FileMaker Pro (2025) 22.0.500 Severe Lag/Unresponsive with HTTPS Tunneling Enabled

Hello All,

After two days, no response from Claris, I gave in and took a deep dive with ChatGPT to diagnose a HTTPS Tunneling issue with Filemaker 2025. We use the HTTPS Tunneling to avoid using a VPN for mobile and remote workers. Full disclosure: The write up below was produced by ChatGPT. Here is the link to our entire discussion and problem solving: https://chatgpt.com/share/e/69ac38ab-de30-8000-82c0-b37dacdc33c3

We identified a reproducible performance issue with FileMaker Pro 22 when using HTTPS tunneling, while FileMaker Pro 21 works normally against the same server. After extensive testing, this appears to be a FileMaker Pro 22 tunneling regression rather than a server, database, or network issue.
I’m posting our findings to help other administrators troubleshoot faster if they encounter similar behavior.

Environment
Server: FileMaker Server 22.0.5
Operating System: Ubuntu 24 (fresh VM build)

VM Specifications
16 GB RAM
80 GB OS disk
400 GB data disk
VMware VMXNET3 NIC

FileMaker databases stored at:
/opt/FileMaker/FileMaker Server/Data/Databases

Server services verified healthy and running.

Clients Tested
FileMaker Pro versions tested:
FileMaker Pro 21.1.3.301 — Works normally
FileMaker Pro 22 — Severe lag when HTTPS tunneling enabled

Symptoms
With FileMaker Pro 22 and HTTPS tunneling enabled:
Opening hosted files takes several minutes
Find requests are extremely slow
Record navigation stalls
In some cases the database never fully opens

However:
Direct/native connections work normally
Server CPU and memory remain low
LAN latency is under 1 ms
Behavior is identical across multiple Windows clients
Different hosted databases exhibit the same issue

What Works Normally
The following combinations work perfectly:

FileMaker Pro 21.1.3.301 → FileMaker Server 21.1.3 → HTTPS tunneling enabled → Fast
FileMaker Pro 21.1.3.301 → FileMaker Server 22.0.5 → HTTPS tunneling enabled → Fast
FileMaker Pro 22 → FileMaker Server 22.0.5 → HTTPS tunneling disabled → Fast

The problem only appears with:
FileMaker Pro 22 + HTTPS tunneling enabled

Server Diagnostics
Server load during slow operations:
CPU idle approximately 98 percent
Memory usage normal
Disk latency negligible

Active FileMaker processes confirmed running:
fmshelper
fmserverd
fmscwpc
Java web publishing engine
Node Data API engine
nginx

Listening ports confirmed:
443 (nginx)
5003 (fmserverd)

Testing from Windows client:
Test-NetConnection server_ip -Port 5003

Result:
TcpTestSucceeded : True

Network Testing
LAN tests:
tracert server_ip

Result:
1 hop
Less than 1 millisecond latency

Packet capture testing using tcpdump confirmed normal traffic on port 5003 when tunneling is disabled.

Key Discovery
The critical A/B test:

FileMaker Pro 21 → FileMaker Server 22 → HTTPS tunneling enabled → Fast
FileMaker Pro 22 → FileMaker Server 22 → HTTPS tunneling enabled → Severe lag

Same server
Same databases
Same network

This strongly indicates a regression in FileMaker Pro 22’s HTTPS tunneling behavior.

Temporary Workarounds
Until Claris addresses this issue:

Option 1 (Recommended)
Remote users continue using FileMaker Pro 21.1.3.301 when HTTPS tunneling is required.

Option 2
Disable HTTPS tunneling and use native FileMaker connections on port 5003 for LAN users.

Option 3
Use VPN access so remote users can connect via native FileMaker protocol.

Conclusion
Based on controlled testing, the issue appears isolated to FileMaker Pro 22 when HTTPS tunneling is enabled.
FileMaker Pro 21 works normally with the same FileMaker Server 22 installation, databases, and network environment.
If other administrators observe similar behavior, please share your environment details so we can determine whether this is a broader regression.