Forum Moderators: phranque
I am trying to get a web server setup with PHP and MSSQL both PHP and MSSQL work I have tested them, all is working on my computer just fine,
Im useing,
Windows XP Pro
Apache 2.0
PHP 5.0.4
Microsoft SQL Server 2000
nobody on the net can acess my site but I can view it on my computer obviously because its running from my computer but ive been trying for ages now and I just cant figer out why it is not working, its obviously something with them being able to connect to it so maybe it is something that needs adding, changeing? I really dont no, someone said if i can view it that it means apache is setup correctly and they also said that something must be blocking it but what? its not my firewalls because ive tryed with them off and people still cant access it :(
thoughts, ideas?
Thanks
How are they trying to connect? I mean, what are they typing into their browser's address bar?
[edited by: scholzie at 2:42 pm (utc) on Jan. 10, 2006]
Now, the first question is, do you have a static IP address assigned to you by your ISP and if so, does the 'nnn' number represent that address?
So, let's analyze the situation. You are able to retrieve pages from your server by typing what in your browser? 'http://localhost/home.htm'? And if your public users try 'http://nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn/home.htm' they are served a 404. So, if you look in your Apache access_log you are probably showing the 404 error when they hit your server, correct? You should indeed see that error there, as well as the ip address they are attempting to connect from. You should confirm this first...
192.168.0.2 - - [08/Jan/2006:21:50:41 -0800] "GET /favicon.ico HTTP/1.1" 404 304
127.0.0.1 - - [10/Jan/2006:06:25:40 -0800] "GET /home.htm HTTP/1.1" 304 -
127.0.0.1 - - [10/Jan/2006:06:25:41 -0800] "GET /favicon.ico HTTP/1.1" 404 293
think the 127 ones you? they are the 404's I think does it not show peoples IPs correctly because there are no other correct IPs apart from mine they look like the ones above.
hmm they all seem to be 404 when I tryed to connect to it useing the IP just now it says the connection was refused when attempting to connect (thats with firefox) still works with localhost for me, and my friend just tryed to acess it and he says it said page cannot be display, strange :(
Date: Tue, 10 Jan 2006 17:10:51 GMT
Content-Length: 326
Content-Type: text/html
Server: NetCache appliance (NetApp/5.5R6D38)
403 Forbidden
Your router must be told to 'map' the public IP address of your modem onto an IP address inside your local area network for requests on port 80 (HTTP) and perhaps for ports 443 (SSL) and others, (FTP, SMTP, etc.)
Addresses used on local area networks are not routable on the internet, and your 'server' PC won't recognize the IP address used to send data from the internet to your modem, so the router/firewall must be configured to 'forward' requests sent to your modem's IP address on port 80 to port 80 of your PC's IP address.
I hope that helps. There are a million things that can go wrong, so if no-one here correctly guesses the problem, I suggest that you spend the time researching rather than waiting for a miracle here. Your modem and router manufacturers' web sites are good places to look for information on port forwarding, DMZ configuration, and other subjects already touched on here. Example [kbserver.netgear.com].
Note: If you do not have a firewall router, then buy one. Your chances of avoiding exploits with your server connected to the internet for more than 24 hours without a firewall are about 20%. You will get your first exploit attempt, on average, about 17 seconds after connecting your server to the internet.
Jim
Then this 'box' is what you need to investigate. It may not even be capable of delivering ('port forwarding') inbound requests to your server. Or your ISP may block inbound requests as network management policy (many do, since running a server upsets the balance of incoming versus outgoing traffic that their networks are designed to support). Download the user's manual for this 'box', read through it, and see if it discusses running a server behind it. If not, contact the manufacturer's tech support.
A friendly warning: As soon as you get this working, shut down the server and start shopping for a hardware firewall. Software firewalls have inherent limitations* that make them unsuitable for use with a server, and unless you are a server security expert, you will expose your LAN computers to the full onslaught of exploit attempts directed against IP addresses that support inbound connections. If this is just a 'fun' experiment, and you can afford to lose (have stolen) all files on all computers, and won't mind re-formatting the hard drives, then don't worry about it. But take this risk seriously. You'll have malicious agents making requests within seconds of enabling your server.
Just for reference, on my IP address, between the time I logged off last night and logged back on this morning, my firewall recorded 93 intrusion attempts -- and I don't even run a server on it.
* The most striking is that before a software firewall can even begin to work, a inbound connection will already have been made to your computer. This is essentially letting anyone into your house before identifying which are good and which are criminals. Some of the worst problems are simply denial of service attacks, where the criminals are not violent, and don't steal much, but there are simply so many of them going in and out of your door that they jam up your doorway, and not even your friends can enter.
If you have access to a computer outside your network, try using 'Ping' to send test packets to your computer's public IP address and to your domain name. This will tell you whether your 'box' will accept any incoming connections, and whether your DNS is properly configured.
Jim
Much safer to just use the DMZ Host feature of your router.
I wouldn't like having my home LAN compromised just to save $10 in hosting fees. There are numerous security implications beyond simply being hacked that come from hosting your sites on your home connection.
