In this how-to we will explore how to share your Merlin project file over the internet. We will detail how to setup your older router (no UPNP support) or modern routers (with UPNP support) so other users can easily access your shared Merlin file.

Requirements

To publish your projects over the web you need Merlin (2.7.1 or newer). Although the web sharing addon is shipped with Merlin 2.7, it requires a separate license that you need to purchase. You can get your Merlin Web Sharing license here. Otherwise, you can publish your project file for web access for no longer than 15 minutes. To interact with a published Merlin project over the internet, you need one of the following browsers:

• Safari 3 for Mac OS X or MS Windows
• Firefox 3 for Mac OS X or MS Windows
• Internet Explorer 7 for MS Windows
• Internet Explorer 8 for MS Windows (running in IE7 compatibility mode)

Publishing to the Internet

Before publishing your project, please ensure that you have saved it, as Merlin will not publish unsaved files. Upon saving the file, please follow these steps:
1. Press the publish toolbar button

2. Switch to the ‘Web’ pane and click onto ‘Start’.

3. Drag & Drop the icon with the “@” symbol onto your favourite instant messaging or e-mail client to communicate the link of your web shared file to the other users.

For a demo of the actions taken simply watch this video on YouTube.

If you wish to open the file with your browser, simply click on the “@” icon and it will open in your default browser.

The recipients of the published file address (URL) will also be able to access the file over the web by clicking on the link.

Troubleshooting

Q. Users over the internet can’t access my published file

A. Modern router (purchased within the last 4 years) usually support UPNP, but this service is often disabled per default. To enable it, you need to call the router settings over a web browser. You simply type its IP address and press Enter. D-Link routers have per default 192.168.0.1, Linksys 192.168.1.1, some other routers prefer 192.168.2.1.

If you are not sure about your router’s address, just call your ‘Network’ Mac OS X System Preference pane, select your connected interface, call ‘Advanced…’ and switch to the ‘TCP/IP’ tab. Your router’s IP will be displayed there.

Upon connection to your router, you will be asked for a user and password. UPNP is in some D-Link routers under ‘Tools’ > ‘Misc’ > UPNP Settings……and under ‘Password’ in some Linksys routers:

For detailed step by step instructions, read the manual of your router or visit its support site. For example:

• Enabling uPNP on D-Link devices
• Enabling uPNP for Linksys

Q. I have an AirPort Base station, does it support UPNP?

A. No. You will need to connect to it over Airport Utility and ‘enable NAT Port Mapping Protocol’ in the ‘NAT’ tab.

Now you can setup port mapping for the port 7080 to the private IP address of your Merlin sharing the projects:

Please remember to define a static IP address on your mac sharing the project to avoid port forwarding falling out of sync.

Q. I can’t find where I can enable my UPNP service on my router

A. If you can’t find where to enable the UPNP service on your router, it might be that your router doesn’t support it. In this case, you need to add a port forwarding rule to your router setup.

Should you have a D-Link router, you will find ‘Port forwarding’ under the ‘Advanced’ tab. Enter Merlin’s port 7080  to get forwarded to the IP address of the Mac where Merlin is running and publishing the projects.

Please remember to define a static IP address on your mac sharing the project to avoid port forwarding falling out of sync.

For detailed step by step instructions, read the manual of your router or visit its support site. For example:

• Some D-link Routers.
• Some Linksys routers.

Q. I can’t tell if my router supports UPNP or not. Is there another way to find out if it does?

A. If UPNP is not enabled or port forwarding does not work currently Merlin will indicate it by the colour of the “@” icon upon publishing the project.

Red: Merlin couldn’t detect a UPNP service on your router and port forwarding fails. The link it could provide contains the local IP address of the mac. Such a link can get accessed only within the same LAN

Blue: Merlin did detect a UPNP service on your router and enabled the necessary port forwarding on your router or port forwarding was configured on the router. Users can now connect using this URL to your system from anywhere over the internet .

Q. My Web sharing keeps timing out every 15 minutes.

A. You are running web sharing in demo mode. If you haven’t purchase a license to activate the Web Module, the following warning will be displayed when you publish your project file.

Click on the “Buy…” button to purchase the missing license or click here to access our online shop.

Updated:

by Vicky Stamatopoulou

Revised Text and Screenshots, added YouTube movie link