Desktop client can't see host

fmp19
linux

August 3, 20214 yr

Hello,

Did my first install of FMS19 on CentOS 7 today. I can access the sample file via WebDirect from another computer on the network, and I can access the Admin Console. However, the desktop client doesn't even see the server. The server doesn't appear in the list of hosts; not even if I type in the IP address.

I have opened port 5003 on the server's firewall, so it should be visible to the client app, right?

Thanks!

August 4, 20214 yr

Author

This morning I discovered that there is a '+' button next to the search box in the Hosts dialog. If I type in the host name or IP into the search box, nothing is found. However, if I click the '+' button to add an entry into the Favorites list and enter the name or IP there, the server is found right away! This made me think that there was no auto-discovery service (like Bonjour) running on the CentOS server. I looked into that, and discovered that the linux version of Bonjour is 'avahi'. I checked the server, and avahi appears to be running. It even looks like it was started by FMS:

[FM19Test ~]: ps -ef | grep avahi
avahi      812     1  0 Aug03 ?        00:00:21 avahi-daemon: running [FM19Test.local]
avahi      827   812  0 Aug03 ?        00:00:00 avahi-daemon: chroot helper

Is there anything else that needs to be done to make the server automagically appear in the Hosts window of desktop clients?

August 4, 20214 yr

It is truly best to avoid bonjour. You can have issues with DNS and SSL when going over that.

FMServer now as a feature to disable that on Mac, on Windows it was an optional install.

https://www.soliantconsulting.com/blog/filemaker-bonjour/

fmsadmin set serverprefs ServerDiscovery=false

August 4, 20214 yr

Author

Good to know. I thought something was wrong with the install or setup, but the ServerDiscovery preference is set to false by default on Linux.

We only run FileMaker on an internal-only, air-gapped network, so the SSL bit isn't of much concern. But it's nice to know that I can hide the server from automatic discovery! We want most users to be accessing files via WebDirect, anyhow.

Thanks for the help!