# How to use ngrok to access your raspberry pi from anywhere.

URL: https://onthegoalways.com/blog/using-ngrok-to-access-raspberry-pi-from-anywhere
Author: Sachin Ghait
Published: 2021-09-11
Updated: 2026-09-28
Category: Developer

> **TL;DR:** After setting up Pi-hole and Selenium automations on a Raspberry Pi, the next challenge was accessing them remotely -- but the router didn't support port forwarding. Ngrok solves this by creating secure tunnels from the internet to your local device. This post shows how to set up ngrok on a Raspberry Pi to expose both the Pi-hole web admin panel (HTTP tunnel) and SSH access (TCP tunnel), so you can manage your Pi from anywhere on any network.

I have posted some blog posts regarding setting up pihole on raspberry-pi, and running selenium based tasks on raspberry-pi.

Check these here in [blog posts section](https://onthegoalways.com/blog).

## Why did I need remote access to my Raspberry Pi?

After putting these tasks as CLI commands on raspberry-pi, I wanted more accessibility for these. Like running these even if I am not in local network (at home).

There are two things that I wanted to access.

1. Pihole web interface that runs on pihole's address at `http://192.168.0.X/admin/`
2. SSH into pihole device to run the CLI commands that I made for some automations.

## Why not use port forwarding?

In many routers these are sections where you can configure `remote management` or do `port-forwarding`. But my browser did not have these settings available.

It had a section to configure `port-triggering`, which is similar to port-forwarding but just inside the WAN network. That meant I can not access these things from mobile network or outside WAN.

## Solution

Because of all these restrictions of my router I decided to use `ngrok`.

Ngrok is a useful utility to create secure tunnels to locally hosted applications using a reverse proxy. It is a utility to expose any locally hosted application over the web.

## How do I set up ngrok on a Raspberry Pi?

1. log on to your device

```bash{1,3-5}
$ ssh pi@192.168.0.X
```

It will prompt for password, Enter password and log into the device.

2. Download ngrok and unzip it.

```bash{1,3-5}
$ wget https://bin.equinox.io/c/4VmDzA7iaHb/ngrok-stable-linux-arm.tgz

$ tar -xvzf ngrok-stable-linux-arm.tgz
```

3. Create a ngrok account. Where you will get an authtoken.

```bash{1,3-5}
$ ./ngrok authtoken YOUR_NGROK_TOKEN
```

This token removes the 8-hour limit of ngrok tunnel.
In free version, you get 1 tunnel with unique URL to access local app.

**Version note:** these steps use ngrok v2. In ngrok v3, the command is `ngrok config add-authtoken YOUR_NGROK_TOKEN`, and you download the ARM build from [ngrok.com/download](https://ngrok.com/download). Free-plan limits have changed since this post was written, so check [ngrok's pricing page](https://ngrok.com/pricing) before you rely on them.


Now you are all setup for using ngrok…!!

![GIF](https://media2.giphy.com/media/YPKFBSrq0EoqPJGqTn/giphy.gif?cid=ecf05e47h1aqkyltlm8m1s2b36679g2xmsjub98gaymgx2l4&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g)

## How do I access the Pi-hole web interface with ngrok?

Use below command to create a tunnel for port 80. On port 80 there is pihole web interface. We will be able to access this from a unique ngrok URL.

```bash{1,3-5}
$ /home/pi/ngrok/ngrok http 80 --log=stdout > /home/pi/ngrok.log &
```

Breakdown of command\
`/home/pi/ngrok/ngrok` --> this is absolute location ngrok executable\
`http` --> protocol to make tunnel for\
`80` --> port number of web app\
`--log=stdout > /home/pi/ngrok.log` --> Log output file\
`&` --> runs ngrok in background mode

Below is snapshot of how you can access web portal via ngrok tunnel.

![ngrok terminal session forwarding HTTP traffic to a Raspberry Pi](/assets/ngrok-http-access.webp)

## How do I SSH into a Raspberry Pi with ngrok?

Use below command to create a tunnel for port 22. Using port 22 we can ssh into the device. Using unique URL provided by ngrok, we can ssh into raspberry-pi from anywhere.

```bash{1,3-5}
$ /home/pi/ngrok/ngrok tcp 22 --log=stdout > /home/pi/ngrok.log &
```

Breakdown of command\
`/home/pi/ngrok/ngrok` --> this is absolute location ngrok executable\
`tcp` --> protocol to make tunnel for\
`22` --> port number of ssh\
`--log=stdout > /home/pi/ngrok.log` --> Log output file\
`&` --> runs ngrok in background mode.

Any ssh app like putty(Windows) or juiceSSH(mobile) can be used to connect to raspberry-pi

Below is snapshot of how ssh access from juiceSSH.

![JuiceSSH app connected to a Raspberry Pi over an ngrok tunnel](/assets/juicessh.webp)

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Is it safe to expose SSH through ngrok?

Only if you lock it down. Use SSH keys, set `PasswordAuthentication no` in `/etc/ssh/sshd_config`, and change the default `pi` password.

### How do I start ngrok automatically on boot?

Create a systemd service that runs your ngrok command, then enable it with `sudo systemctl enable ngrok`. It will restart on reboot and after crashes.

### Are there alternatives to ngrok?

Yes. Tailscale and Cloudflare Tunnel also give remote access without port forwarding. Tailscale builds a private network, so nothing is exposed to the public internet.

## References

- [ngrok documentation](https://ngrok.com/docs)
- [ngrok downloads](https://ngrok.com/download)
- [Pi-hole documentation](https://docs.pi-hole.net/)