Public computer, connection refused.

[john price]

I went to the library to a site on my computer. It is a signed Applet that has been tried on 4 different computers and 3 different IP addresses/networks. Anyway, when I went to the library, I left my server running. When I tried to run the program, it just stopped after I accepted the certificate. I looked at the console and it said "Connection Refused". Is this something that the government/library IT people put on their or something? Again, it works fine on private computers... Please note that their Java version was Java 6 Update 26, which I strongly believe the program on the website was compiled in.

Thanks,
John Price

[Rob Spoor]

Have you been able to access the site from any other machine that's not in your local network? If not, then your firewall / router probably blocks access, and you'll have to setup a port mapping in it first.

[john price]

It is a signed Applet that has been tried on 4 different computers and 3 different IP addresses/networks.

I have now tried it on 5 different computers and 4 different IP addresses/networks. This should answer your question. I had people test the site on their computers. 2 of the computers are on the same IP address. 3 of the computers are on other IP addresses and networks. I have port forwarding enabled (have had it enabled for quite some time). It works on private computers.

Thanks,
John Price

EDIT: I will show you a live demo if you would like. You just have to tell me the time, so I can have my server running (I don't keep it running 24/7, only for tests currently). Just give me a PM and I'll show you.

EDIT(2) : By "private computers", I mean the 5 different computers that I have tested it on. I am not including the library computer because it was not successful.

[Henry Wong]

john price wrote:I went to the library to a site on my computer. It is a signed Applet that has been tried on 4 different computers and 3 different IP addresses/networks. Anyway, when I went to the library, I left my server running. When I tried to run the program, it just stopped after I accepted the certificate. I looked at the console and it said "Connection Refused". Is this something that the government/library IT people put on their or something? Again, it works fine on private computers... Please note that their Java version was Java 6 Update 26, which I strongly believe the program on the website was compiled in.

Another possibility is a firewall at the client side...

Henry

[john price]

Another possibility is a firewall at the client side...

Henry

That could be it. There is nothing wrong with my client, server, or firewall (it has been successfully tested by multiple computers and networks, as stated above). It could be the library's firewall. Should I close this topic? I don't see any way to figure out the problem. Or maybe you could suggest how I could figure this out?

Thanks,
John Price

[Paul Clapham]

You could ask the people at the library, but if I were putting computers on desks for the general public to use, I wouldn't want the general public to be authorizing applets to do anything and everything on those computers. So I would say there's a good chance the people at the library had the same idea, and have prevented the general public from accepting signed applets.

[john price]

I see. The applet certificate DID pop up, which I accepted. Wouldn't they block it BEFORE the certificate dialog came up?

Thanks,
John Price

[Paul Clapham]

I don't know, because I don't know how to prevent signed applets from doing evil things. However it appears that their solution is to allow the user to accept the signing but to prevent the applet from doing the things the user agreed to.

[john price]

1. The people at the library have NO clue about the computers/network/etc. They have IT guys.
2. They would probably get mad that I'm trying to do "things that shouldn't be done" or whatever. They might kick me from the library? Or take my comp privileges? Or is this not realistic?
3. Is this discussion over, Coderanch wise? (aka, should I close it?).

Thanks for your help,
John Price

EDIT : They have IT guys come in and stuff. And, plus, it is not just for different branches. When they make changes, they make changed to all branches in our community/city.

EDIT(2) : The only permissions I have enabled in my program are RuntimePermission and SocketPermission. The runtime is for the input and the socket is to connect to the server.

[Ulf Dittmer]

john price wrote:2. They would probably get mad that I'm trying to do "things that shouldn't be done" or whatever. They might kick me from the library? Or take my comp privileges? Or is this not realistic?

It is up for speculation what they might do. Preventing the running of signed applets is a very sensible precaution, though. It would not be unreasonable to prevent someone who tried to circumvent that would from doing so again.