amiiby

Install

Work through the following steps on the computer that will act as the server.

1. Install

You receive a file named something like weblav-setup-v0.1.0.exe from whoever prepared WebLAV for you. Double-click it. The 0.1.0 part depends on the version.

When asked "Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?", choose "Yes". The publisher is shown as "Unknown". WebLAV is not code-signed, so this is expected.

Then follow the screens. Along the way you can choose:

  • Whether to show WebLAV in the notification area when Windows starts. Normally leave this on.
  • Whether to create a desktop shortcut.

When the installation finishes, WebLAV starts running on the PC. It also starts automatically after a restart, so other devices can use it even when nobody is signed in.

Files are placed as follows.

Kind Location
WebLAV itself C:\Program Files\WebLAV
Settings (config.toml) C:\ProgramData\amiiby\weblav\config
Data (weblav.db, session.key, logs, uploaded files) C:\ProgramData\amiiby\weblav\data

C:\ProgramData is a hidden folder, so it does not appear when you open C:\ in File Explorer. To open it, type C:\ProgramData\amiiby\weblav in the File Explorer address bar and press Enter.

Only the PC's administrators can open the data folder. When you try, Windows says "You don't currently have permission to access this folder". Choosing "Continue" opens it, but it also adds your account to the folder's permissions.

2. Create the first administrator

Right-click the WebLAV icon in the notification area and choose "Setup" ("セットアップ" if Windows displays in Japanese). A browser opens with a page where you choose a user name and a password. Type the password twice to confirm it.

Press "Create administrator" and you go straight into the admin screens.

If there is no icon in the notification area, choose "WebLAV" from the Start menu.

"Setup" only appears while there is no administrator yet. Once you have created one, it is gone. To add more users, use "Users" in the admin screens.

This page can only be opened from the PC that runs WebLAV. It does not open from another device; it says "This link cannot be used" instead. The same happens if you retype the address, or come back to it after a while. Choose "Setup" from the notification area again.

Creating one without the page

You can also create one from "Create a WebLAV administrator" in the Start menu. Use this when the notification area icon is not available.

When asked "Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?", choose "Yes". A blue window opens and asks for a user name and a password; type them in turn. The password does not appear on screen as you type. Type the same password again to confirm.

When created user appears, you are done. Press Enter to close the window.

3. Open it in a browser

Right-click the WebLAV icon in the notification area and choose "Open in browser" ("ブラウザで開く" if Windows is set to Japanese) to launch a browser. If the menu's "Status" says "running", WebLAV is working.

If there is no icon in the notification area, choose "WebLAV" in the Start menu.

4. Connect from other devices

Right-click the WebLAV icon in the notification area; the server's address appears at the top of the menu. On a tablet or smartphone joined to the same Wi-Fi, open that address in a browser.

If the PC has several addresses (for example when both wired and wireless are connected), they are all listed. Try them from the top and use whichever one opens.

The list is determined when the notification area icon appears. If no address appears, or if none of the listed addresses opens, connect the PC to the network, choose "Quit" in the menu, and then choose "WebLAV" in the Start menu again.

A note on where to use it. WebLAV assumes a closed network, such as one at home or in an office. Traffic is not encrypted, so do not run it on a PC joined to public Wi-Fi or to any network that strangers can join. Anyone on the same network would be able to see even your login password.

5. Choose the shared folders

WebLAV can only use content inside the folders you register here. Until you register one, you cannot add a folder or an archive.

Open "Shared folders" in the admin screens and use "Add a folder..." to browse the PC and pick one. It can be anywhere on this PC, such as the desktop or Documents.

After picking, give it a name and add it. The folder name is filled in to start with. Screens for registering content show this name instead of the folder's location (for example, "Materials / Eiken / 2024"). Two shared folders cannot have the same name. You can change the name later from the "⋮" menu in the list.

This tab only appears when you open WebLAV from the PC that runs it. It does not appear on other devices. Deciding what gets shared is left to whoever is sitting at the PC.

You can delete a registered folder from the list. Content inside it then becomes unavailable. The content entries themselves stay, so registering the same folder again brings them back. On other devices and for editors, the location of such content shows as "(Missing shared folder) / Eiken".

The contents of WebLAV's own settings and data directories (config and data under C:\ProgramData\amiiby\weblav) are never shared. Even if you register a parent folder that contains them (such as C:\), they do not appear on the folder selection screen or in what gets shared.

Shared folders on other PCs or on a NAS cannot be shared. Network drives you have mapped (such as Z:) do not appear on the folder selection screen either. Copy the files you want to share onto this PC.

Stopping and starting WebLAV

Right-click the WebLAV icon in the notification area and choose "Stop service". When asked "Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?", choose "Yes". After a moment, the menu's "Status" changes to "stopped". To start it again, choose "Start service".

"Quit" in the menu only removes the notification area icon. WebLAV itself keeps running.

Updating and uninstalling

To update, simply run the new installer. You do not need to uninstall the old version first. Settings and data are kept.

To remove WebLAV, uninstall it from "Apps" in Windows Settings. Settings and data remain, so reinstalling brings everything back. To delete the data as well, delete the C:\ProgramData\amiiby\weblav folder after uninstalling.

If it does not work

Other devices cannot open the page

If the network the PC is joined to is a "Public network", other devices cannot open WebLAV. Windows 11 treats a newly joined Wi-Fi network as "Public" at first.

Switch it to "Private" as follows:

  1. Open "Settings" from the Start menu and choose "Network & internet"
  2. Choose the "Wi-Fi" or "Ethernet" connection you use and open that network's properties
  3. Under "Network profile type", choose "Private network"

Only set your home or office network to "Private". Leave public Wi-Fi as "Public" (see the note on where to use it, above).

A Mac, iPhone, iPad, or Android device cannot open the page

The device you are opening the page on may be what blocks it, not the server PC. These systems ask for permission per app before it may reach other devices on the same network. In a browser without that permission, the address either fails to open or keeps loading without end.

Safari is exempt from this permission. If Safari opens the page but Chrome or Firefox does not, this permission is the cause. Windows has no such permission.

A browser appears in the list only after it has tried to connect. Open the address first, then turn the browser on in the place below and reopen the browser.

  • Mac (macOS 15 or later): Apple menu > "System Settings" > "Privacy & Security" > "Local Network"
  • iPhone, iPad (iOS 14 / iPadOS 14 or later): "Settings" > "Privacy & Security" > "Local Network"
  • Android (Android 17 or later): "Settings" > "Apps" > the browser > "Permissions" > "Nearby devices"

The menu's "Status" stays "stopped"

WebLAV listens on port 3000 of the PC. If another program on the same PC (such as a server you already use) is using that port, WebLAV cannot run.

To check whether the port is in use, type the following in a command prompt. If a line appears, something is using port 3000.

netstat -ano | findstr :3000

The reason WebLAV could not run is also recorded in the Windows "Event Viewer". Type "Event Viewer" in the Start menu, open it, and look under "Windows Logs" > "Application" for entries whose source is "WebLAV". If one mentions os error 10048, the port is in use. The port number appears after failed to listen on (for example, 0.0.0.0:3000 means port 3000).

To change WebLAV's port, create a file named config.toml in the settings location and write the following. Only administrators can write to the settings folder, so open Notepad as an administrator.

  1. Type "Notepad" in the Start menu and choose "Run as administrator"
  2. Write the two lines below
  3. Use "Save as", open C:\ProgramData\amiiby\weblav\config, set the file type to "All files", and save it as config.toml
[server]
port = 3100

Replace 3100 with a number no other program uses. After saving, choose "Stop service" in the notification area menu, wait until it shows "stopped", and then choose "Start service". Then choose "Quit" and choose "WebLAV" in the Start menu again; the addresses in the menu use the new number as well (for example http://192.168.1.5:3100).