WebHMI Docs

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====== Remote access to WebHMI UI ======

There are multiple ways to get remote access to UI of WebHMI. In this article we will cover two of them. Both of them will use Level2 system to make thing as easy as possible.
===== HTTP Proxy =====
The most popular and easiest way is use HTTP proxy. Using this technology you will be able to get access to your WebHMI as easy as type https://subdomain.webhmicloud.com in address line of your browser. Level2 will do all magic w/o any extra actions from you.

To enable this feature please [[level2:how_to_connect_webhmi_to_level2| connect WebHMI to your Level2 account]] and enable both VPN and HTTP Proxy feature on Settings->Level2 page.

You can select any free subdomain which you want for you system.

After you will click Save system will apply needed setting and you will be able to get access to your WebHMI via URL like this one: https://subdomain.webhmicloud.com.

How it works? In this case WebHMI is connected to Level2's VPN network and Level2 routes traffic from Internet to your WebHMI via VPN.

===== VPN =====
A bit less user-friendly, but more secure way to get access to WebHMI is trough VPN. In this case you will need connect both WebHMI and your PC to the VPN. And after that you will be able to access WebHMI via URL like http://10.0.0.123. And nobody else will be able get access to WebHMI via internet because he is not connected to VPN network and WebHMI is not exposed to wild Internet.

To enable this feature please [[level2:how_to_connect_webhmi_to_level2| connect WebHMI to your Level2 account]] and enable VPN service on Settings->Level2 page.

After you will click Save system will apply needed settings and connect to Level2 VPN. Once WebHMI will connect to VPN you will see its IP address in VPN status box. Also you can find this IP address in Level2 systems on Information tab of this node. You will need this IP later.

Now go to Level2 and create new Node, enable VPN service on Services tab and save node. Once saved, system will generate login/password for VPN for this node. We will use this pair to connect your PC to VPN. Open newly created node and find login/password on Information tab. Also open Routing tab and allow access this node to your WebHMI. This will allow routing packets from your PC to your WebHMI. Without this rule Level2 will forbid communication between these 2 nodes.

Connect your PC to VPN using following settings:

|**Host**|webhmicloud.com|
|**Login**|l2nodexxx (from you node's settings)|
|**Password**|xxxxx (from you node's settings)|
|**Type**|L2TP|
|**Encryption**|disable|

Once you PC was connected to VPN you can open browser and navigate to URL like http://10.x.y.z. Where 10.x.y.z is an VPN IP address of your WebHMI.

Again, this method will require a bit more efforts from user but it will not expose WebHMI to anybody in Internet and so system will be more secure.

By the way, this access way also could be used for [[:remote_service_access]]. This means that you can flash your PLC or connect to any other equipment via Internet from anywhere. For example, you can update program in PLC which is located in another city or even country from your own office or home w/o need to travel to place where it is physically located.
===== And even more magic =====

Now lets imagine that you need to get access not all the time but only a few times per month. You can [[level2:how_to_connect_webhmi_to_level2| connect WebHMI to your Level2 account]] and disable VPN and HTTP Proxy settings to save costs. WebHMI will not be connected to VPN in this case and this will cost you nothing. 

Later, when you will need get access, you can enable VPN (and HTTP Proxy if needed) for this WebHMI in Level2. WebHMI will detect this action and connect to VPN/HTTP Proxy automatically. You do not need to take any action on WebHMI's end at all. It will do everything by its own. Please be patient in this case because it might take up to 10 minutes  to connect to VPN if you enable this feature from Level2 side.

After you will not need remote access anymore you can disable it from Level2 or WebHMI UI again.