SharePoint access via the Internet

Question

I have setup Windows SharePoint Service 3.0 on my Windows Home Server.  I created a SharePoint site that I would like to access via the Internet.  The site works fine on my Intranet.  My server has a static IP address.  I added a firewall exception for my SharePoint web application port.  I also enable port forwarding on my router in order to forward my SharePoint web application port to my servers IP address.  I have tried enabling anonymous access for my SharePoint site and that did not work.  I entered a public URL in Alternate Access Mapping.  The public URL works on my Intranet but not the Internet.  I am at a loss.  Please let me know if you have any suggestions.  Thanks for the help.  Take care.

Answer 1

Hi Ron,

What port are you forwarding through your firewall? Are you able to access other resources on the server through the firewall, like remote desktop 3389?

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David Lozzi
Delphi Technology Solutions
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Answer 2

Here the post which was resolved and had same problem as you.

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/sharepointadmin/thread/96f7bce8-2f63-4fb9-ba12-1d779cc6e374

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Visit: http://yagyashree.wordpress.com MCP & MCTS [WSS 3.0/MOSS]

Answer 3

> Here the post which was resolved and had same problem as you.

This is going too far. The post is also about access to a SharePoint site but that's as far as the similarity goes.

It was not SharePoint installed on Windows Home Server (which I didn't even know was possible/supported) and while the other (long) post may give some ideas for solving this particular user's problem, it is NOT specifically an answer to his problem. For one thing it is very long and contains several solution ideas.

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Answer 4

Ron,

Are you able to telnet to the port that your SharePoint web application is setup on from the outside world?

If for instance you were using www.foo.com as your host header domain name that was registered in the outside world to your home network's public IP address and you were using a port of 6677, you would use the following to confirm that you were able to at least connect:

telnet www.foo.com 6677

The expected behaviour in a command prompt would be to see it attempt a connection.

Another thing to try would be to use Microsoft's WGET utility to see if it can connect and provide more verbose results as to what it is or isn't seeing.  It could be that your ISP is blocking the port you're trying to make available.

Available at:  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b134a806-d50e-4664-8348-da5c17129210&displaylang=en

Last thing to check is the scope of your Windows firewall on the server to see if it's allowing all connections or just internal connections to the network.

Hope that helps,
Dan

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http://www.spdan.com

Answer 5

Dave:

I used port 21053.  I setup a firewall exception for this port and made sure that I enable port forwarding on my router to forward this port to my server IP address.  I can access remote desktop without a problem.  I can also access my Windows Home Server from the Internet without a problem.  Any ideas?  Thanks for the help.  Take care.

v/r
Ron

Answer 6

What actually happens when you try to connect?  What kind of error do you get?  You say you added a "public URL" as an AAM, but is it a different URL than the way you access from your Intranet?  You say you can access your Home Server from the Internet, but access it how?  RDP or some other website you have running?  If another website, do you have the default web site still running?  Much more to ask after we have more info.

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SharePoint Architect || My Blog

Answer 7

Clayton:

When I try to connect from a computer that is not on my network I get an error message that says,

The page cannot be displayed

The page you are looking for is currently unavailable. The Web site might be experiencing technical difficulties, or you may need to adjust your browser settings.

In reference to the public URL yes it is different than the URL that I use to access my SharePoint site via the Intranet.  I know very little about AAM so I may have screw it up.

I access my Home Server via the Internet by entering http://server.net where server is the name of my home server.  This brings me to the HP Home Server website.  I enter the login info and I am connected to the server.

Please let me know what other info you need.  Thanks for the help.  Take care.

Answer 8

How does the Internet know how to find your home server?  It has to be published to the Internet DNS somehow.  Your home server URL has to have an IP that is discoverable from the Internet.  How did you set that up?  Whatever you did for that will also be required for your alternate access mapping.  Somehow, the Internet has to be aware of your URL, be able to resolve to the IP, and then be able to access that IP.  Have you done all of that?

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SharePoint Architect || My Blog