How to Configure Port Forwarding for Accessing Metabase Running in Virtual Server from Host Machine

Introduction

This article is an article where the main focus is to show how to configure port forwarding rule for accessing metabase service. Actually, the metabase service is running in a virtual server. The virtual server exist in a VirtualBox application. Furthermore, the VirtualBox application itself exist in a host machine. So, the main purpose is how can the access is possible from host machine to the metabase service running inside the guest machine or virtual server inside the VirtualBox application. In order to install metabase application, just read the article with the title ‘How to Install Metabase in Linux CentOS 8’ in this link.

The step to achieve it exist in the following steps :

1. Run the VirtualBox application. The following image will appear :

2. Right click on the virtual server list. In this context, it is the virtual server with the label of ‘CentOS-8’. Click on the Settings menu so the following window will appear :

3. Click the Network menu and the following window will appear :

4. Click the Port Forwarding button, the following window will appear :

   Actually, the above image already has the definition of metabase port forwarding rule. Just click the plus sign button in the right top of the window to add a new port forwarding rule. There will be a new line where it is actually an empty row. Fill each columns of the row according to the label of the column as in the above image. After finishing to define all the value of the column, click the OK button.

5. Last but not least, do not forget to include the firewall rule in the virtual server to permit the access to port 3000. Just executing the following command in the virtual server :

   The following is an attempt to configure the firewall :

   [root@10 ~]# firewall-cmd --list-port
   22/tcp 80/tcp 3306/tcp 3001/tcp 8000/tcp 8080/tcp 9000/tcp
   [root@10 ~]# firewall-cmd --add-port 3000/tcp --permanent
   success
   [root@10 ~]# firewall-cmd --reload
   success
   [root@10 ~]#
   

Basically, the definition of the new port forwarding rule is done. So, test to access the metabase service from the host machine to the guest machine or virtual server running in the VirtualBox. application. If the port forwarding rule is working, the following image of accessing the metabase URL ‘http://localhost:3000’ will appear :