How to keep ngrok running even when signing off of a server

Question

I have ngrok running on a server I remote into.

I start it by using the obvious, ngrok.exe http 80. The problem is that when I sign off on that particular server, ngrok will close out and I will lose my tunnel. Is there a way I can keep the ngrok tunnel running even when I have signed off the machine? I understand if the machine is shut down there is nothing I can do to keep the tunnel running, that is obvious. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

As you've said If the machine is shutdown there will be no way keep the process running. There are a number of methods to do this. In each of these methods I'm assuming you already have the following config file:

config.yml

authtoken: <your-auth-token>
tunnels:
    default:
        proto: http
        addr: 80

Ngrok Link (Windows/Mac OS/Linux, Commercial)

With ngrok link simply run the following commands:

ngrok service install -config /path/to/your/config.yml
ngrok service start

You should then be able to manage ngrok as you would any other service running on your given operating system.

Nohup (Maco OS/Linux)

The nohup command normally comes installed by default on mac os and linux. To run the command as such:

nohup ngrok start --all --config="path/to/config.yml" &

Running in a screen should also achieve the same effect here.

Creating a Windows Service (Windows)

To create the service you will need to download a program for creating services from non service executables. Here I'm going to how to do this with NSSM (Non-Sucking Service Manager).

1. Download the executable
2. Open CMD and cd into the same directory as the nssm.exe

3. Run to following command:

   nssm.exe install ngrok
   

4. select the ngrok executable in the window that appears and add the following to the arguments, then press 'Install service'.

   start --all --config="C:\path\to\my\config.yml"
   

5. The service can now be managed from service manager. To start it open an admin terminal and run the following:

   sc start ngrok
   

Creating a systemd service (Linux - systemd only)

Requires root.

1. cd into /etc/systemd/system/

2. Create the following file:

   ngrok.service

   [Unit]
   Description=Ngrok
   After=network.service
   
   [Service]
   type=simple
   User=<your_user_name>
   WorkingDirectory=/home/<your_user_name>
   ExecStart=/usr/bin/ngrok start --all --config="/path/to/config.yml"
   Restart=on-failure
   
   [Install]
   WantedBy=multi-user.target
   

3. Then run the following command to start and enable the service

   systemctl enable ngrok.service && systemctl start ngrok.service
   

sources:

https://ngrok.com/docs/ngrok-link#service

https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/systemd.unit.html

https://nssm.cc/commands