‘USB-to-Ethernet’ adapters and put your Ubuntu Touch device on the LAN via Ethernet if you want…
Disclaimer: I have no idea if this set-up is a big security no-no, but I figured since it only works on the LAN that it’s ok. What I do know, is this was a pretty sweet way to make available your Ubuntu Touch files to your LAN without any apps required on either side…
Secret: This also works on any ubuntu device. Check this previous post.
Once both devices are on the same setup, in the same LAN, let’s begin
Making the Connection
- Open terminal
- Get your ip address with
ifconfigand jot it down or memorize - Change directory to what you want to expose to the world:
cd /the/path/you/want/to/expose
Example, to go to your devices camera photos:
cd ~/Pictures/camera.ubports/
- run this command to expose it, and enter without the {} the port you want to expose it on:
sudo python3 -m http.server { port number here without curlies }
- Go to your remote machine on the same LAN and enter with whatever port you chose this into your browser:
localhost:{port number you chose above without the curlies}
When you’re Done – Closing down
Don’t forget to close the connection in your ubuntu touch device so that it’s not accidentally serving stuff you don’t want all day to your network.
- In terminal locate the hamburger menu, lower left
- find the CTRL option by pushing and holding and select it
- Scroll right to left until you find the CTRL+C option and select
You should see this message which means the connection is closed and you’re data isn’t exposed to the network:
‘Keyboard interrupt received, exiting’
