Connect to a Local Node
You can use the Polkadot/apps to connect to your local Hydration node. For this purpose, you need to have access to port 9944 which is used for RPC websocket connections.
If you are running the node as a validator, we highly recommend that you blacklist port 9944 for remote connections. This port could be abused by third parties to degrade the performance of your node, which may result in slashing and involuntary loss of funds. You should use port 9944 to connect to your validator node only when the node is in your local network.
Accessing your local node using Polkadot/apps
To access your node, open Polkadot/apps and click in the upper left corner to change the network.
After opening the menu, click on Development and select Local node.
Adjust the IP if necessary and click on Switch to switch to your local node.
Now you should be connected to your local node and be able to interact with it.