[LON-CAPA-admin] Not finding hosts

[Guy Albertelli II]

Hi Todd,

> I requested that IT open up ping from our lon-capa server, and they
> apparently did so.  The script now finds distro.ibiblio.org, but cannot
> seem to find the install.lon-capa.org, or mirror.pa.msu.edu.
> 
> Several questions:  (1) do other people see problems with
> install.lon-capa.org and mirror.pa.msu.edu?

I believe msu is filtering ICMP request currently.

I need to modify CHECKRPMS to stop doing this I guess.

> (2) If not, what other services does lon-capa use that might cause
> failure at the msu sites, but success in connecting to
> distro.ibiblio.org?

Only CHECKRPMS uses ping/ftp to check if it can find a host.

> (3) Somewhat related: Our IT staff will soon be introducing a
> campus-wide firewall that is supposed to allow all outgoing connections
> initiated from inside campus, but block all incoming connections unless
> we explicitly request holes.
> According to the lon-capa FAQ, the following ports and services are
> required to be open:
> Port 5663, for the TCP/IP course management traffic layer
> Port 80, for HTTP
> Port 8080, for login
> 
> This may be a naive question, but what *services* are used on port 8080
> for login?  Just http? ssl?

http, and it isn't for login, it is for getting the static accesorry
images (the domain logos, the buttons on the remote, etc.)

If neccessary you can turn of the need of this port by modifying the
  config option

lonhttpdPort in loncapa_apache.conf

> Are there other services than the TCP/IP
> layer on port 5663, or are all those services nicely wrapped? 

All inter-server communication takes place over 5663, or 80

I would decribe this as the 'Lon-CAPA server communication' service

-- 
guy at albertelli.com  LON-CAPA Developer  0-7-5-7-