When using ACEmessage in Unicast Message Delivery Mode (Default sending behaviour) there are various error messages which can describe the state of the problem why a client did not display the message. They are listed below along with detailed descriptions of the process which is technically occuring. This may assist you with troubleshooting your network as to possible causes of the error message.
If you would like to learn more about ACEmessage Delivery Mode please see this article: ACEmessage is Slow to Send Messages
Error:
A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond x.x.x.x:9487 (Where x.x.x.x is the IPv4 Address of the ACE Client computer)
Description and Possible areas for Solution:
This error is reported when the ACE Client computer did not respond to a TCP handshake request (SYN, SYN ACK, ACK). This is common is the target computer is SWITCHED OFF or there is a loss in network connection between the ACEmessage (Sending) computer and the ACE Client (Receiving) computer. Try switching the target computer ON, or test network connection between the Sending and Receiving computer (Basic PING test).
Error:
No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it x.x.x.x:9487 (Where x.x.x.x is the IPv4 Address of the ACE Client computer)
Description and Possible areas for Solution:
This error is reported when the ACE Client computer does not have the ACEmessage Network Client (ACE Client) service running or installed. When you install ACE Client, you actually install a service which runs a process called ACEnwork.exe under the SYSTEM account. Therefore when the computer starts up the ACEnwork.exe process is running in the background even before user login.
It is this process (ACEnwork.exe) which accepts the network connection on port 9487/tcp when receiving messages in Unicast Message Delivery Mode. Therefore the above error indicates that this process is either not running or installed.
Another reason this error can be generated is due to firewalls (Either locally based software firewalls on the client or sending computer, or physical hardware firewall inbetween the sending computer and client. All firewalls (Software or Hardware based) will need to allow connections on TCP Port 9487 which is used by ACEmessage to delivery the message over the network in Unicast Message Delivery Mode.
Error:
Network Connection Timed Out Awaiting Response '401' from Client
Description and Possible areas for Solution:
This error is reported when the ACE Client computer did not respond after the TCP session had been established. ACEmessage (After creating the TCP Session) will send the MD5 Hash value and FileSize of the message distribution to the client. The ACE Client will process this information and respond with a '401' signal to ACEmessage to basically state that the Client is ready to receive the message. This error occurs when the 401 response did not get received by the ACEmessage (Sending) computer.
By default, ACEmessage begins a 10 second count down once it had made a TCP connection to the ACE Client. If the 401 status has not been received within 10 seconds ACEmessage will fail the client and report the above error message.
This default value of 10 seconds is suitable for most modern IPv4 networks. However, if you have a high number of ACE Clients which are not responding within the default time then you can change this behaviour. Follow the below:
Error:
Ping (ICMP ECHO) Failed for Target - Possibly not available on the networ or firewall is blocking Ping packets.
Description and Possible areas for Solution:
ACEmessage has the ability to PING (Basic network connection test) to every ACE Client BEFORE it attempts to make a TCP Connection to the client. The benefit of this PING test is that if ACEmessage cannot PING an ACE Client it considers that client not available to receive a message. This takes milliseconds on most corporate networks, wheras a TCP Session attempt to a 'not available' computer can take seconds to time out. Therefore using the PING test allows ACEmessage to quickly find out if a receiving computer should be contacted.
By default, PING Testing is NOT enabled, however ACEmessage will suggest you enable it if you have a high percentage of computers which fail to receive a message. You can turn PING Testing On/Off via:
This feature is useful for speeding up large message distributions on modern networks. However, if PING Packets are blocked by firewalls ACEmessage will consider the client a failure. So if you have PING Target Testing enabled you need to make sure your network supports PING (ICMO ECHO) responses.
End of Error Messages