Remote access

Remote access makes your server reachable from anywhere, with no port forwarded, no router settings and no domain of your own. Your server connects out to a relay that Credenza runs and gets its own address, such as https://k3f9q2m7xa.on.credenza.tv.

It’s off until you turn it on, and it’s free during the beta. If you already reach your server through your own domain or a reverse proxy, you don’t need it.

Before you start

You need:

A server running Credenza 0.3.0 or later. See Updating.
An administrator account on that server.
A Credenza account, which you can make at app.credenza.tv.

Turn it on

Go to Settings → Server → Cloud and turn on Cloud mode. The server registers with Credenza’s cloud, sending its name, its version and a public key. It sends nothing about your libraries or the people on it.
Link your administrator account to your Credenza account. If it isn’t linked yet, the Cloud page says so. Press Link your account, then Link to a Credenza account, and finish at app.credenza.tv.
Back on the Cloud page, turn on Remote access.

The page then shows three lines: Hostname, Certificate and Tunnel. Credenza gets the address and a certificate for it, and renews the certificate for you. This can take a few minutes. When Tunnel says Connected, your link is under Address, ready to copy.

Open your server from anywhere

In a browser: open the address.
From app.credenza.tv: sign in and press Open on your server’s card.
In the Android or Android TV app: enter the address as your server, for example k3f9q2m7xa.on.credenza.tv.

Everyone still signs in with an account on your server, so the address alone only gets someone as far as the sign-in page. Invite people the way you normally would.

Your home network addresses keep working as before.

Limits during the beta

Four viewers per server at once. Viewers are counted by internet address, so a household sharing one connection counts once.
10 Mbps per viewer, which is enough for 1080p. The quality menu offers what fits. A file too heavy to play as it is gets converted by your server, and 4K plays as 1080p.
Three relay addresses per Credenza account, and three new ones a week. These count against the administrator on that server who linked their Credenza account first.

Credenza sets these limits, and they may change after the beta.

What the relay can and can’t see

Encryption ends on your server, so the relay forwards bytes it can’t read. Credenza can’t see passwords, what’s in your libraries or what anyone is watching.

The relay does see the IP address of each connection, which server it’s for, when it opened and closed, and how much data it carried. It keeps that log for about 30 days. The privacy policy has the details.

Your address is public. It’s listed in DNS and in public certificate logs, so anyone could find your sign-in page. Use strong passwords.

Turn it off

Turn off Remote access on the Cloud page. Anyone connected through the relay is disconnected. Your address and certificate are kept, so links you’ve shared work again when you turn it back on.

Turning off Cloud mode gives up the address for good.

If something goes wrong

What you see	What to do
The Remote access switch is unavailable, with a reason beneath it	Turn on Cloud mode and wait for the server to register.
“Remote access needs an administrator of this server linked to a Credenza account.”	Link an administrator’s account, as in step 2.
“This Credenza account already holds 3 relay hostnames.”	Turn off cloud mode on a server you no longer use, then try again.
“This Credenza account has been given 3 new relay hostnames this week.”	Try again next week.
Certificate says Failed	Press Try again. If it keeps failing, wait an hour, because Let’s Encrypt limits repeated failures.
Tunnel says Waiting or Reconnecting	The server keeps retrying by itself. Check that it can make outbound connections to the internet.
A viewer’s browser shows a connection error	The relay may be at its four-viewer limit, or the server may be offline. Check that Tunnel says Connected.