Public Address for HAP+

[enjay]

So, HAP+ is up and running on our server, but I can't access it from the outside world. Our ISP has added a DNS record of remote.schoolname.co.uk, however when I browse to http://remote.schoolname.co.uk it just spins the hourglass icon for ever, if I go to https://remote.schoolname.co.uk, I get "Internet Explorer cannot display this page". What am I doing wrong?

I know the DNS entry is good because if I ping it, I get the public address of our router, and I've allowed HTTPS traffic to come through the router's firewall onto our server.

[glennda]

if you run nmap against remote.schoolname.co.uk can you see poprt 443 open?

[enjay]

No, 443 is closed. Is that set on our server, firewall or DNS?

[glennda]

well port 443 is https traffic - if port 443 is closed then the data is not going to get through. It would be on the firewall.

[enjay]

I've double-checked our router, and 443 is definitely open and forwarding to our server. I did have to change it earlier today, as it was still pointing to our old server though. Do I need to wait a while or restart the router for these changes to take effect?

[mattgrimley]

Save the change to the router config and restart is probably a good idea. Or simply execute the command that you added to the config at the command line (as long as it is in the config, it will be loaded after a reboot).

[enjay]

Restarted the router, no joy.

[nickbro]

Does https://localhost work on the server? does https://server.domain work from a work station internally. If yes to both of them then your server is working correctly.

If not:

Have you aquired an SSL certificate for the external DNS entry (from StartSSL, etc...)?
As the server's firewall got the exceptions inplace for https traffic.

[enjay]

No, only HTTP works (server and workstation) not HTTPS. I have just changed the "enabled protocols" under the Advanced Settings to HTTPS instead of HTTP and restarted IIS, however it still fails. If I go to the SSL Settings of the site, it says it doesn't have a secure binding so can't accept SSL connections.

[enjay]

Have you aquired an SSL certificate for the external DNS entry (from StartSSL, etc...)?
As the server's firewall got the exceptions inplace for https traffic.

Probably not, thinking about it - our old CC3 server came with a certificate, but our new vanilla one presumably doesn't. I'll look into that...

[enjay]

Never bought an SSL certificate before - what is the difference between those different types on StartSSL, and which one would I need? Sorry about all the questions!!

[nickbro]

Go for the free one StartSSL

In IIS7.5, you need to go into the website bindings, https should be in there. You need an SSL Certificate first though, see The Official Microsoft IIS Site for more information

[enjay]

I've registered for the SSL certificate, and it is asking me if I want "medium grade" or "high grade" - which do I want?!

[nickbro]

medium is fine

[enjay]

Okay, I have an SSL certificate for the domain remote.schoolname.co.uk, and have installed that on the server. Now what?!