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Troubleshooting
| Error/Issue | Potential Problem | Things to Check |
|---|---|---|
| Unable to create default configuration file. | External IP cannot find the ExternalIP.ini file and it cannot create a default copy of the file in the application folder where External IP is installed. | Make sure that your user account has sufficient privileges to create the file. |
| Unable to create default mail template file. | External IP cannot find the IPAddressMail.template file and it cannot create a default copy of the file in the application folder where External IP is installed. | Make sure that your user account has sufficient privileges to create the file. |
| Unable to create default FTP template file. | External IP cannot find the IPAddressFTP.template file and it cannot create a default copy of the file in the application folder where External IP is installed. | Make sure that your user account has sufficient privileges to create the file. |
| Unable to action to configuration file. File read-only. | The configuration file ExternalIP.ini is in a read-only state and an update to the file failed. | Make sure that the read-only attribute is not set on the file and that your use account has sufficient privileges to edit this file. |
| Unable to delete temporary file | The temporary file that was created for the update messages could not be deleted. | Ensure that your user account has delete privileges in the temp folder. Also, ensure that some other program does not have the temporary file open when External IP is attempting to delete the temporary file. |
| E-mail sent but unable to close SMTP session | Connection with SMTP server is still active and the system could not disconnect. | Generally means that there is an issue with the SMTP server. |
| Unable to retrieve external IP address. | External IP was unable to determine what your external IP address is. | Ensure that you are connected to the Internet and that the two webistes that External IP relies on (WhatIsMyIP.com and DynDNS.org) are running properly. |
| Unable to create temporary file | Unable to create a temporary file so that the update message can be generated. | Make sure that your user account has sufficient privileges to create the file in the temp directory. |
| Unable to open an FTP session. | An FTP session with your FTP host could not be created. | Ensure that you have Internet access. Check to see if your host is available by a regular FTP program. Check for spelling errors in the ExternalIP.ini file in the FTP section. |
| Unable to establish an FTP connection | Incorrect username, password, ftp hostname. | Make sure that the parameters in the configuration file under the FTP section are all correct and that you have access to the Internet and your FTP host. |
| Unable to FTP file | Incorrect remote folder or file name. | Check to see that the remote file name is correct in the configuration file. |
| Unable to send e-mail | Parameters incorrect in configuration file | Ensure that all of the parameters are correct in the configuration file. Also ensure that you have a stable Internet connection. |
| No FTP updates. | FTP updates are disabled. | Make sure that the FTP updates are enabled in the configuration file. |
| No e-mail updates. | E-mail updates are disabled. | Make sure that the e-mail updates are enabled in the configuration file. |
Uninstalling
If you installed External IP from the installer, you can simply uninstall the application from the Control Panel or use the uninstaller icon.
If you are running External IP from a folder that you extracted from a Zip archive, run the Clean.exe file first to make sure that there are no registry entries existing on the system. Then, delete the folder containing External IP.
Future Plans
- SMTP authentication
- Run once then exit option
- GUI configuration tool
- Run from read-only media option
- Remote trigger by e-mail
- Encrypt passwords in configuration file
- Live log console
- HTML support for e-mail
- Log to Windows event log
- Separate OnlyUpdateOnChange parameters for e-mail and FTP updates
- Command line options
Conclusion
I hope that you find this to be a useful application. It can provide you with some very useful tools information and will become vital for some of the posts that I am working on in the next while.
If you find External IP to be a useful program, please consider using the Tip Jar (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)!
In all seriousness, I do this as a hobby and do not get any payment for my efforts. Any amount that you would wish to donate would be greatly appreciated.
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April 10th, 2007 at 10:53 am
Nice … I just had this happen to me last week (after having the same ip for about 7 months) and I couldn’t access my server from work when I needed to.
April 10th, 2007 at 11:13 am
Good work, very handy! I wonder if you would consider sharing your code (sorry, don’t know if you have any policy against such)? This is a nice little piece of functionality, and I could see some other potential uses for it. Thanks.
April 10th, 2007 at 11:21 am
Michael,
You are not the first person to ask about source code. I will be making an announcement about this in the near future. Please keep your eye on DCoT for further information.
Tim
April 10th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
Thanks Tim,
I have been looking for a solution such as this for a bit. I sometimes have need to access files while on the road and I can’t wait to try this.
April 10th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
Sir, yes, Sir!
Glad to be of service, Sir! If you find it handy, feel free to use the Tip Jar, Sir!
P.S. If you haven’t guessed, I visited your blog!
Now if I only knew how to salute with an emoticon!
Tim
April 11th, 2007 at 5:08 am
I’ve used ZoneEdit and DynDNS to access my home network via registered domain names and free subdomains with great success over the years. No need to keep track of my dynamic IP address
April 25th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
Great little app, very handy.
For me, though, it is ignoring the “UseMail=False” in the .ini file, and tries to contact “SMTPServer=smtp.myisp.com” anyway. FTP function works PERFECTLY.
Otherwise, thanks for a great utility, and blog!
May 6th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
Good idea!
Just wanted to point out that “UseFTP=False” does not appear to bypass the FTP portion of the program - resulting in an error message (as expected since I have not changed the default FTP parameters in the configuration file.
May 6th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
It looks like there are a couple of bugs that I need to look at. Thanks, Fred and Dave. I’ll get on that as soon as I get some time.
Tim
February 8th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
Hi Tim,
Do you, by chance, have something similar to use on a Linux platform?
Thanks!
Andy
April 11th, 2008 at 9:58 am
Hello\
I new to this and can not seem to get it working with gmail account does any one have a sample application
April 27th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Has a solution been found for the program not recognizing “False” for FTP and Mail settings? Hint hint nudge nudge…
December 8th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Hello
Can I use hotmail,and how to set smtp
pleas help