Troubleshooting Client Connections on Windows

If your client is unable to connect to the database, a good way to diagnose the issue is to verify that you are at least able to connect to and to navigate the database server's shared folders. To test that, you can type the UNC path of one of the database's shared folders in the address bar of an Explorer window. For example, if the database is hosted on a server named harmonyserver, try to open the following location:

\\harmonyserver\USA_DB

Then, you can follow the troubleshooting tips depending on how Windows handled your attempt to connect to the share:

Windows Accesses the Database Share Without Issue

If you have access to the shared folders, but Harmony is unable to connect to the database, this means the server is properly configured to share files, but not to act as a Harmony database server, either because:

Windows Prompts for a Username and/or Password

If you get prompted for a username or a password, this means that the server is properly configured to share its files, but Harmony failed to establish a connection to the shared folders when you logged in. This may be because:

  • Harmony was not configured to use the right credentials to access the shares.

    When you use Configuration Wizard to configure a client to connect to a database server, you are prompted to type in a username and password to access the database server's shared folders. Configuration Wizard saves those credentials and, when you log in to your Windows account, Harmony attempts to establish a connection with those shared folders using the username and the password you entered.

    You can check if this is the issue by attempting to configure your client again using Configuration Wizard—see Connecting a Windows Client to a Database Server Using Configuration Wizard.

Windows is Unable to Access the Share and Displays an Error Message

If you are getting an error message, this means that your client is either unable to find the shared folder on your server, or that your server is refusing to let your client access it. This may be because:

  • There is something wrong with the configuration of one or several of the database shares. Make sure you configured the shared folders properly on your server:
  • If the server is running GNU/Linux, the GNU/Linux firewall and/or SELinux may be blocking incoming connections to its Samba shares—see Opening the Firewall Ports and Configuring SELinux for a Samba Server on GNU/Linux.
  • If your client is using Windows 10, the problem might be caused by the version of the Samba protocol the server is using. Servers that use Samba to share files usually use the SMB 2.0, SMB 2.1 or SMB 3.0 protocol. However, some Samba servers may still be using the deprecated SMB 1.0 protocol. By default, Windows 10 computers are configured to be unable to connect to Samba servers that use the SMB 1.0 protocol, because SMB 1.0 is considered unsafe.

    There are three common cases where a Samba server will use the SMB 1.0 protocol:

    • The server runs CentOS 6.
    • The server runs macOS, and Samba was installed through third party means, such as brew or SMBup.
    • The server runs Windows 10, and has the optional SMB 1.0/CIFS Server component enabled.

    The optimal solution to this issue is to configure the server to only use SMB 2.0 and up. This is possible in the three cases above.

    The alternative solution is to configure your Windows 10 clients to be able to connect to Samba servers that use SMB 1.0. This should only be done if it is not possible to use SMB 2.0 and up across the network, as SMB 1.0 is considered unsafe.