Client hangs at 'Coonecting to server'

jimmurray · Post by **jimmurray** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 7:27 am

Hi,

Trying to evaluate the product which I downloaded earlie in the week. Installed it on the server, can access the website on my client pc and do admin BUT when trying to connect using the vaul client I just get 'Conecting to server' in the status panel and need to do an 'end process' to eentually end the application. Any ideas?

Jim

jimmurray · Post by **jimmurray** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 7:50 am

The client software will connect ok if I run it on the same machine the DB is on. note, I'm using the IP addres of the server as the 'Vault Server' on the login in both instances.

Beth · Post by **Beth** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 10:23 am

When you connected to the webpage, did it use the IP address also or a server name? Try using the same thing. For example, with http://xxxxxxx/vaultservice you would enter the xxxxxx as the server on your Vault client.

jimmurray · Post by **jimmurray** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 11:32 am

Can access the webpage from the cleint pc by using wither ip address or server name. However the vault client just hangs no matter which one I use. Would, at the very least, expect some sort of error message if the client application cannot connect ot the server, very surprised that it requires me to 'kill' the process.

Post by **jclausius** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 4:45 pm

On the Vault Server machine try to browse to the following:

http://localhost/vaultservice/vaultservice.asmx

Does that bring up the Vault Service Description page?

If so, do you have a client on the Vault Server? Try logging in using localhost. Does that work as well?

jimmurray · Post by **jimmurray** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 8:40 am

That works no problem on server using IE or via Vault client.

Jim

jimmurray · Post by **jimmurray** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 8:45 am

Just tried accessing it via the Vault client on a pc connected via a vpn and used the IP address and it connected no problem, so looks like it's an issue on my client pc in the office. What is likely to block a client connection on a lan (client has no firewall and is setup the same (OS etc.) as the vpn connected pc which can connect.

Beth · Post by **Beth** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 8:55 am

Does your server have a firewall running on it?

jimmurray · Post by **jimmurray** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 9:35 am

No firewall on server or any of the clients.

Post by **jclausius** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 9:37 am

When you browse to http://IP-Address/vaultservice/vaultservice.asmx from your client machine, what kind of error is displayed in the browser?

jimmurray · Post by **jimmurray** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 11:02 am

I don't get an error, webservice methods are shown as expected. Only time I get an error (and even then I don't get an error message, app just 'hangs') is with the vault client

Beth · Post by **Beth** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 8:47 am

Just tried accessing it via the Vault client on a pc connected via a vpn and used the IP address and it connected no problem...

Was that done on a different client than the one that doesn't work? If so, then what I would suspect is actually a .Net problem. Are you able to try connecting your problematic client over the VPN? I'm expecting it not to, and that would confirm in my mind that most likely there's something different about the .NET on your computer. Just let me know.

jimmurray · Post by **jimmurray** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 6:01 am

I tried it on various other pcs on the lan and it worked ok, it's just on my dev box it didn't. After a re-boot of my pc the vault client connected. However came in this morning and it wouldn't connect intially but did after a re-boot. How does the client connect to the server, what sort of stuff would block it? i'm running apps all the time on my machine that connect no problem to other db's on the same server as the vault db.

Post by **jclausius** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 8:22 am

The Vault client doesn't connect to the database, it connects to the Vault Server, which is an ASP.NET based solution. So in a Vault client connection, the vault client:

1) Makes a HTTP / SOAP request to the Vault server.
2) IIS picks up the HTTP request and forwards this to the end point of the Vault Server.
3) The Vault Server takes authentication information, and verifies this against the back end database, and returns information back through the HTTP request.
4) The Vault client reads the data from the request, and then proceeds the rest of the handshake to log in.

So, a couple of things could be at play:
a) A firewall on the client or server could be blocking the HTTP request.
b) Some stateful firewalls or proxy servers can cause problems as they interfere with the network stream's data between client and server.
c) Misconfigured network cards, MTU settings, and duplex values can sometimes cause issues.
d) Misconfigured IIS where session state is not enabled can also cause issues.

I'm not sure this will shed any light on things, but you may also want to see if the Vault Server Log has any log entries that may help explain things.