Unable to view site properly from outside my LAN

[lowie]

Hi everyone.

I am VERY new to mambo and php and all the other stuff that has to go with it but have managed to get the site up and running on my LAN using MySQL, MySQL admin tools, PHP, PHPMyAdmini and IIS 6.

The site works fine from inside my LAN and I have opened a port on my router for web and MySQL but when I try to view it I dont get any images other than the logo along the top. (I wasnt getting that at first but after changing something the logo appeared)

http://lowie.homeftp.net


I could also use the administrator login which seemed ok and did show icons in that area but after making a change that now seems to have got an error on the page.

Can anyone give me advice on this as its driving me nutts !

I have tried changing $mosConfig_live_site to show the full external URL but that only makes it so I have the same problem from within my LAN.
If I put in there my internal IP (192.*.*.*) or the DNS name (toad)it works fine internaly.

Below is a copy of my Configuration.php (I have changed the passwords to ***** for obviouse reasons)



<?php
$mosConfig_offline = '0';
$mosConfig_host = 'localhost';$mosConfig_live_site =

'http://toad';
$mosConfig_user = '********';
$mosConfig_password = '*******';
$mosConfig_db =

'mambo';
$mosConfig_dbprefix = 'mos_';
$mosConfig_lang = 'en';
$mosConfig_absolute_path =

'C:/Inetpub/wwwroot/phpMyAdmin';

$mosConfig_sitename = 'Lowe - Home';
$mosConfig_shownoauth

= '0';
$mosConfig_useractivation = '1';
$mosConfig_uniquemail = '1';
$mosConfig_offline_message = 'This site is down for maintenance.<br /> Please check back

again soon.';
$mosConfig_error_message = 'This site is temporarily unavailable.<br /> Please

notify the System Administrator';
$mosConfig_debug = '0';
$mosConfig_lifetime = '900';
$mosConfig_MetaDesc = 'Mambo - the dynamic portal engine and content management system';
$mosConfig_MetaKeys = 'mambo, Mambo';
$mosConfig_MetaTitle = '1';
$mosConfig_MetaAuthor =

'1';
$mosConfig_locale_debug = 0;
$mosConfig_locale_use_gettext = 0;
$mosConfig_locale =

'en_GB';
$mosConfig_offset = '0';
$mosConfig_hideAuthor = '0';
$mosConfig_hideCreateDate =

'0';
$mosConfig_hideModifyDate = '0';
$mosConfig_hidePdf = '0';
$mosConfig_hidePrint =

'0';
$mosConfig_hideEmail = '0';
$mosConfig_enable_log_items = '0';
$mosConfig_enable_log_searches = '0';
$mosConfig_enable_stats = '1';
$mosConfig_sef = '0';
$mosConfig_vote = '0';
$mosConfig_gzip = '0';
$mosConfig_multipage_toc = '1';
$mosConfig_allowUserRegistration = '1';
$mosConfig_link_titles = '0';
$mosConfig_error_reporting = -1;
$mosConfig_register_globals = 1;
$mosConfig_list_limit =

'50';
$mosConfig_caching = '0';
$mosConfig_cachepath =

'C:/Inetpub/wwwroot/phpMyAdmin/cache';
$mosConfig_cachetime = '900';
$mosConfig_mailer =

'mail';
$mosConfig_mailfrom = 'lowie_ukuk@msn.com';
$mosConfig_fromname = 'Lowe - Home';
$mosConfig_sendmail = '/usr/sbin/sendmail';
$mosConfig_smtpauth = '0';
$mosConfig_smtpuser =

'';
$mosConfig_smtppass = '';
$mosConfig_smtphost = 'localhost';
$mosConfig_back_button =

'0';
$mosConfig_item_navigation = '0';
$mosConfig_secret = '**************';
$mosConfig_pagetitles = '1';
$mosConfig_readmore = '1';
$mosConfig_hits = '1';
$mosConfig_icons = '1';
$mosConfig_favicon = 'favicon.ico';
$mosConfig_fileperms = '';
$mosConfig_dirperms = '';
$mosConfig_helpurl = 'http://docs.mambo-foundation.org';
$mosConfig_mbf_content = '0';
setlocale (LC_TIME, $mosConfig_locale);
?>

[mhwatson]

Hi,

The live_site variable is set wrongly. It should be www.lowie.homeftp.net . If you look at the image sources they are trying to load from:

http://toad/templates/waterandstone/images/logo.gif

Which means nothing to outside users.....

Martin.

[lowie]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply....

I have tried using the full external URL

I have changed it again to :

$mosConfig_host = 'localhost';$mosConfig_live_site = 'http://lowie.homeftp.net';

But all that happens is I have the same problem from within my LAN.

and I no longer see the logo along the top...which I suspect you didnt see at all as it was looking to the local pc name of 'Toad'

any idea?

[mhwatson]

Hi,

It looks just fine now...

Martin.

[lowie]

Hi Martin....

I checked the site from work and your very right...It does work

I have been checking my site from within my LAN and it never works so I have to view from a site call Any Browser, which from that it fails to show the images.

My problem now is that although it is viewable from outside the LAN I cannot view correctly inside as I now get no images showing as it is looking to the URL http://lowie.homeftp.net

I can get around this by editing the configuration.php file everytime I want to make changes but its not the best way.

I suspect that it could be a problem with my router so I will look into that unless you have any ideas ??


Many thanks for the advice so far.

Jason.

[mhwatson]

Hi Jason,

I'm assuming you use dyndns? If so, is your router set up correctly to update with them? Is the server in the routers DMZ? Did you check the box to use wildcards on your dyndns account?

Martin.

[lowie]

Hi,

Yes it is a DNS name from Dyndns. I have checked and I have ticket enable wild cards.

I have a dynamic IP address so I use a tool from the dyndns site that keeps it upto date and I have no problems with it.

It directs the name to my web page so can assume that works fine.

I have also tried the DMZ setting and it fails to help although I have taken it off as it is a security risk.

The ports have been opened for Mysql and web pages so that should be OK and as I can view the pages it must be OK.

The problem is that if I put http://lowie.homeftp.net in my web browser from within my LAN I get the login page for my router even though it is turned off for remote management.


Is there a problem with cheap routers failing to loop back that you know about ?


I have to use http://www.anybrowser.com/siteviewer.html to view my web page but as you know it is not very reliable.

Jason

[mhwatson]

Hi Jason,

Few things to try...

The server should really be in the DMZ of the router, that way any requests are passed directly to the server and not into your LAN environment. Servers are meant to be exposed to the outside world. The router should ideally have a dyndns client on it, that way it will update for you.

You might have to change the management port number on the router, it probably defaults to :80 . Change to :81 maybe, but don't forget you did it, as you will need to add :81 to the end of the routers IP to be able to manage it.

What make / model of router? I'm familiar with more than a few makes, I'm an IT manager by trade...

Martin.

[lowie]

Hi Martin,


I have tried in DMZ mode and didnt seem to make any difference but will try again..

I have a DNS updater on my 2003 server because that is less likely to be turned off.

The machine I am running as a server for Mambo has XP pro on it but I suppose I could put the updater on that if it would make a difference.

The port is currently 81 for remote management but is currently off as when I tried it I could not gain access to the router by adding :81 to the URL

The router is a made by Sweex. I had not heard of them until a few weeks back when I got this one as I have recently moved and have been forced to change from a cable connection to adsl. As the funds were low I took the risk with this router.
I always had a problem with my last router which was a netgear in that I could not view my own web pages. I was told by a friend that its a trait of cheap home routers.

Do you have any experiance of this ?

jason

[mhwatson]

Hi Jason,

I'm not familiar with Sweex. Netgear I've never had a problem with, and DLink are pretty good. Cisco are great, no easy wizards but easy to handle from a telnet session. Yes, you do get what you pay for, but what do you want?

I'm puzzled as to why a server would run XP Pro. Sounds like a waste of a license. Look at something like SME server from contribs.org . A 10 minute install gives you a secure mail/webserver that will sit happily on a DSL connection. It will run on anything pentium III and above, needs no monitor or keyboard, just install and throw it in a cupboard. It will be happy with just a network cable and power lead. And of course, apache, php and mysql are there as standard. Best of all it is free.

It is good practise to separate workstations from servers, as they both need a different approach security wise. Servers need to be exposed, workstations need protecting - if one machine is used as both a workstation and server, the issue becomes a bit clouded.

Either way, the server should be in the DMZ of the router (to keep internet traffic out of your LAN), and dyndns updates handled by the router if it can. (You can always force updates if the router can't do it).

Another option which might get round the problem (but not explain or fix it) would be to add the server as an entry in the hosts file of your workstation which would mean that it would override any DNS lookups. What do you use for DNS lookups now? Something internal or via your ISP?

Martin.