Re: Firewall locks Windows version

> -----Original Message-----
> From: pgadmin-support-owner@postgresql.org
> [mailto:pgadmin-support-owner@postgresql.org] On Behalf Of
> Stephen McConnell
> Sent: 24 August 2005 03:02
> To: pgadmin-support@postgresql.org
> Subject: [pgadmin-support] Firewall locks Windows version
>
> I installed the Windows version of pgAdminIII. My plan is to use it to
> administer a remote PostgreSQL instance on a Linux box on my network.
>
> When I start it up, it hangs after Norton Internet Firewall
> notifies me
> that pgAdminIII.exe is requesting a DNS server.  If I turn off the
> Firewall pgAdmin starts up.  When I restart the Firewall, it hangs
> again.
>
> 1) WHY is this program requesting access to a DNS server?  It is not
> mentioned in the FAQS or in ANY documentation that your
> progam requires
> access to a DNS server.

pgAdmin has to look up the address of the server you're trying to
connect to. It's not in the docs or any FAQs because it's such a basic
operation that almost every TCP/IP network program on the planet will
also do.

> 2) WHY does the program HANG?  Your exception handling should
> be better
> than that, or your program should recognize that it has no access to a
> DNS server and time out and escape from that condition .... NOT hang
> indefinitely.

Functions like gethostbyname() are written by Microsoft, not us. If they
don't return, there's not much we can do. I suppose we could run every
system call in a different thread so we can abort if it doesn't return,
but that would bring a whole new meaning to the term 'bloatware' and
would probably mean we would still be writing the connect code.

> 3) What is the solution to this OTHER than removing the Firewall?

Configure a sensible firewall policy that allows pgAdmin to perform
lookups? If your firewall doesn't allow you to do this, throw it in the
bin and get a decent one.

Regards, Dave