Opening Ports
This support page is intended for those who have encountered blocked inbound connections. To test if you suffer from blocked inbound connections launch MyDiskServer and view the test results.
Alternatively you can perform a complete port scan of your computer using JFirewallTest.
A blocked inbound connection usually means your computer is firewalled, on a private network or both.
A firewall prevents other computers from connecting to your computer. If you have a firewall enabled, any attempt to connect from another computer to the MyDiskServer application will be ignored. To allow other computers to connect to your computer you must unblock the application or add ports to the exceptions list.
A private network provides Internet access to a number of local computers. A private network is created if you use a personal router or Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) on another PC to connect to your Internet Service provider. If a connection is made from the Internet it will fail to connect to a computer on the private network because the router or ICS PC does not know which private computer to send the request to. To allow computers on the Internet to connect to your computer you must configure port forwarding on the router or ICS PC.
If you connect to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) using a modem connected to your computer you will only need to configure your firewall. If you are using a router or connecting through another PC you will need to configure your firewall AND your private network.
Configure Firewall:
If you are using Microsoft Windows Firewall, MyDiskServer will automatically open and close the ports required for operation. You may still receive the Windows Security Alert. I advise you to keep blocking the Java(TM) 2 Platform Standard Edition binary and allow MyDiskServer to manage the Windows Firewall.
Other types of firewall will require further configuration.
There are two strategies for configuring a firewall to permit inbound connections.
Unblocking the application
When an application such as MyDiskServer starts, your firewall software will typically pop up an alert.
To unblock the application and enable other computers to connect to you PC press Unblock.
Tip: This is a security risk as all Java applications use the Java(TM) 2 Platform Standard Edition binary and therefore choosing to unblock this program will permit ANY Java application full Internet access not just MyDiskServer. A safer option is to add the ports 8088 and 8089 to the list of exceptions as shown below.
Adding ports to list of exceptions (safer)
This will typically involve the following actions
- Open the options for your firewall
- Navigate to exceptions section.
- Find the option to add or open a port.
- Specify 8088 (TCP) as the port to open or add.
- Apply the changes.
If you wish to use secure connections you must also perform the above and specify port 8089.
Configure Private Network:
To enable a specific computer on your private network to host files using MyDiskServer, you must forward ports 8088 and 8089 (TCP) on to that computer.
For help and guidance configuring your router to forward connections to MyDiskServer I recommend portforward.com.
If you know your routers manufacturing code (usually written underneath) try searching portforward.com with the prefix mydiskserver using the search box below.
Eg: "mydiskserver 3CRWDR100A-72"
If you intend to use remote power on you must also forward port 9 (UDP) to the computer running MyDiskServer.
Tip: The test button on MyDiskServer is a useful diagnostic tool.