publishing an apache server on the internet

[maraja]

When you did the ping test from "another location" I was under the impression that meant DNS worked.

Do you get an entry in the access log when you access the server by ip address from the other location?

yes, I get an entry in the access log when using the ip address

[cdenley]

yes, I get an entry in the access log when using the ip address

Which IP address? LAN or WAN? Did you try it from the other location, or from the same LAN? Some routers will not do port forwarding for requests originating from your LAN.

Do this from inside AND outside your LAN.

nc -z -v -w 5 mydomain.com 80

[maraja]

Which IP address? LAN or WAN? Did you try it from the other location, or from the same LAN? Some routers will not do port forwarding for requests originating from your LAN.

I can access the site from a different location using its external ip (12.34.567.890). Port forwarding is fine, at least from outside the LAN.

Do this from inside AND outside your LAN.

nc -z -v -w 5 mydomain.com 80

from inside the lan (in a terminal session I started using the external ip, i.e. ssh root@12.34.567.890) I get:

nc -z -v -w 5 www.example.info 80
DNS fwd/rev mismatch: www.example.info != dslc-012-034-567-890.pools.arcor-ip.net
www.example.info [12.34.567.890] 80 (www) : Connection timed out

from outside the lan, actually my house, I get the same result:

nc -z -v -w 5 www.example.info 80
DNS fwd/rev mismatch: www.example.info != dslc-012-034-567-890.pools.arcor-ip.net
www.example.info [12.34.567.890] 80 (www) : Connection timed out

[volkswagner]

6 hours now




how do I set apache2 to allow access via the external ip? I guess this may be the issue....



host www.example.info
www.example.info has address 12.34.567.890

To verify your server is allowing access to apache2 via your external ip, enter http://12.34.567.890 in a browser not on the server lan.

If the above host command response is your actual isp provided address, I would say DNS is working and propagated.


Verify your server can access the internet by running the following from your server

host google.com

If your server is accessing the internet fine, I would verify you dont have a hardware or software firewall blocking port 80.

You may want to post your apache2 config files.

[cdenley]

DNS isn't the issue. Assuming this command run from your LAN says "open"...

nc -z -v -w 5 192.168.3.33 80

...then your server isn't the issue. Either your router isn't port forwarding, or your ISP is blocking port 80 (and your router doesn't port forward LAN traffic).

EDIT: Actually, re-reading your post, something is inconsistent. You said you can access the site remotely by connecting to its IP, yet when you attempt to establish a connection on port 80 using the command I gave you, it fails even though it is connecting to the same IP. Can you access the site from home at all?

[maraja]

To verify your server is allowing access to apache2 via your external ip, enter http://12.34.567.890 in a browser not on the server lan.

If the above host command response is your actual isp provided address, I would say DNS is working and propagated.

hmmm, if I try a traceroute it always hang after 13 hops with no more replies.

However, when I use the public server ip address from my house, I can see the home page.

host google.com

this is what I get:

host google.com
google.com has address 74.125.43.147
google.com has address 74.125.43.104
google.com has address 74.125.43.103
google.com has address 74.125.43.106
google.com has address 74.125.43.105
google.com has address 74.125.43.99
google.com mail is handled by 200 google.com.s9a2.psmtp.com.
google.com mail is handled by 100 google.com.s9a1.psmtp.com.
google.com mail is handled by 400 google.com.s9b2.psmtp.com.
google.com mail is handled by 300 google.com.s9b1.psmtp.com.

If your server is accessing the internet fine, I would verify you dont have a hardware or software firewall blocking port 80.

in such case I guess I should not be able to reach the server even when using its public IP, am I wrong?

Anyways, for sure there is no hw firewall, is there any clue about how to find out if there is a software firewall? Sorry but I still have many things to learn about servers...

You may want to post your apache2 config files.

I can do that tomorrow, actually is late evening for me and its time for some rest

[cdenley]

However, when I use the public server ip address from my house, I can see the home page.

This output you posted seems to indicate this is not the case.

nc -z -v -w 5 www.example.info 80
DNS fwd/rev mismatch: www.example.info != dslc-012-034-567-890.pools.arcor-ip.net
www.example.info [12.34.567.890] 80 (www) : Connection timed out

You failed to establish a connection on port 80 to your public server IP from your house. If you can't connect on port 80, you can't see your home page.

nc -z -v -w 5 12.34.567.890 80

[maraja]

DNS isn't the issue. Assuming this command run from your LAN says "open"...

nc -z -v -w 5 192.168.3.33 80

...then your server isn't the issue. Either your router isn't port forwarding, or your ISP is blocking port 80 (and your router doesn't port forward LAN traffic).

But I can reach the server with its public IP, so I do not think the ISP is blocking port 80 otherwise I should not be able to see the home page anyways, am I wrong?

I set the router to forward the external IP (12.34.567.890 on port 80) toward the internal IP (192.168.3.33 again on port 80).

If port 80 is blocked I shouldn't be able to see the home page when trying to access in both cases (http://12.34.567.890 and http://www.example.info), wrong?

[cdenley]

But I can reach the server with its public IP, so I do not think the ISP is blocking port 80 otherwise I should not be able to see the home page anyways, am I wrong?

I set the router to forward the external IP (12.34.567.890 on port 80) toward the internal IP (192.168.3.33 again on port 80).

If port 80 is blocked I shouldn't be able to see the home page when trying to access in both cases (http://12.34.567.890 and http://www.example.info), wrong?

As I said, something is inconsistent. The output you posted clearly indicates a failure to connect to your web server from home.

[maraja]

You failed to establish a connection on port 80 to your public server IP from your house. If you can't connect on port 80, you can't see your home page.

nc -z -v -w 5 12.34.567.890 80

I can grant you I can see the home page from my house by using: http://12.34.567.890

However I also tried the following:
nc -z -v -w 5 12.34.567.890 80
dslc-012-034-567-890.pools.arcor-ip.net [12.34.567.890] 80 (www) : Connection timed out

And when I try a traceroute it hangs at hop 13:

Hop	Hostname	IP	Time 1	Time 2
1	maraja-xps1330.local	192.168.1.105	0.143ms	
1	192.168.1.1	192.168.1.1	2.015ms	
1	192.168.1.1	192.168.1.1	1.490ms	
2	192.168.100.1	192.168.100.1	69.915ms	
3	host1-63-static.50-88-b.business.telecomitalia.it	88.50.63.1	70.204ms	
4	r-co37-vl2.opb.interbusiness.it	217.141.107.132	69.273ms	
5	172.17.4.89	172.17.4.89	73.322ms	
6	172.17.6.89	172.17.6.89	71.759ms	
7	mil26-ibs-204.mil.seabone.net	93.186.128.81	71.096ms	
8	telia-2-fra34.fra.seabone.net	89.221.34.166	104.717ms	
9	telia-2-fra34.fra.seabone.net	89.221.34.166	104.947ms	
10	ffm-bb1-link.telia.net	80.91.247.166	127.538ms	
11	ffm-b7-link.telia.net	80.91.251.52	93.826ms	
12	arcor-ic-120246-ffm-b6.c.telia.net	213.248.84.146	108.898ms	
13	145.254.10.78	145.254.10.78	118.130ms	
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maybe a problem with archor?