v3-beta8: `ionic serve` "Multiple addresses available" doesn't support in choosing the correct one

[janpio]

What version of the CLI are you using? Output of ionic --version

3.0.0-beta8

Short description of the problem:

When I run ionic serve I get this prompt:

PS C:\Users\Jan\Documents\beta8test2> ionic serve
? Multiple addresses available. Please select which address to use: (Use arrow keys)
> 192.168.10.1
  192.168.56.1
  192.168.178.34

From just this output I have no idea which one I am expected to choose, under what considerations and why. I have to guess. I don't even know if something will break if I choose the wrong one.

The last one is my actual IP address, the rest are VirtualBox "thingies":

C:\Users\Jan>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

[...]

Ethernet adapter VirtualBox Host-Only Network #5:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : VirtualBox Host-Only Ethernet Adapter #5
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 0A-00-27-00-00-08
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::bc56:1216:4553:ec82%8(Preferred)
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.10.1(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
   DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 688521255
   DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-1D-A4-56-4C-8C-70-5A-81-E1-C8
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : fec0:0:0:ffff::1%1
                                       fec0:0:0:ffff::2%1
                                       fec0:0:0:ffff::3%1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter VirtualBox Host-Only Network #4:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : VirtualBox Host-Only Ethernet Adapter #4
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 0A-00-27-00-00-02
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::3d0b:a238:aa98:e430%2(Preferred)
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.56.1(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
   DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 436863015
   DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-1D-A4-56-4C-8C-70-5A-81-E1-C8
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : fec0:0:0:ffff::1%1
                                       fec0:0:0:ffff::2%1
                                       fec0:0:0:ffff::3%1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Wireless LAN adapter Drahtlosnetzwerkverbindung:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : fritz.box
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) Centrino(R) Advanced-N 6205
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 8C-70-5A-81-E1-C8
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2003:84:ae1b:1d00:c996:ef39:f4dc:17a4(Preferred)
   Temporary IPv6 Address. . . . . . : 2003:84:ae1b:1d00:835:8cbe:aefc:8b58(Preferred)
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::c996:ef39:f4dc:17a4%5(Preferred)
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.178.34(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, April 25, 2017 11:03:44
   Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, May 6, 2017 11:38:28
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : fe80::ca0e:14ff:fe43:9efd%5
                                       192.168.178.1
   DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.178.1
   DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 361525338
   DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-1D-A4-56-4C-8C-70-5A-81-E1-C8
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : fd00::ca0e:14ff:fe43:9efd
                                       192.168.178.1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

What behavior are you expecting?

Some output that actually helps me choosing the correct one.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Install v3.0.0-beta8 CLI
2. Run ionic serve on Windows PC with multiple network adapters

Post the output of ionic info below please

npm (global):

    @ionic/cli-utils : 0.0.12
    ionic            : 3.0.0-beta8

System:

    Node       : v6.10.2
    OS         : Windows 10
    Xcode      : not installed
    ios-deploy : not installed
    ios-sim    : not installed

[imhoffd]

We could probably provide more context, but may be hard to recommend to the user which to choose.

[janpio]

How does the user choose? Is it actually important? Why?

A first step to make them distinguishable would be to include the "Description" - not everybody knows the IP address of his main network card ;)

[imhoffd]

@jthoms1 Thoughts?

[imhoffd]

@piotrowski So we're using node to get data about the network interfaces (https://nodejs.org/api/os.html#os_os_networkinterfaces)

It doesn't give us more data, like the description, unfortunately. Unless you see another way around this, I'm tempted to not worry about this. I think it's a minor issue.

[janpio]

Ok, then at least add some text like "Please select the IP address of your Internet connection" or something like that (if this is what is actually expected of the user - I still don't know if selecting the "wrong" thing actually makes a difference and how. If it doesn't why ask at all?).

[imhoffd]

I have disabled the prompt for ionic serve and now display an informational message when the prompt happens for cordova run/emulate. Thanks for bringing this up! Great idea.