FMS 14 install - can't administer across LAN

[Richmilnix]

THE UPSHOT OF THIS POST IS that in a new install of FMS v14 on a dedicated Windows machine, it's reliably hosting my dozen databases across 15 or so client machines, but I'm totally unable to access it from a browser remotely. FM customer support says I should be in good shape and they can't explain my problems. I'm going to throw in all the details I can think of and see what happens.

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I'm throwing everything at the wall here in hopes something will stick.

We're a public library that uses the software to track all of our internal metrics and publish an XML feed to a Web site. For 4 years, we had a Dell machine, Windows 7 Pro, running FMS v 11, 12 & then 13. Two months ago, it was diagnosed that the reason our XML feed was misfiring was that the machine was underpowered, and we have replaced it with a server.

The new server is running Win Server 2012 R2, 16 GB RAM. FMS 14 is installed. I've already had the error where it said it smelled an extra install and couldn't host databases, and upgraded to 14.02.226, which took care of that.

The above scenario is the reason that I have both machines still running on the LAN and don't think the problem has anything to do with ports closed anywhere on our network - b/c I can administer the '13' machine with no problem (over port 16000 / 16001).

For a couple of days, the '14' machine was behind our switch and firewall and I could see it through Windows discovery. It's currently, for ease of testing, tethered straight to the modem. I ping it successfully.

When I am sitting at the new machine (or remote in via RDP) I can run the admin console and test Web Publishing successfully (at the localhost:16001 URL). From the admin console's Deployment menu, neither the start page nor the test page loads successfully. In IE, the page at https://<address>:16000/test throws an error suggesting that I turn on TLS 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2, but they are all switched on.

Java 8 update 45 on both host and clients. Each machine is on a static IP provided by my ISP.

I haven't put a certificate on the new machine. Could it be related?

Down under License Information, the License Type is 'Shipping.' Does that tell me anything?

[Richmilnix]

WebDirect is working fine (serving my one session at a time, from an external PC, using IP address).

[Richmilnix]

. . . though the XML feed that's been served for the last several years isn't live.

[Steven H. Blackwell]

Correct ports open on the machine to allow remote Admin Console access?

 

Steven

[Richmilnix]

Yes, ports are open.

Further, when I turn off Windows Firewall on the machine - in all three places, Domain profile, Private profile, Public profile - I still fail.

The error in Firefox reads:

Secure Connection Failed

The connection to the server was reset while the page was loading.

    The page you are trying to view cannot be shown because the authenticity of the received data could not be verified.

In IE it is:

This page can’t be displayed

Turn on TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, and TLS 1.2 in Advanced settings and try connecting to https://<IPaddress>:16000 again. If this error persists, contact your site administrator.

and, why not, let's see it in Chrome

This webpage is not available

ERR_CONNECTION_RESET

 

Edited June 12, 2015 by Richmilnix

[Richmilnix]

to be clear: the ports

5003, 16000, 16001, 80, 443, 16016, 16018, 16020, 16021, 16006, 16008, 16010, 16012, 16014, 16004, 50003, 50006, 5013, 5006   

are currently open on TCP & UDP, inbound & outbound, by means of rules created in Windows Firewall w Advanced Security

[Richmilnix]

WebDirect is working fine (serving my one session at a time, from an external PC, using IP address).

​A few hours later (at home, ten miles from the machine):

WebDirect is not working in a browser at my home terminal -

though when I access the host terminal via RDP, I can see that it's still working there. So to be clear, the URL formed as

<IPaddress>/fmi/webd

successfully returns a WebDirect session on the host terminal in a browser, and did when this laptop was on a different subnet on the LAN but behind the same modem, but it is currently not rendering any page from my home

(And in the time intervening, my son's Little League team won their game and will advance to this weekend's playoffs.)

[jkrier]

Did you ever find a solution to this problem? I'm having the same issue.

It was working earlier in the day and now its not.  I'm thinking it has something to do with our network security.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

[Richmilnix]

My problem was some form of corruption. I did a complete reinstall - though once I did, everything was fine.

The only other thing I'll mention - and I'm hazy on the details, now - is that there was a discrepancy somewhere involving the URLs generated for internal testing. My recollection is that the internal test page tests against the numeric IP address, not the domain (which causes a certificate error, since the cert is issued against the domain); and further that somewhere the admin console on the local machine tries to generate against localhost instead of the domain, and maybe couldn't resolve the https prefix.

None of these problems is your root problem, of course, but in my case they added a layer of congusion (and therefore some delay). So keep an eye on this structural stuff as you troubleshoot.