This article applies to the following devices:
- LaCie 2big NAS
- LaCie 5big NAS Pro
- Seagate Personal Cloud
- Seagate 2 & 4 Bay NAS
- Seagate 2, 4 & 6 Bay NAS Pro
- Seagate 4-bay & 8-bay Rackmount NAS
Warning: For Remote Access it’s recommended to give the NAS device a Static local IP address. See this chapter in the User Manual for how to configure a Static IPv4 IP address in NAS OS 4.x.
Even though the Seagate Access and MyNAS remote services are being discontinued, there are still other more manual methods available to continue accessing your Seagate and LaCie NAS OS 4 devices remotely. Find more information about these methods and how to configure them below:
1. Remote FTP and SFTP
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a basic service designed solely for moving files back and forth between a client and a NAS. Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) is the same service but with an extra layer of Security added by encrypting the connection and any file transfers.
See this chapter in the NAS OS 4.x User Manual for supplemental information.
Getting started:
- Log in to the NAS’ Dashboard as an Administrator
- Click the Device Manager icon
- Click on “Services” under Customize on the left
- Find FTP and SFTP in the list of Services
- Click “edit” to the right of the desired service(s), then click “Start”
Once the services’ status orbs are green, they are ready to use locally, though for remote access some Port Forwarding will need to be configured in the router’s settings.
Port forwarding:
- First, make a note of the NAS’ local IP address (static recommended)
- This information can be found under Device Manager/Customise/Network/Connections
- Look at the currently active LAN port (it displays which IP address it is using)
- Now go to the Router’s Dashboard
Reference the Router’s user manual for details on how to access its Dashboard and configure Port Forwarding. Below is a basic description of the steps:
- Find the Router’s Port Forwarding settings page (often under “Network”)
- There will be a function to add a new Port Forward configuration
- Reference the IP address of the NAS, noted in a previous step
- For FTP fill in port 21 when asked for a Port number
- For SFTP fill in port 22 when asked for a Port number
- If it asks which protocol to use, specify either both or just TCP
The NAS’ FTP listening ports can be changed manually in Dashboard/Device Manager/Customize/Network/Port Forwarding.
You might choose to change the port for extra security or because another device on the Network is already using the default port.
Establishing a remote FTP or SFTP connection:
The best method is with an FTP client. There are free FTP clients available and some operating systems have them built into their File Browser (for example: Finder on macOS).
When using an FTP client on the local network, you’ll connect to the NAS device with its local IP address, however to access the NAS remotely you’ll connect to the Router’s external WAN (Wide Area Network) IP address. From there the Router recognises its Port Forwarding settings (you’ve configured with the steps above) and forwards the connection through to the NAS.
The Router’s Dashboard is one place to find its external IP address. It will be listed as the WAN IP address and is commonly found in the Router’s most basic settings.
Another simple option is to ask any Search Engine in a browser: “What’s my IP address” - there are plenty of websites that will automatically let you know which external IP address you are connecting from.
When remote:
- An FTP client asking for a Host is asking the Network’s External IP address (WAN)
- There will be a login function; simply use a local NAS user’s login information
- There will be an option to specify which Port you’d like to connect through
- These are the Ports you configured in the Router’s Port Forwarding settings
Once connected you’ll be able to drag and drop files to upload or download, or you can use “copy and paste” to start a file transfer between the NAS server and the current remote location.
An FTP server can also be accessed from a browser with the following address format:
(s)ftp://username:password@External-IP-Address:port
For example: ftp://admin:adminpassword@24.568.345.36:21
This method allows access to the data on the NAS and lets you download these files remotely, however browsers (typically) do not support uploading files using this method.
2. Remote HTTP and HTTPS
HTTP remote access can be configured manually to access the NAS Dashboard and its apps through a browser as if the user is local, or HTTPS can be used instead for an extra layer of security. The NAS won’t be accessed remotely by a name, but by an IP Address, just like with FTP.
Getting started:
- Log in to the NAS’ Dashboard as an Administrator
- Click “Device Manager” and open “Network” under “Customise”
- Go to the Port Forwarding Tab
- Hover over the desired Protocol (HTTP or HTTPS)
- Then on the right, click “edit” and click “enable”
- Wait for the Protocols to have green status orbs
Port forwarding:
- First, make a note of the NAS’ local IP address in its Dashboard (preferably static)
- This information can be found under Device Manager/Customise/Network/Connections
- Look at the currently active LAN port; it displays which IP address it is using
- Now go to the Router’s Dashboard
Reference the Router’s user manual for details on how to access its Dashboard and configure Port Forwarding. Below is a basic description of the steps:
- Find the Router’s Port Forwarding settings page (often under “Network”)
- There will be a function to add a new Port Forward configuration
- Reference the IP address of the NAS, noted in a previous step
- For HTTP, fill in port 80 wherever it asks for a Port number
- For HTTPS, fill in port 443 wherever it asks for a Port number
- If it asks which protocol to use, specify either both or just TCP
When Remote:
- Open your preferred browser and go to its address bar
- For HTTP use the format: http://External-IP-Address:80
- For HTTPS*4 use the format: https://External-IP-Address:443
This will give you remote access to the NAS’ Dashboard.
3. Dynamic DNS
A final option to establish remote access is to set up a 3rd party DynDNS account. There are some free options out there, however usually these do require some type of subscription for a smooth experience. A free service might require you to keep renewing after 30 days for example.
Once you’ve established a DynDNS account, and have a DynDNS name for your NAS:
- Log in to the NAS’ Dashboard as an Administrator
- Click “Device Manager” and open “Network” under “Customise”
- Go to the Remote Access Tab
- Select the drop-down menu next to “Remote Access” and select “DynDNS”
- Fill in the required information according to your DynDNS service’s specifications
Now you can use that DynDNS like a web address to access your NAS remotely.
Footnotes:
- In most cases the Router’s IP address is almost exactly the same as the NAS’ IP address. Simply replace the last set of digits with “1” in a browser’s address bar and hit Enter. If you do not know the IP address and correct login information for the router, try the default login information found on the router enclosure, or on the manufacturer’s website.
- Changing the default ports can increase security because there are bots that ping random IP addresses through default ports. Changing default ports can decrease the chances that your server will be pinged by unwanted guests. Strong user passwords are the best repellant.
- All websites you visit automatically log where you’re connecting from behind the scenes, otherwise they wouldn’t know where to send information back to. The websites mentioned above simply have the additional feature of displaying your location by its IP address.
- When using HTTPS - Depending on the browser you’re using to connect to the NAS, you’ll receive a “Certificate-Not-Trusted” warning message before being able to establish the connection. You might have to click “advanced” and “continue” before the browser connects to the NAS. This happens because the browser recognises the NAS is using HTTPS, however it cannot establish why the NAS is using this secure protocol. In most cases when HTTPS is used, it’s for an online banking website, or an online shopping site for example. These types of sites have registered certificates which browsers will recognise and automatically allow. Since the NAS is a personal device, it does not have an official certificate recognized by browsers. However the connection itself is no less secure.
