Can someone direct me to documentation or explain how I can access our File Maker Server from an off-site location via the web. I simply want to access the database while working from home and I can't seem to get it. I'm a novice, should still be able to, right?

Access to what end? I.e. for development or just for access - You can do it for development, but if your connection drops out while developing you risk corrupting the file.

Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, you have to open up port 5003 to FileMaker Server or get the network admin to do it at your office.

While you are at your office, open up a web browser and goto www.whatismyip.com

Write down those numbers...

Next, go home, open up filemaker, choose open, remote, add a new favourite host where it says ip put in the numbers you got from whatismyip.com while at the office. Click connect and hopefully your db's should all be there.

Thank you.

No development, just data entry. Minimal.

I am the network admin. I know (or can find out) my IP for that machine. So do I have go the FMAdmin and open 5003 or is there an option to have this file accessible from outside? or is that an option that's made at the OS level?

Thanks again.

None of the above.

If by "Web" you mean web browser, then this scenario doesn't work. If, OTOH, you mean using the Itnernet as a WAN, then open Port 5003 on the firewall and forward the packets to the ANT address of the machine running FileMaker Server.

Please see the Server tech Brief on the FMI web site at http://www.filemaker.com/support/upgrade/techbriefs.html

Steven

Here's how I get to my FMS at work. (the university blocks port 5003 to outside traffic)

The easy way: The university has a VPN server and I log into that and everything works. But I've found the VPN server they use to be unreliable... just stops working randomly.

The tricky way: Use an ssh tunnel to redirect port 5003

In the terminal type this:

ssh -N -L 5003:filemaker.server.ip.address:5003 [email protected]

put in the appropriate ip addresses for the two machines mentioned, and once the tunnel is established, open filemaker and do open remote to the ip address "127.0.0.1" and you should see the databases on the remote filemaker server.

Dana

Cool....but does this mean that this:

[email protected]

must be a static ip?