Installing Ngrok on Windows

Vinay Ayinapurapu
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Introduction

Ngrok is a development tool that helps in getting the Public URLs for,

testing mobile applications
testing your chatbot
testing SSH access to your Raspberry Pi
Exposing your local webserver
testing your webhooks and message extensions in MS Teams application development
and much more.

You can know more about it from the URL https://www.ngrok.com. It offers a free version and paid version. In this article, we will focus on how we can set up ngrok on Windows 10 machine.

Steps to Install Ngrok

Step 1

Go to command prompt and check for ngrok, by typing the below command,

ngrok

This basically confirms that ngrok is not installed on your machine.

Step 2

Now go to www.ngrok.com and install the free version,

Installing Ngrok

Step 3

It downloads by default to the ‘Downloads’ folder. I can open the file from the browser pop up. This is basically a zip file. Unzip this and place it in a folder.

Installing Ngrok

Step 4

I have placed it Desktop - Softwares.

Installing Ngrok

Step 5

Now set up the environment variables for this ngrok, so that you can run it just by simply typing ‘ngrok’ from any directory. For this search for 'Environment' in the windows search and select 'Edit the Environment Variables'. “Environment’ - “Edit the Environment Variable Settings”.

Installing Ngrok

Step 6

Now click on the ‘Environment Variables” and look for ‘Path’ under the ‘System Variables’ section and click on ‘Edit’.

Note
You can either create variables under ‘user variables’ or ‘System Variables’. I am updating under system variables. If updated under user variables it will affect the user, whereas, in system variables, it will take effect for all the users.

Installing Ngrok

Step 7

Click on ‘New’ and then add the path where you have stored ngrok. Make sure you close the path with \ which is important.

C:\Users\vmuser\Desktop\Softwares\ngrok-stable-windows-amd64

Installing Ngrok

Step 8

Finally, check if you are able to run ngrok. Open the command prompt and enter the below command,

ngrok version

Installing Ngrok

It is displayed ngrok version 2.3.40. This confirms ngrok is properly installed on your machine and you can use this service for your modern app's testing.