why does //tower not work?


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I have search far and wide for answer to this question but cant find anything that applies to my situation. typing //tower or whatever name I give to my unRAID box does not work.  Typing in the ipaddress works but I would like to be able to just type the name...

 

thoughts, ideas, suggestions?

 

Thanks

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Let me guess... you are on a Mac?

 

This was my first thought also.  If this is the case you can get //tower working in a browser by:

 

1.  Opening a finder window and typing shift+command+G

2.  In the box that pops up type /etc

3.  Look for a file named hosts.

4.  Open this file in TextEdit and a couple of lines from the bottom add this:

----

xxx.xxx.x.xxx tower

5.  You may need to restart.

 

The xxx.xxx.x.xxx needs to be replaced with the IP address of your unRaid server.  I use a static IP for my machine so the IP never changes.

 

Now, I am sure there are others that can help more, but if you are on a mac this should get you started.

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bubbaQ - Yes, I am on a Mac.  I looked into the suggestion of changing a line in my /etc/host file, but I couldnt make sense of it in prior posts.  Your current suggestion make sense so looks like I am going to have to configure a static address for my server.

 

Thanks, I very much appreciate the help

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bubbaQ - Yes, I am on a Mac.  I looked into the suggestion of changing a line in my /etc/host file, but I couldnt make sense of it in prior posts.  Your current suggestion make sense so looks like I am going to have to configure a static address for my server.

 

Thanks, I very much appreciate the help

 

Not a problem.  I actually don't have the static address set on the unRaid server itself.  I can reserve certain IP's on m,y network via MAC address in my routers settings.  That is how i actually control what IP the server is getting.

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Not a problem.  I actually don't have the static address set on the unRaid server itself.  I can reserve certain IP's on m,y network via MAC address in my routers settings.  That is how i actually control what IP the server is getting.

 

I'll look into this option too.  One quick question, does this still require editing the etc/host file?

 

Thanks

 

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Not a problem.  I actually don't have the static address set on the unRaid server itself.  I can reserve certain IP's on m,y network via MAC address in my routers settings.  That is how i actually control what IP the server is getting.

 

I'll look into this option too.  One quick question, does this still require editing the etc/host file?

 

Thanks

 

 

Yes.  You will still need to edit the hosts file once you have the IP set up.

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jinjorge, for what it is worth, you will probably be ok, but this is a quick explanation of why you are making that change (if you already understand this, no offense meant).  The IP address can be considered the physical location on your network where the server is located.  If you knew the IP address of your tower, you could type  http://IPADDRESSOFTOWER  and you would see your server.

 

Now, imagine that that 'hosts' file is the equivalent of a phone book, and you have a fancy phone that allows you to do voice dialing.  You could just say the phone number you wanted to dial, and the phone would call it.  But, it is easier to remember someones name, so you make an entry in the phone book for your dad and enter his phone number.  When you say 'dad' to the phone, it goes to the phone book and looks up that number and dials it.  Same thing with your computer (any computer for that matter).  When you enter 'tower' into the browsers address bar, your computer needs to be able to figure out what the actual IP address is for that name, so that it can send your request to the correct place.  This is independent of whether or not the tower has a static IP that will never change or if it is dynamically assigned by the router every time you start the tower.

 

Now, the reason you have the router assign the same IP address every time is so that you can guarantee that it will always be the same.  If it changed a lot, you would have to change the entry in your 'hosts' file every time (as an aside, there is a reasonable chance that if you don't have many items on your network, the tower would get the same address every time anyway, but why take the chance).

 

On a larger scale (outside of your home network), the internet itself is controlled by what is called DNS servers.  When you type "http://yahoo.com", the first thing your computer does is look in the hosts file to see if you have an entry for yahoo.com.  If you don't, then it will look for what is called a DNS server (DNS stands for Domain Name Server) out in the internet and see if a DNS server knows the corresponding IP address for yahoo.com.  The DNS server does, so it sends that to your computer and then your computer then sends the request to the IP address of the yahoo server.

 

Have fun with your unraid box!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Follow the instruction and still getting error? typed //tower/ in safari and the url becomes file://tower/ and error, no file exist. Any idea?

 

I will have to do some searching around to see why this does not work in safari.  I know for a fact that when these steps are followed the //tower works in firefox.  I would install and try firefox for now.

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  • 1 year later...

Let me guess... you are on a Mac?

 

This was my first thought also.  If this is the case you can get //tower working in a browser by:

 

1.  Opening a finder window and typing shift+command+G

2.  In the box that pops up type /etc

3.  Look for a file named hosts.

4.  Open this file in TextEdit and a couple of lines from the bottom add this:

----

xxx.xxx.x.xxx tower

5.  You may need to restart.

 

The xxx.xxx.x.xxx needs to be replaced with the IP address of your unRaid server.  I use a static IP for my machine so the IP never changes.

 

 

I might have been a bit slow on this one but it took me a while to realize that this "hosts" file is on my mac computer

 

Also I couldn't save changes - had to delete the file and create a new one. Hope this helps other people.

 

p.s. works in safari 4.0.5

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Hello,

 

Just found this thread and have similar ? re: //Tower/main.htm not working BUT on Vista.  As I recall, did not have this problem at all w/XP (Pro/MCE/SP1,2 or 3).  I also have a static IP for my UnRaid Server x.0.0.50 and as long as I type that in the IE ("8") bar I immediately get access, but not "Tower" {//X.0.0.50/main.htm works //Tower/main.htm or http://Tower/main.htm does not}. 

 

I'm not aware of any "host" file in Vista that in effect provides the same "translation" suggested.  Any thoughts?

 

Dave

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I can reserve certain IP's on m,y network via MAC address in my routers settings.  That is how i actually control what IP the server is getting.

 

Ok so what if I only have a switch and not a router? Is there a way to set an IP address for the tower?

I know on my Macs I can set a local IP address for each Mac. I actually have 2 switches that I may have to go thru. One is connected to my DSL modem, my office Mac and just about everything else including my networked laser printer. The second is at my HTPC/PVR and has my HDHomerun, Mac Mini  and the connection to the switch in my office for internet access. The unRaid may reside in my office and have to go thru 2 switches for the HTPC/PVR. BTW both are Netgear.

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I can reserve certain IP's on m,y network via MAC address in my routers settings.  That is how i actually control what IP the server is getting.

 

Ok so what if I only have a switch and not a router? Is there a way to set an IP address for the tower?

I know on my Macs I can set a local IP address for each Mac. I actually have 2 switches that I may have to go thru. One is connected to my DSL modem, my office Mac and just about everything else including my networked laser printer. The second is at my HTPC/PVR and has my HDHomerun, Mac Mini  and the connection to the switch in my office for internet access. The unRaid may reside in my office and have to go thru 2 switches for the HTPC/PVR. BTW both are Netgear.

 

Something in your network has to be doing routing if you have multiple machines... perhaps your DSL modem also acts as a router and is doing NAT?

 

What IP scheme are you using on your other machines on your network? Whatever the gateway IP address is would be your router.

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Something in your network has to be doing routing if you have multiple machines... perhaps your DSL modem also acts as a router and is doing NAT?

 

What IP scheme are you using on your other machines on your network? Whatever the gateway IP address is would be your router.

 

Something in your network has to be doing routing if you have multiple machines... perhaps your DSL modem also acts as a router and is doing NAT?

 

What IP scheme are you using on your other machines on your network? Whatever the gateway IP address is would be your router.

 

Switch (1) in my office is the main hub.

The simple DSL modem (not a router) connects to the outside world and plugs into  Switch (1).

My office Mac G4 (set to auto configure the address) plugs into Switch (1).

My Laser Printer plugs into Switch (1).

My Video / Audio editing  Mac G5 (set to auto configure the address) plugs into switch (1).

The unRaid will also, most likely plug into Switch (1)

 

Switch (2) is at my HTPC/PVR Mac Mini.

Switch (2) plugs into Switch (1).

My HDHomeRun plugs into Switch (2).

My Mac Mini (set to auto configure the address) plugs into Switch (2)

 

In the past I have set up 2 of the Macs with manual set IP addresses but can't remember why I went back to auto. Maybe I didn't need it at the time.

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Something in your network has to be doing routing if you have multiple machines... perhaps your DSL modem also acts as a router and is doing NAT?

 

What IP scheme are you using on your other machines on your network? Whatever the gateway IP address is would be your router.

 

Something in your network has to be doing routing if you have multiple machines... perhaps your DSL modem also acts as a router and is doing NAT?

 

What IP scheme are you using on your other machines on your network? Whatever the gateway IP address is would be your router.

 

Switch (1) in my office is the main hub.

The simple DSL modem (not a router) connects to the outside world and plugs into  Switch (1).

My office Mac G4 (set to auto configure the address) plugs into Switch (1).

My Laser Printer plugs into Switch (1).

My Video / Audio editing  Mac G5 (set to auto configure the address) plugs into switch (1).

The unRaid will also, most likely plug into Switch (1)

 

Switch (2) is at my HTPC/PVR Mac Mini.

Switch (2) plugs into Switch (1).

My HDHomeRun plugs into Switch (2).

My Mac Mini (set to auto configure the address) plugs into Switch (2)

 

In the past I have set up 2 of the Macs with manual set IP addresses but can't remember why I went back to auto. Maybe I didn't need it at the time.

What make/model are switch1 and switch2? 

Most DSL modem's do not supply more than one IP address to the internal LAN.  Basically, the one connection to the outside world cannot be shared by multiple devices unless you have a network-address-translator (commonly known as a router) 

 

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What make/model are switch1 and switch2? 

Most DSL modem's do not supply more than one IP address to the internal LAN.  Basically, the one connection to the outside world cannot be shared by multiple devices unless you have a network-address-translator (commonly known as a router) 

 

Both switches are Netgear, #1 is 8 port G5608 and #2 is 5 port G5605.

I've had all 3 computers on line accessing the net at the same time.

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What make/model are switch1 and switch2?  

Most DSL modem's do not supply more than one IP address to the internal LAN.  Basically, the one connection to the outside world cannot be shared by multiple devices unless you have a network-address-translator (commonly known as a router)  

 

Both switches are Netgear, #1 is 8 port G5608 and #2 is 5 port G5605.

I've had all 3 computers on line accessing the net at the same time.

Your DSL modem has embedded router in it. Otherwise what you are describing here can't be happening.

Check the IP addresses of those 3 computers, and you'll see that they are all on a subnet range that's reserved for internal networks.

 

10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255

172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255

192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255

 

When you see that, then check what's the IP address of the default gateway for those 3 computers.

You can then point your web browser to that IP address, and you'll most likely see the configuration web page of the router.

 

---

I used to have such a DSL modem some time ago, was called "2wire" or something.

It had one input for the telephone cable, and one LAN output, coming out of the embedded router.

 

Most cable modems don't have embedded router. But the DSL modems commonly have it.

 

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