Purpose:
This article describes a checklist of items to check for, to determine if a panel is able to reach the WMS Pro server when attempting to connect / register. This may be used in situations where you want to troubleshoot cross network port forwarding, or issues with panel registration etc.
The Checklist:
This checklist covers the following items:
- Performing a port connection test
- Checking that the Services are running
- Checking the Comms path on the panel
- Re-generating the encryption key from the WMS Pro web interface
- Checking the WMS Pro comms log to see if an incoming connection is being received
Please proceed with the sections below to perform the full check.
1. Performing a port connection test
Panels connect to WMS Pro via a TCP socket on port 13000. In this step we are testing to see if the port is accessible and open using your PC to run a connection test.
NOTE: For this test to be valid, your computer must be on the same IP address range / network / VLAN as the Panel/s are, because you are testing the connection from that network, to the WMS Pro server.
To run this test, click the start menu, and search for "PowerShell" - and then run Windows PowerShell - it will look something like the following:
Now in Windows PowerShell, we are going to use the "Test-NetConnection" command.
This command's syntax is as follows:
Test-NetConnection <address> -port <port>Where <address> is the IP address of your WMS Pro server, and <port> is port 13000
So as an example, lets say your WMS Pro server is at address 10.0.181.52, the command you will need to type will be:
Test-NetConnection 10.0.181.52 -port 13000Where 10.0.181.52 should be replaced with the IP address of the WMS Pro server for the site you are testing.
Example:
You would type in the following into PowerShell, and hit enter:
You will then see it running the connection test, as follows:
If it is SUCCESSFUL, you will see a result similar to this:
However if it is UNSUCCESSFUL, it will take longer, and you may see a result similar to this:
If you see a failure like this, then you may need to talk with the site's IT or Networking team to check if there is any port blocking in place/ forwarding required / etc.
2. Checking that the Services are running
In this step we are checking that all the required Services are running.
WMS Pro now comes with a "WMS Pro Server Status & Manager" tool. This runs on the WMS Pro server.
You may find that it is already running on the server, and will see it in the Task Bar looking like this:
Alternately, if it is not already running, you can run it using this icon on the Desktop of the WMS Pro server:
Once open, the tool should show all items as green, as shown in the example below:
However, if there are any that are red, or not running, you should press the "Restart" button next to that service to re-start it.
If a service will not start, this may be the cause of the issue, and you may need to reach out to your Distributor for support.
3. Checking the Comms path on the panel
Checking to ensure the Comms path is set up correctly on the panel, as per the WMS Pro instructions / guides. The WMS Pro Quick Start guide is available here:
4. Re-generating the encryption key from the WMS Pro web interface.
In this step we will be Re-generating the encryption key from the WMS Pro web interface.
See the screenshots below along with these steps:
- In WMS Pro, go to Administration > Controllers
- Select the correct controller to bring you to the Edit controller > Setup page
- Pressing the "Auto generate" button next to the "Encryption key" field
- Copying the new key from here, to place into the Panel's comm path settings
- Click "Ok" on the Encryption key page, and then ALSO ensuring you press "Save" on the Edit Controller - Setup page, to save the new key.
(WMS Pro 1.0 tip: If the "Save" button is greyed out / disabled, you can tick the "Disable time synchronisation" tickbox above the "Save" button, and then untick it again (or return it to it's previous state), to update the "Save" button to see that a change has been made, and enable saving.)
- Paste the new encryption key into the panel's "Encryption key" field on the panel's comms path settings (on the Comms paths > IP/Encryption setting tab in CTPlus), and then press Save on this record as well.
Screenshots for regenerating the Encryption key:
A) Re-generating a key in WMS Pro:
B) Updating the Panel's comms path in CTPlus:
(NOTE: The Encryption key of "123456" has only been used as an example here. Your own key will be generated by the WMS Pro system).
5. Checking the WMS Pro comms logs to see if an incoming connection is being received
The WMS Pro comms logs can be found in the following location:
C:\ProgramData\WMSPro\
(NOTE: The ProgramData folder is hidden, so you may need to type it into the path bar in Windows Explorer to access it, or turn on showing hidden files/folders)
The comms log files are named in a format of: commslog_YYYYMMDD.txt - where YYYYMMDD is the year, month, date.
Prepare your panel, and set it up to connect to WMS Pro, and note down the time at which you enable the WMS Pro comms path, to make it easier to confirm in the logs. Also note down the panel's serial number.
Now refresh the WMS Pro comms logs folder, open the latest log file for today's date, and do a search for the panel's serial number. In the example below, this is "257333300003".
You should find an entry that matches your panel's serial number, that looks similar to the following:
2023-06-29 09:50:00.784 INF] HandleInComingConnectionAsync
2023-06-29 09:50:00.785 INF] Received data: "257333300003:1"You will also find other following responses that contain this serial number as well. Confirm that the date and time match around the same period when you enabled the comms path as well if you want definite confirmation.
- If you see an entry like the above example, then your panel is correctly reaching the WMS Pro server and establishing a connection.
- If you don't see any entries for your panel's serial number, then your panel is not reaching the WMS Pro server, and there may be some form of network or other blockage causing it to not reach the server.
If there is no entry present, you may need to re-visit the steps above, or speak to the site's IT or Networking team, explaining that the panel is not reaching the WMS Pro server.
Still having issues?
If your panel is still not coming online on WMS Pro, or showing in the unenrolled controllers area, then you should proceed as follows:
- If Step 1 (the port connection test) failed, then the site's IT department, or Networking team will be who you need to contact first.
- Otherwise, if you have confirmed that all the above steps are completed, you may need to reach out to your Tecom Distributor for Technical Support.