unrelated to CMSimple - xampp issue

[flukey92]

Hi all,

I have the strangest problem!

I have a demo website setup with xampp on windows 7, i used port forwarding so i can access my website from home, (xammp host is work pc) and this works fine. I can also access the website on my mobile, but nobody in our office can access the website!

My port forwarding (router) points all http (80) requests to my pc, and this seems to work, but im unsure as to why network users are struggling to get onto the site at all?

Please let me know if you need any more information or if you have a resolution

My pc (Windows 7)
Network user (Windows 7)
Home pc (Windows 7)

Work router (Belkin F5D7633)
Work Switch (Cisco sg200-50p)

If anyone wants the website address please pm me as i dont want it to be caught by any search engines (nothing illegal, but it is a beta version of our site and privacy is a must )

Thanks in advance for any help

Rob

[Tata]

If I am not wrong:
a) You need to install the XAMP to your network server and the the website should be accsessible depending on rules and permissions set for the website directory.
b) If you have the website on your PC, the XAMP(websitefolder) folder shall be shared at least with "read" permission.
However the easiest way is to drop the website on a some host and avoid unwanted access by setting IP permissions and/or using e.g. Register plugin on the very first page. Maybe a security issue would also be assign restricted access to all pages, so none of not registered would be able to access them.

[flukey92]

Hi Tata,

Thanks for your reply,

Although my Xampp directory isnt installed on the network server, but on my workstation instead, the outside world can still access my website (which is kind of good, i can set up ip restrictions to make sure only the people i want to see it can)
This makes me believe that the directories are okay for reading access,
The only issue is computers attached to the same network cannot access the website. Except for the host (Me) However when i access it i think (im unsure) that i am accessing it out of the network then back in again, ie
i am accessing the website via the domain name which is pointing to IP address 99.99.99.99 (our shared ip address for all users at work) so i assume that any packets sent are going out of the office, then back in again, is this correct?

If i change the hosts file for all users in the office to point the domain to my workstation ip, would/should this work? ie beta.website.com to 192.168.0.4 instead of the external ip address (99.99.99.99)

Thanks

P.s. sorry if i have written this in a way that is confusing

[cmb]

i am accessing the website via the domain name which is pointing to IP address 99.99.99.99 (our shared ip address for all users at work) so i assume that any packets sent are going out of the office, then back in again, is this correct?

Actually, I don't know, but I guess the packets don't leave the office. The gateway might be configured to return it's internal IP address on DNS request from the intranet. If so, the IP address of a user accessing the webserver would be the internal one.

However, that's just speculation. You're most likely better off to ask in a forum that deals with such issues. http://www.apachefriends.org/f/ might be a good start.

[flukey92]

Hi Christoph

Long time no speak, i hope all is well.

i have tried the apache forums to no avail - They really dont seem to want to help me, well the person who has replied doesnt anyway!

http://www.apachefriends.org/f/viewtopi ... 16&t=67517

Now i cant access it from my home pc.. i think ive changed too many settings. will start from a fresh install tomorrow and see how i go then.

Rob

[cmb]

Long time no speak, i hope all is well.

I'm fine, thanks. How are you?

They really dont seem to want to help me, well the person who has replied doesnt anyway!

No, we don't provide any support for accessing XAMPP from insecure networks like the internet.
XAMPP is designed and supported as local test and development stack.

I have heard of at least one case, where XAMPP was deployed on a publicly available server -- and it got badly hacked, because the default security settings have not been adjusted. And I have just found a video explaining how to hack an XAMPP environment. So the admins of apachefriends.org may have their reasons to not support "publicly" available installations.

Now i cant access it from my home pc.. i think ive changed too many settings. will start from a fresh install tomorrow and see how i go then.

Good luck. You may have a look at httpd-xampp.conf (accessible via the control panel). At the end of the file you'll find a section called "New XAMPP security concept". I assume you have already made some changes there or elsewhere in the configuration, but you may review these.