Linux client missing proxy configuration

[Andy]

Hi,

I'm trying to access the remote Plastic server via the proxy. In a guide, there is a picture according to which one I should specify the remote server URI and the proxy server.However, there is no such option neither in CLI client configuration nor in GTK configuration UI.

Please help

 

[mig]

Hi Andy,

 

The proxy server configuration was added to the CLI configuration tool (clconfigureclient) some time ago. Could you share with us which Plastic SCM version are you currently using?

Alternatively, you can add the following line to your client.conf root node:

<CacheServer>${server_address}:${server_port}</CacheServer>

Make sure you replace the ${server_address} and ${server_port} variables with your appropriate values.

 

Regards,

Miguel

[Andy]

I am using latest version available from ubuntu repo -> 6.0.16.947
 

[mig]

Could you run clconfigureclient in a terminal and paste the output here?

[Andy]

Yep, sure I did. Let me describe my scheme in few words:

{[PlasticSCM main node]<==} == VPN over Internet == { ==> [ UserWindows PC ] [UserLinux PC] }

The only "User PC with windows" has access to the main node. Thus, I set up on UserWindows both client and proxy. The UserLinux machine is on the same network as UserWindows pc. Thus, my assumption is that the UserLinux PC could access "Main PlasticSCM node" by using UserWindows PC as a proxy.

I added CacheServer option to client.conf (later I did it again by using clconfigureclient), and try to run a simple command like "cm listrep".
Here I got two cases:
1. If the PlasticSCM server is specified as FQDN, then "could not resolve"
2. If the PlasticSCM server specified as IP address then connection timeout.

I checked if I can access the proxy server (from UserLinux pc to UserWindows pc) by using "telnet ip_of_windows_pc 8085" -> passed successfully.

[Andy]

user@LinuxBox:~$ clconfigureclient
####--- Client configuration wizard ---####
Configuring language. These are the available languages: 
1. English
2. Spanish
Choose a language (type a number): 1

------------

Configure the Plastic SCM server address/port:
Plastic SCM server address [localhost]: plasticscm.mydomain.net
Plastic SCM server port [8087]:   
Use encryption (SSL)? [y/N]: 

There was an error while checking the Plastic SCM server security mode.
Maybe the server is offline, or the address specified is wrong.
Do you want to re-enter the Plastic SCM server address? [Y/n]: n

------------

Select the users authentication mode. These are the available modes: 
1. Name
2. Name + ID
3. LDAP
4. Active Directory
5. User and password
Choose a mode (type a number): 3

------------

Configuring LDAP connection...
LDAP user: myldapuser
LDAP password: *********

------------

Configure a proxy server? [y/N]: y
Proxy server address: 10.42.0.109
Proxy server port: 8085

------------

The Plastic SCM client has been correctly configured.
user@LinuxBox:~$ cm listrep 
Error: Could not resolve host 'plasticscm.mydomain.net'. Server: plastic://plasticscm.mydomain.net:8087
user@LinuxBox:~$ telnet 10.42.0.109 8085
Trying 10.42.0.109...
Connected to 10.42.0.109.
Escape character is '^]'.
^]
telnet> quit
Connection closed.
user@LinuxBox:~$

 

[mig]

Alright, so just to be sure we're on the same page: you don't have a problem with setting the Plastic SCM proxy server anymore, it's just a connectivity issue.

The Plastic SCM proxy server isn't enough to connect to your Plastic SCM server main node; instead, the proxy server is just an intermediary to cache revision data so transmission across slow networks is only done once. You can read more details about that in the documentation https://www.plasticscm.com/documentation/administration/plastic-scm-version-control-administrator-guide.shtml#Chapter4:Usingaproxyserver .

As the Plastic SCM client requires the repository metadata to work, it needs connectivity to the configured server as well. In your case, it's plasticscm.mydomain.net:8087. Looking at the command output, it seems your LinuxBox can't connect to the server (probably because it doesn't have the VPN enabled).

I think that a replicated server, rather than a proxy server, would be a better match for your scenario. If you install a secondary server in your windows machine you could let your LinuxBox connect to it and then periodically replicate information back and forth between the secondary server in your local network and your main node in the VPN. However, if you require a centralized server (because you need to enforce exclusive checkout, for example) you'll need to grant your LinuxBox access to the VPN, or make your main node reachable from it somehow.

Would this solve your questions?

Regards,

Miguel

 

[Andy]

Now I see. Your assumptions are 100% correct.

The software naming messed me up  

Thus I should setup up the replicated server... Thank you.

[mig]

Great! I'm glad everything is clear now  Don't hesitate to let us know any further problem that you might run into.

Regards,

Miguel