.. _connecting-lan:

===================
Connecting Over LAN
===================

Whenever you are connected the same Local Area Network (LAN) as your Start9 server (i.e. the same WiFi network), it is best to access your Start9 server's LAN Address (.local URL). LAN connections are fast and secure and do not even require Internet access!

.. note:: StartOS creates its own Certificate Authority (CA) to establish trust with client devices.

Download Root CA
----------------

First, download your Start9 server's Root CA. There are two way to accomplish this:

Option 1
........

Download it from html page you saved at the completion of :ref:`Initial Setup<initial-setup>`.

Option 2
........

Navigate to *System > LAN*, then click "Download Certificate".

    .. figure:: /_static/images/ssl/lan_setup.png
      :width: 60%
      :alt: LAN setup menu item

Trust Root CA
-------------

First, instruct your **operating system** to trust your Start9 server's Root CA.

    .. toctree::
      :maxdepth: 2

      lan-os/index

Then instruct your **browser** to trust your Start9 server's Root CA. 

    .. note:: On a Mac - this is only necessary on Firefox. Brave, Chrome and Safari will already work.

    .. toctree::
      :maxdepth: 2

      lan-browser/index

**OPTIONAL**: Setup client integrations for StartOS Services (such as Nextcloud).

    .. toctree::
      :maxdepth: 2

      lan-integrations/index

Access your Start9 server's LAN Address
---------------------------------------

With the Root CA downloaded and trusted by both your operating system and your browser, you can now visit your Start9 server's LAN Address (.local URL) over secure https. Any service that offers a LAN URL will also be securely accessible!