PANDA Networking Guide
PANDA User Guide for Troubleshooting Network-related Issues
“Unable to connect to database server due to firewall block or network related issue. Please click here for troubleshooting guide. Application will shut down now.”
If you get this error during installation, follow these simple steps for troubleshooting:
Step 1: Check that the client and server computers are communicating with each other
To check if the connection is able to send and receive data, Windows has a built-in service through which the connectivity can be tested. The Windows system does this by sending and receiving data from your PC (from now on referred to as the client computer) to a target (from now on referred to as the server computer). If the computers are connected through switch or router, you should first check that the LED light for the Ethernet port is on. The light should be blinking in most cases, but if it isn’t then the computers might not be connected via Ethernet correctly. Follow these simple steps to check if they are connected:
1) Open Command Prompt on the server computer: Open Command Prompt by first hitting the Windowskey ( ) + R, and then type the phrase cmd. [NOTE: the Windows key ( ) is placed beside the ALT key].Alternatively, you can simplygo to Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt.
Once in Command Prompt, obtainthe IP address of the server by typing ipconfig. Make sure you are on the server computer while doing this.
2)In the same manner, open Command Prompt on the client machine:
Once the Command Prompt is open on the client machine, type the phrase ping followed by a space, and then type the IP address of the server computer.
For example, typing:
ping 192.168.2.7
Would typically give you one of the responses in the following examples:
Example 1
Example 2
Try troubleshooting by visiting the following links:
You should also try this process in reverse: ping from the server to the client computer to see one of the above responses you receive.
(Note: in computer terminology, these network responses are called pingbacks). After trying both ping methods you find that the two computer systems – the client and the server – are communicating with each other but you are still experiencing errors, the most plausible root cause would be related to your Firewall settings. Since PANDA uses an SQL Server in the backend to connect to the database, it may be that the connection to the SQL Server. To determine if the problem is with the Firewall settings, please continue to Step 2.
Step 2: If you get a pingback response from your server that your Firewall is blocked
If the two computers are communicating with each other but PANDA is still showing an error then it could be an issue related to Firewall. To check this, turn off the Firewall or antivirus security of both computers: the client and the server.
To turn off Windows Firewall:
• Click Turn Windows Firewall Off.
• After choosing the offsetting, click OK
For more details on changing Firewall settings, please visit the following link:
After turning Firewall off, restart the PANDA application. If you don’t receive any errors then it is a Firewall issue. Firewall has blocked the SQL Server from running.
If this is the case –Firewall is blocking the SQL Server– then the next step is to check the Firewall settings on both computers – the client and the server – to see what is causing the error. To do so:
a) Turn off Firewall of the server computer and turn on Firewall of the client computer. If PANDA is still not working then the problem is related to the server computer.
b) However, if PANDA is working then do the same process in reverse: Turn off Firewall of the client computer and turn on Firewall of the server computer. Once you have determined that PANDA is not working because the Firewall of the specific computer – either the client or server – has blocked the connection to the SQL Server, the next step is to unblock the SQL Server on that specific computer. To do so, please continue to Step 3.
Step 3: How to unblock connection to the SQL Server from Windows Firewall?
• Open Windows Firewall by clicking the Start button then choose Control Panel>Security>Windows Firewall.
• In the left pane, click Allow a SQL Server through Windows Firewall.
• Select the check box next to the SQL Server you want to allow then click OK.
• Check which application – in this case, PANDA – should be allowed access to the SQL Server on the network.
For more details on issues related to Firewall allowing connection to the SQL Server so that SQL databases on the server can be accessed, please refer to the following links: