Ranger Outpost Service Bind Error

Question

Why does the Ranger Outpost service fail to bind on the port I specified?

Symptoms

The server could not bind a socket to a network address. The data is extended error information

The Outpost service is trying to start on a port already used by another service or program. Only one program is able to bind to a port at any one time.

Cause

During the installation routine a port number is requested. The port is used by Ranger Outpost in order to facilitate communication between the Outpost server and client.

Resolution

Option 1 - Use another port
Uninstall Ranger Outpost and then reinstall the product selecting a different port number.

Option 2 - Stop and disable the other program from using the port
Identify the service using the same port. If you know it's safe to do so stop and disable the service.

Instructions

Option 1 - Use another port

Use the add/remove programs in control panel to uninstall the product and then reinstall using the installation package this time selecting a different port.

Note: Choosing a port for Outpost

During the installation of Ranger Outpost you are asked to provide a port number for Ranger Outpost to communicate on.

If you have control over your Internet firewall you can choose which port you would like Outpost will run on. You only concern will be selecting a FREE port.

We recommend choosing a port number in the range of 4999-65534 for example 15987. This should reduce the chance of selecting a port already in use by the system (1-1024 Well-Known Ports) or the Ephemeral port range (1025-4999 Services).

Once you have chosen a port number you will need to perform a test to establish that the port is free. See the section 'Testing' below.

If however you do not have control over your Internet firewall you maybe constrained by what ports you can use. You may need to contact your ISP provider to identify which ports can be routed through to your Ranger Outpost server.

You may find that they only support Well-Known port numbers like 80:HTTP or 21:FTP. In which case if you are not using these ports already for the intended use you can use them for Ranger Outpost.

Option 2 - Stop and disable the other program from using the port

Assuming you are able to identify the service or program running on the same port as Ranger Outpost, and that the service or program is not required, you may decide to stop and disable the other program in order to allow Ranger Outpost to use the port.

After disabling the third-party service you will need to restart the Ranger Outpost service in order for the Outpost server to bind to the free port.

If you find that you still need to use the other service or program but know how to quickly change the port in use then re-configure the third-party port settings to use an alternative port. You should restart both the third-party and Ranger Outpost services to ensure they are both operational and that the bind error is no longer reported.

Testing

Telnet

Try using telnet to see if it can establish a session with a service already running on the desired port. In command prompt type 'telnet 127.0.0.1 port'. You may have to substitute the local host IP with the actual local IP and you will need to replace port with the desired port number.

Netstat

Try using netstat -a to see which ports are in use on the server.

By performing the tests you should be able to identify if the port is in use and therefore would cause a conflict with Ranger Outpost.

The configuration of your router, gateway, firewall, port forwarding and subsequent testing that maybe required is not supported by Ranger.