{"id":432692,"date":"2022-02-04T08:57:42","date_gmt":"2022-02-04T06:57:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=432692"},"modified":"2022-02-04T09:02:33","modified_gmt":"2022-02-04T07:02:33","slug":"i-built-a-web-server-using-a-raspberry-pi-and-hosted-my-own-website-on-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/hardware\/432692-i-built-a-web-server-using-a-raspberry-pi-and-hosted-my-own-website-on-it.html","title":{"rendered":"I built a web server using a Raspberry Pi \u2014 and hosted my own website on it"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Raspberry Pi is a versatile computing device with many functions, including using it as a webserver to host your own website.<\/p>\n

Raspberry Pis are single-board computers widely used in DIY electronics projects and as a learning tool.<\/p>\n

We decided to put the device to the test as a web server.<\/p>\n

To create a web server using Raspberry Pi, you need the basic board, a MicroSD card with 8GB or higher capacity, a power supply, and an Internet connection.<\/p>\n

Due to the global chip shortage, finding a new Raspberry Pi board proved difficult. Luckily, we had one available from a previous experiment.<\/p>\n

We used a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ for this project and powered it with a Micro USB cable from a charging brick.<\/p>\n

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We started building a web server by installing the 64-bit headless version of Raspbian onto our MicroSD card.<\/p>\n

This can be done with the tool downloadable from the Raspberry Pi website.<\/p>\n

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After installing the operating system, we created an empty file named “ssh” on the boot volume to enable the SSH server.<\/p>\n

The network configuration can also be done on the memory card, but we opted to connect directly to the Pi with an Ethernet cable and continue the setup through SSH.<\/p>\n

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We used Putty to connect to the Pi. After logging in, we changed the default password and continued with the standard setup.<\/p>\n

We worked through the options available in the raspi-config menu and ran the “apt update” and “apt upgrade”.<\/p>\n

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Once the Pi was configured, we followed online guides to install Nginx for the webserver and Node.js for the JavaScript application we wanted to test.<\/p>\n

We also set up a static private IP for the Pi on our network and forwarded port 80 on the router to make the server visible on the Internet.<\/p>\n

To host the device on a mobile connection, you must use the unrestricted APN for the specific network.<\/p>\n

These are available at request for Vodacom and Cell C customers and is enabled by default for most Telkom Mobile and Afrihost Air Mobile connections.<\/p>\n

An online port checking tool can be used to manage connections to your server. Alternatively, you can start the Nginx server and browse your network’s public IP address using a device on a different network.<\/p>\n

You should be greeted with the default Nginx page if everything went well.<\/p>\n

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Since we used a regular consumer Internet connection without a static public IP, we needed a Dynamic Domain Name System (DDNS) service.<\/p>\n

This will keep a domain name up to date with our actual IP so that the website is easily accessible to the public.<\/p>\n

We used No-IP as it offers a free service and a guide to using it on a Raspberry Pi.<\/p>\n

We verified that everything was working by browsing to the hostname we set up and getting the expected Nginx welcome page.<\/p>\n

As this server was set up to show off the possibilities, the next order of business was to find an open-source game that we could host.<\/p>\n

After a short search, we came upon a Snake Game by Caio Paiola<\/a><\/strong> on Codepen and downloaded the source code.<\/p>\n

We copied the source code onto the Pi and got it running after some troubleshooting.<\/p>\n

All that was left to do was set up crontab to automatically restart the server on a reboot. This is not necessary but saves you the trouble of manually restarting the server after a power outage<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The site loads quickly, and after playing the snake game for a minute, it is easy to forget that it is hosted on a Raspberry Pi standing on my desk.<\/p>\n

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This is a perfect afternoon project for someone learning about web development, where they can put newly-learned skills into practice.<\/p>\n

Using a Raspberry Pi also simplified the project as technical support is readily available and easy to find using Google.<\/p>\n