sockets

dan_c00per

Does anyone know if it's possible to connect to a server via a certain port and send a raw command to it using PHP.

I have written a standalone server app to communicate with a client app via port 899, but now I need to get PHP to send a command such as 'DELETE 123' to that program on that port.

I had a go with fsockopen but get 'Connection refused' error, but the client app running on the same machine (The PHP server) connects fine.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

PHPThorsten

Maybe there is a firewall running that blocks the connection? (or the answer ports)

$fp = fsockopen("URL",899);
fputs($fp, "BLA BLA");
fclose($fp);

Should work

dan_c00per

That's what I tried, it give the 'connection refused' error, I am testing it on an internal network so the Firewall could not be the issue, I have also tested the Client application on the PHP server and it connects fine, so there is no issue with connection problems, it's just PHP that won't connect

dan_c00per

Do you think I need some sort of protocol on the front of the URL?

I am just entering the IP address, should I have "http://" or something on the front? I know that it is not http, but is there something I could use?

ajmoore

You shouldn't need to specify any sort of protocol....Is the server app php as well? My best guess would also be a firewalling issue also, I've done similar things myself with php using a socket server on one machine and a client script to communicate with it on another. The client should be able to communicate with fsockopen.

dan_c00per

The server is a standalone GUI server application that I wrote in RealBASIC running on an OSX server, the client machine is also an OSX server running PHP4.

There is definately no issue with a firewall because it is all running on the internal network.

ajmoore

The fact that its on an internal network does not necessarily mean there is no possibility of a firewalling issue. For example, on a network I've got setup one of my servers will not allow telnet access(even from machines on the internal network) but will allow ssh access. Firewall rules don't necessarily only apply to external machines. It's possible that the machine running the server application is not allowing connections on the port you've got specified......Not saying that is definitely the problem but its certainly a possibility. Try just connecting to that machine via that particular port outside of the script
(telnet xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx port) and see what happens...

dan_c00per

I see what you mean, but there is definately no firewall issue, I set up the network and the machines are protected from the outside world by a Firewall, but not protected internally.

Besides, as I said, I have tested the Standalone client application on the PHP server and it connects, so there is no prob there

ajmoore

Would it be possible to post the chunk of code from your client app that deals with connecting so we can see some specifics as to how everything is being called?

ajmoore

Also, I'd still be curious to see if you can access your server app via the command line...try running "telnet xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx port" from a commmand line where the x's are the ip number and port is your chosen port...see if it rejects your connection there...that will tell you if the problem is on the server side or in your client application.

dan_c00per

I tried that and it says 'Connection refused' so it must be the server end, thanks for the help, I will have to work out why it's refusing connections to certain machines and not others now.

ajmoore

No problem...let us know how things turn out

PHPThorsten

Yo said the server is running on Mac OS X?

Since 10.0 macos has an integraded firewall, called "ipfw".

Maybe this is blocking your access.

dan_c00per

I checked that, I turned the Firewalls off in favour of a hardware firewall when I first installed them

htyen1

am trying to retrieve a web page that contains one paramater for example

http://whatever.com:8084/?param1=value1

The above URL works fine when I just cut and paste it into the web browser.

However when I try to request it using my PHP code/fsockopen I keep getting the unable to connect error.

I try my code on other website and it works so its not my hosting company issue?

I just can't figure out why?