Problem at Starting (Connecting – new installation)

[neophile]

Hello,

I'm fresh here and never used any of these programs. After downloading Alfresco-Community-3.2r2 I installed it on Windows 7 following the instructions on the PDF installation file. All went well until points 14 and 15, the starting links. The problem is very simple: it just doesn't start – "Firefox gives this notice:  Unable to connect. Firefox can't establish a connection to the server at localhost:8080.   *The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy. Try again in a few moments."

I don't think this notice will be right. It must be something else because I made the installation two days ago and could never connect since then, tried lots of times always getting the same Ffx notice.

I'm not completely computer dumb, but I have no idea how this works because I've never used or even seen it before. Totally blank. I'd be very grateful if someone would enlighten me, please.

[kbonnet]

You will have to look into the Alfresco/Tomcat logging. It sounds like Tomcat isnt starting and the logging will give you a clue why. The tomcat logging is located in the tomcat/logs directory. If you're running on windows look into the stdout*.log file. It will contain errors which you can investigate.

Good luck!

[neophile]

Thanks for answering. I looked up that path (Alfresco\tomcat\logs), but i couldn't find that log. The 5 logs in there are: admin.2010-02-03.log, host-manager.2010-02-03.logcatalina.2010-02-03.log, localhost.2010-02-03.log and manager.2010-02-03.log. Only the catalina is not empty.

Until now nothing started, I couldn't even see a single window, not even a failure notice. after installation i clicked on the links on the pdf installation instructions, but ffox says "Firefox can't establish a connection to the server at localhost:8080."

If no one  gives me a hand I can't even start.

[kbonnet]

having a catalina must mean you're on linux?
Are there any error in this log? Can you post the errors here?

[neophile]

Sorry, I am not on Linux, and I downloaded and installed the windows version. I have Windows 7 and I know my server is running on Debian.

I couldn't find a way to attach the log, so I copy it right here. I couldn't find anything seaming wrong there, but I don't know what to look for.

03-Feb-2010 06:09:50 org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Protocol init
INFO: Initializing Coyote HTTP/1.1 on http-8080
03-Feb-2010 06:09:50 org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina load
INFO: Initialization processed in 3230 ms
03-Feb-2010 06:09:51 org.apache.catalina.core.StandardService start
INFO: Starting service Catalina
03-Feb-2010 06:09:51 org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngine start
INFO: Starting Servlet Engine: Apache Tomcat/6.0.18
03-Feb-2010 06:09:51 org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig deployWAR
INFO: Deploying web application archive alfresco.war
03-Feb-2010 06:11:41 org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina stopServer
SEVERE: Catalina.stop:
java.net.ConnectException: Connection refused: connect
   at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.socketConnect(Native Method)
   at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.doConnect(PlainSocketImpl.java:333)
   at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.connectToAddress(PlainSocketImpl.java:195)
   at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.connect(PlainSocketImpl.java:182)
   at java.net.SocksSocketImpl.connect(SocksSocketImpl.java:366)
   at java.net.Socket.connect(Socket.java:525)
   at java.net.Socket.connect(Socket.java:475)
   at java.net.Socket.<init>(Socket.java:372)
   at java.net.Socket.<init>(Socket.java:186)
   at org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina.stopServer(Catalina.java:421)
   at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
   at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:39)
   at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25)
   at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:597)
   at org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap.stopServer(Bootstrap.java:337)
   at org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap.main(Bootstrap.java:415)

[kbonnet]

I think its not the start from the stack trace to the end, but the following line is important:

java.net.ConnectException: Connection refused: connect‍

This is a network connection which is failing. Also alfresco connecting to the database on the same server is a network connection to localhostort. Is your database running? What database are you using? Is it on the same server or another? If another, is the firewall allowing connections?

[neophile]

Connection. Yes, I always thought it to be a connection problem. Only a strange one and I can't understand why or where, and all other connections are perfectly OK. I have a stand alone desktop, no network, with a direct DSL internet connection through a Thomson ST546 v6 DSL modem. How come the browser can't find the URL? We know that Fx notice is general, but it does say "The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy. Try again in a few moments." Why can it connect to all other URLs and not to that specific one? I don't understand. It happens the same with IE8, and the connection troubleshooter doesn't find any problem.

Database. I installed following the instructions Pdf file to the letter. As I do not have any other database on my computer, the only one I can have now is the one that was installed by Alfresco. I have no idea whether the database is running because the program doesn't start, but I have not touched anything at all since the installation.

Installation. Can it be an installation unexpected issue? Shall I uninstall and reinstall? The installations is untouched and I can't just start messing things around with trials when I don't know what I'm doing. I have not even yet understood why the program should start on a web server.

Firewall. I have only the firewall on the OS. The program does not appear on the firewall allowed list. What are the recommended settings for the firewall (private or public)?  And which is the file to be set? If I write the URL (http://localhost:8080/share) directly on the browser field myself, I get the same result. So, for me it seems that it goes behind a firewall permission. Anti-virus is Avast, and I make frequent scans with others,  but only Avast is permanently on service.

Sorry, it I've written a lot, but as I don't understand I want to give all the information I can to make it easier for you to help me.

[kbonnet]

I dont think a reinstall will help. I still think its a problem with the connection to the database. Check if you have the telnet command on the dos prompt (in vista MS didnt provide it anymore) and do a telnet to the mysql port (assuming you're using the default database with the alfresco package)

telnet localhost 3306‍

if you dont get into a totally black screen, you cant connect to mysql. Also check if you see mysql running in your process list.

The start script of alfresco (alf_start.bat or something) should start mysql and starts tomcat. But remember that alfresco is connecting to mysql via localhost:3306, so this does not have anything to do with your outgoing connections. You get the error in Firefox, because tomcat isnt starting. Try to stop your windows firewall before starting alfresco. If that works you can add some ports to allow in it configuration.

[neophile]

I tried telnet, but I don't uses it for so many years that I can't manage properly. Look the results, but I may have not entered the commend properly:

Welcome to Microsoft Telnet Client

Escape Character is ']'

Microsoft Telnet> telnet localhost 3306
Invalid Command. type ?/help for help
Microsoft Telnet> localhost 3306
Invalid Command. type ?/help for help‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

assuming you're using the default database with the alfresco package

The only database I have in the computer is the one installed with Alfresco.

Mysql is not running in my process list, but I didn't start it. How can I start it to check up after? This all there is in the alf_start.bat file:

@echo off
rem —————————————————————————
rem Start script for the Alfresco Server
rem —————————————————————————

call "%~dp0alfresco.bat" start %1‍‍‍‍‍‍

I can't read here any command to start what you say. Also, I looked for the file dp0alfresco.bat and it is not present in the program directory or subdirs.

I turned the firewall off and clicked again on the pdf file links. Nothing new happened.

What else can I try, please?

[kbonnet]

the telnet command (glad windows 7 at least ships it ) should have been:

telnet localhost 3306‍

It's suspicious that you dont see a mysql process in your processes. Did you check after starting Alfresco?

Weird that this file is refering to ~dp0alfresco.bat. Is there an alfresco.bat?  Whats in the alfresco.bat the alf_start.bat refers to? After starting the alf_start.bat, do you see a tomcat process in your process list?