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Initial Setup Provided links not working

By @SWertqq
    2025-05-08 14:49:49.170Z

    Hello everyone,

    I'm just setting up my tinypilot for the first time and I when I get to step 7 in the initial setup to access the tinypilot from any of the 3 URLs provided I get a
    "This site can't be reached"
    "tinypilot's server IP address could not be found"

    however when I logon via my IP address it works. My question is, is this a security threat? Why does it work through the IP address but not by the provided links when it is on the same network? I currently have eero mesh router setup.

    Second question is:
    Even though currently I am testing this out on the same network. In the future I intend to access via a different network through tailscale (as I've seen this is the best for latency). Will it matter if I'm logging in through IP vs the provided URLs?

    • 3 replies
    1. David @david2025-05-09 08:03:13.040Z

      Hi @SWertqq, I'm sorry you're unable to access your TinyPilot using its URLs, and thanks for your questions.

      My question is, is this a security threat?

      Accessing TinyPilot's web interface using its IP address instead of its hostname isn't a security threat (URLs basically map to an IP address anyway, URLs are just more user-friendly to use).

      Why does it work through the IP address but not by the provided links when it is on the same network?

      Your mesh router setup may not support mDNS in some configurations.

      I believe the way this works is devices on the local network use mDNS to resolve hostnames (like when using .local domains) between themselves. However, if there's something preventing your local devices from communicating with mDNS, that might explain why your client machine isn't able to resolve https://tinypilot.local to your TinyPilot's IP address.

      It's worth checking your router setup to check whether mDNS is usable if possible if you want to use the TinyPilot's URLs.

      Will it matter if I'm logging in through IP vs the provided URLs?

      I think most people using Tailscale with their TinyPilot use the Tailscale IP address assigned to the device to connect, so I don't see this being an issue if you're happy using the IP address.

      Please let me know if you have any other questions.

      1. S
        In reply toSWertqq⬆:
        @SWertqq
          2025-05-15 19:52:41.194Z

          Hi David,

          Thank you for the reply.

          I was able to have it working fine through the IP address. However, I changed the hostname based off this article:

          https://tinypilotkvm.com/faq/target-detect-tinypilot/

          and now can no longer access the web interface.

          All I see is the "This site can't be reached"

          Any idea what is going on?

          1. David @david2025-05-16 08:06:20.077Z

            Thanks for the update, @SWertqq.

            To clarify the behavior here, after changing your TinyPilot's hostname, are you now unable to access the web interface using the IP address you used before?

            Please let me know if you have any questions.

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