[SOLVED] Unable to connect to remote host on port 8080

[peppeFarAway]

Hi,

I am having the following problem:
I have an application which wants to connect to my server on the port 8080, but this port is somehow unaccessible.

Trying with telnet I get:
telnet XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX 8080
Trying XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX...
telnet: connect to address XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX: Connection refused
telnet: Unable to connect to remote host

If I try the same on port 80 it works.

Therefore I tried to open it adding some rules on the iptables, but this didn't solve it.
I read somewhere else that the problem might be that there is no listener on my server on that port. Do you know what can I do to create a listener? I couldn't find anything that could help me.

Thank you for your help!

[Rubberman]

Port 8080 is an alternative to http port 80, primarily used for proxy and caching servers, and application servers such as Tomcat. Generally, there is nothing listening for telnet protocols on port 8080, though a Tomcat server may connect that way. Have you started an application on your host that listens on port 8080? Nothing is on that port by default, unless you configure it that way, or it uses that port by default, such as Tomcat.

[peppeFarAway]

I am using my server as a VPN and, through this VPN, trying to access a service which apparently needs to connect to port 8080.
I don't have anything listening on that port..

[Rubberman]

If nothing is listening, then ECONNREFUSED is not an unexpected error. What VPN software are you trying to use?

[peppeFarAway]

On the server I have installed OpenVPN..

[Rubberman]

What have you done to configure it? Can you post the configuration file(s) here?

[peppeFarAway]

Server conf:

lport 1194
ifconfig 172.16.0.1 255.255.255.252
daemon
secret /usr/local/psa/var/modules/vpn/vpn-key
writepid /usr/local/psa/var/modules/vpn/openvpn.pid
mtu-disc yes
comp-lzo
dev tap
float
keepalive 10 60
ping-timer-rem
resolv-retry infinite
push "dhcp-option DNS 172.16.0.1"
push "redirect-gateway def1"

Server iptables:

iptables -A INPUT -i tap+ -j ACCEPT
iptables -A FORWARD -i tap+ -j ACCEPT
iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -s 0.0.0.0/0 -d 172.16.0.0/30 -j RETURN
iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -s 172.16.0.0/30 -d 0.0.0.0/0 -j SNAT --to-source XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX

Client conf:

remote XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX
nobind
rport 1194
ifconfig 172.16.0.2 255.255.255.252
secret vpn-key.key
comp-lzo
dev tap
float
keepalive 10 60
ping-timer-rem
resolv-retry infinite
route-gateway 172.16.0.1
redirect-gateway

[TinoY]

Correct me if I am wrong, but from the server conf I see "lport 1194" so I would assume your application should connect to that port. Or change it to 8080 on both.

[peppeFarAway]

I tried with port 8080 in the config files, but the situation just gets worse:
now I can't even connect to my VPN server.

And using
netstat -tulpn | less
I don't see any listener on my server on port 8080 yet.

About the iptables:

Chain INPUT (policy ACCEPT)
...
ACCEPT     udp  --  0.0.0.0/0            0.0.0.0/0           udp dpt:8080 
...

Server conf:

lport 8080
ifconfig 172.16.0.1 255.255.255.252
daemon
secret /usr/local/psa/var/modules/vpn/vpn-key
writepid /usr/local/psa/var/modules/vpn/openvpn.pid
mtu-disc yes
comp-lzo
dev tap
float
keepalive 10 60
ping-timer-rem
resolv-retry infinite

Client conf:

remote XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX
nobind
rport 8080
ifconfig 172.16.0.2 255.255.255.252
secret vpn-key.key
comp-lzo
dev tap
float
keepalive 10 60
ping-timer-rem
resolv-retry infinite
route-gateway 172.16.0.1
redirect-gateway

[peppeFarAway]

I think I need to add more information.
My computer in connected to the internet through a VPN.
I have an application on my computer which needs the port 8080 to be opened in order to communicate with a third internet service.
Now, somehow the VPN is blocking the communication on port 8080 and the application on my computer doesn't work..
This is why I thought it was enough to open the port on the server using iptables, but apparently it is not that easy..
Any idea?