Wake-on-LAN is networking standard that allows network devices like servers to be woken up by a special message sent on the network.

WebDAV Nav+ 1.6.5 includes support for sending these messages when your iOS device is connected to a local area network.

Generally speaking these messages only work when you are connected directly to the local network. If you are using 3G or establishing a VPN connection you are likely to have a few problems. As the message is broadcast on the network it is often blocked by the VPN which prevents it getting sent and ultimately received by your WebDAV server.

On certain networks it may be possible to send the special "magic" message to your router which may then be able to forward the message within your LAN to wake up the device. Not all routers will be able to forward the special packets.

Enabling WOL within WebDAV Nav+

  • WOL is not enabled by default within WebDAV Nav. To enable it, go to the Settings page and turn the switch next to the WOL settings to On
  • Go back to your server list screen and edit the connection for the server you want to be able to wake remotely
  • You should now see some extra fields below the usual connection settings. At a minimum you need to set a MAC address (unique identifier for the network interface) for your server. There is a button called "Find MAC address" that will attempt to identify the servers MAC address. It may not always be possible unfortunately. If it can't find the MAC address you will need to manually enter the value for your servers network card.
  • If you plan on waking the server from the internet then you will also need to enter your WAN ip address that your modem or router is accessible on.
  • You will also need to configure your router to forward a UDP port from the internet to your local server. You need to select an external port and forward it to UDP port 9 on your server.
  • How you forward the network ports will vary from device to device.
  • You will also then need to enter into the app the port that you have forwarded on the internet interface.

Waking your server

Once you have entered the information required to wake a machine you should then see an additional light bulb icon on the server connection list screen.

Simply press the button when you want to wake the server. The app will attempt to determine if it can send a normal WOL message on the LAN or if it needs to attempt to send it through the internet to your router.

There may be a delay before you will be able to successfully connect to your server while it is waking up.