SUGGESTIONS Server cannot access internet after changing server IP

[fitzy89]

I'm experiencing a strange issue here and I'm not too sure what the cause is.

I am running Piaf Green and completed the initial installation on a DHCP-assigned IP. Due to router limitations, I cannot assign the IP that I want the server to use from the router end (router being replaced with pfsense box soon...) so for now I have tried to change the server IP address via Webmin under network interfaces.

Once the IP address is set to static via Webmin, the server no longer has internet access so cannot update modules or run any other function that requires internet access. I have checked the DNS settings, tried disabling iptables and everything else I can think of with still no joy. Internal LAN networking is fine, it just cannot contact the outside world at all. If I change the IP back to DHCP, it works fine again but when assigned a static IP I just can't get it to work.

I have checked the desired IP address is not in use already (it's not), the gateway, subnet and DNS are all exactly the same as what DHCP would assign anyway so my only other thought is the firewall. Disabling iptables has no effect, and the router in use does not block any outbound connections (it's just a cheap ISP-supplied router until I get a hardware firewall setup).

Pinging any external host name or IP fails with a time out, pinging internal hostnames and IPs works fine.

Can anyone suggest anything to test or try?

Edit: If it makes any difference or may indicate where the problem lies, I cannot get my phones to register to the server whether it is on DHCP or static, all phones/softphones report a 403 forbidden error when trying to register and the server logs indicate a bad secret (it's copied and pasted exactly from the web config to the phone web interface so can't see how it could be wrong..)

 

[MGD4me]

Just a couple of random thoughts, so accept them for what they are...

Generally, it is good policy to give a fixed IP value that is NOT in the range that the DHCP server has access to. For instance, if you determine that the DHCP server can handle DHCP requests in the range of xx.xx.xx.100 - 200, then select a fixed IP address of xx.xx.xx.50, for example, or something else either below or above the reserved range.

I noted that you have taken care to enter the Default Gateway, and DNS server details just as was indicated in the DHCP assignment, so you are already on the right track. As a second (or third) DNS entry, you might also try adding in 8.8.8.8 for good measure.

Finally, just to be safe, reboot your PBX to ensure the network interface has accepted the new settings.

 

[fitzy89]

Just a couple of random thoughts, so accept them for what they are...

Generally, it is good policy to give a fixed IP value that is NOT in the range that the DHCP server has access to. For instance, if you determine that the DHCP server can handle DHCP requests in the range of xx.xx.xx.100 - 200, then select a fixed IP address of xx.xx.xx.50, for example, or something else either below or above the reserved range.

I noted that you have taken care to enter the Default Gateway, and DNS server details just as was indicated in the DHCP assignment, so you are already on the right track. As a second (or third) DNS entry, you might also try adding in 8.8.8.8 for good measure.

Finally, just to be safe, reboot your PBX to ensure the network interface has accepted the new settings.

Thanks for the quick response, I should have added that the static IP is outside of the DHCP range as well (range is 64-150, desired static is 200). I also added second and third DNS of 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 as well to no avail. Just done a reboot, the settings take effect and running "ifconfig eth0" from putty returns the correct values.

It's only a server for playing with at home really so could always reinstall again if needed but it took several hours to complete and I'm impatient lol (and too stubborn to give up on a problem).

 

[markrmcs]

Suggestions:

Confirm all of the static settings are correct:

- Netmask
- IP address in correct range
- Broadcast address
- Verify that the interface is active

- Router address and which interface it applies to

- DNS settings

When this has been verified make sure you can ping an external IP (for example the Google DNS server)

Hope this helps.

 

[fitzy89]

In the end I gave up on this issue and ended up redoing my whole home network, new router with more options to play with (pfSense-based). I setup a new pbx install and used the static leases option in my router to force the desired IP to it via DHCP. The PBX now runs on a small VMware ESXi host and so far is performing well.