Live device preview IP address

Report · May 03, 2019

Hello, brand new Adobe Captivate user here. Trying out 2019 obviously. 🙂

In launching a live device preview I get a link to an IP that I suspect is supposed to be the device I am running Captivate on - my laptop. I gather a web server is running to service a request on my local network given the link. Very cool. The problem is the IP it is attached to doesn't appear to be correct. It is not my local interface IP. I suspect this is something to do with virtual networking I have on my machine from other software installs, but long story short is there any configuration I can be pointed to such that I can ensure it starts the web server on an appropriate/reachable IP?

Thanks much!!

Report · May 03, 2019

Which browser are you using? I find it works best with the OS default browser.

If you are using Chrome on a Windows 10 system, try using MS Edge instead to see if that works better.

Report · May 04, 2019

One other thing you need to be aware of with the Live Device Preview is that your development computer AND the device BOTH need to be using the same Wifi connection. So if the device you use to scan the QR code is not logged onto the same network connection as your computer then you won't be able to view the content.

Report · May 04, 2019

Hi Rod. Thanks for the quick response. I'm actually trying from my Android mobile phone using Chrome. It's a connectivity issue for sure - not browser related. I know much more about networking than I do about Captivate. 🙂

I understood the devices have to be on the same network as the messaging makes that pretty clear. The issue is almost certainly one of why the IP address Captivate is assigning and publishing the service on is not my local 192.168.1.0 network (where my phone is also connected). It is publishing to a 169.254.241.192. I'm betting this is due to virtual network adapters I have installed for HyperV and Docker. It's probably a pretty unusual situation, but possible that someone might have encountered the same. I will keep investigating and report back.

In order to work I am pretty sure I need Captivate to publish the live device preview service from a 192.168.1.0 address. I need to figure out how to make that happen.

Thanks again.

Report · May 04, 2019

That went smoother than I thought. I am not sure if this is the absolute correct way to address the issue yet, but I did find a solution. Indeed the 169.254.0.0 address is an address assigned by Windows to a network adapter than can't secure an address through DHCP. The virtual Ethernet adapter Docker added to my machine was getting the 169.254.0.0 address. I bridged the vEthernet adapter with my Wifi adapter in control panel, restarted Captivate and now the live device preview is offering a link with QR code to a 192.168.1.163 local IP that my phone can reach. Scan the QR code (or manually enter the address) and I am viewing the course on my phone. Slick and cool!

Thanks again.

What is Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA)? Webopedia Definition