This article describes communication ports used by Columbus clients and servers and should help understand why clients may be unable to connect to the Database.
Columbus Client and Server Communication, IP Ports
Article ID:
BW785081655Last Review:
30. 07. 2007Find on this page
Most times, when Columbus clients and or servers are unable to connect to one another is because standard ports used to communicate may be blocked by local router policies or firewall configurations.
Columbus 6.x clients and servers use the following ports to communicate:
Wake-On-Lan
The Wake-On-Lan (WOL) signal is an industry standard also known as “Magic Packet” which allows to activate a computer system which is in its Power Off state.
Sender | - Columbus Console for “immediate” WOL - Columbus Infrastructure Server for scheduled WOL |
Receiver | Client Computer |
Traffic Type | TCP Subnet Broadcast |
Port | TCP/2050 (typically, fixed) |
Remarks | As the function is meant to Wake Up a powered off client system, the Clients Firewall configuration is not relevant for this function. On industry standard network routers you will have options to allow/disallow the WOL or Magic Packet. |
Database Connection
The database connection is used by any Client System to communicate with the Columbus database.
Sender | - Columbus Console - Columbus Infrastructure Server - Columbus Client |
Receiver | Database Server |
Traffic Type | TCP |
Port | TCP/3050 (configurable. See Firebird documentation) |
Remarks | Columbus Clients may be configured to use the OTB Protocol. When doing so, clients do not required direct database access and therefore do not use this port anymore. |
Client & Infrastructure Rollout
Columbus offers a function that “rolls out” Columbus code to remote systems and activate Columbus client software on them. This function requires establishing a network connection to a drive of that remote computer as well as connecting to its registry. Both are standard Windows API methods.
Sender | - Columbus Console - Columbus Infrastructure Server |
Receiver | Any Client & Server |
Traffic Type | TCP |
Port | TCP/4050 |
Remarks |
|
Client Communication
The Columbus Client has an internal messaging system to exchange data between the running system service and any active user parts of Columbus. This system uses both, UDP and TCP depending on if the client is connected to a network.
The same messaging system is also used by the Columbus Console when sending a “process sw updates” command to a client.
Sender | - Columbus Console - Columbus Client |
Receiver | Client |
Traffic Type | TCP/UDP |
Port | TCP/UDP/9876 (User command receive) TCP/UDP/9877 (User command send) TCP/UDP/9878 (System & Console Command send) TCP/UDP/9879 (System Command receive) |
Remarks | While most of these ports are used only for the internal communication of the Columbus client, Port 9878/9879 should be opened on routers to allow a Columbus Console to send direct commands to a client. NOTE: Acronis True Image Servers use the same ports (9876 & 9877) for remote operations. Please read this article for more information: BW873150015 |
OTB Connection
OTB (Object Transfer Bus) is a technology developed by Brainware which encapsulates various communication methods into one stream, supporting encryption and compression. As such, OTB eliminates the need of opening some ports on routers and therefore makes configuration easier and communication more controllable.
Sender | - Columbus Infrastructure Server (since version 6.9) - Columbus Client |
Receiver | OTB Server (Infrastructure Base Agent) |
Traffic Type | TCP |
Port | TCP/24784 (configurable) |
Remarks | Columbus Infrastructure Servers have started using OTB since Columbus version 6.9. Unfortunately not all Columbus services have been ported to OTB so far – therefore the database ports still require to be opened. |
Columbus 5.x clients and servers also use the following ports to communicate:
TCP & UDP 1505 Mailslot Communication (Datauplink)
Proxy Host Master uses a changeable port:
UDP 9878 & 9879 Communication and Information
Remarks:
For some operational functions Columbus uses Broadcasts such as Watch-Window, Wake-On-LAN and Push that are not routable.
For some features, like Columbus Inventory Scan, Columbus uses standard IP ports depending on the type of communication applied to these (FTP, file share access).
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Keywords:
Ports, IP, Connect, Firewall, WOL, True Image, Acronis, conflict