SageTV Placeshifter and modifying Ports

[0piston]

Hi all, using sagetv5 and phaseshift.... I can not access the live stream because of a port restriction on a remote location. Is there a way to change the default port to something else? maybe in the registry somewheres?

thanks.

[Opus4]

Go to Detailed Setup -> Advanced -> Configure Placeshifter Internet Connection. In that config wizard, you can customize the external port to be used.

- Andy

[mkanet]

I would like to change the port Placeshifter listens in on. I have an old STV which doesnt show any placeshifter options. (I think I configured placeshifter with a newer STV, and reverted back to my old one). Is there a simple value I can just change in the properties file(s)? If so, what would it be?

Let's suppose I successfully change the port from 31099 to port 80. Once I do that, don't I also need to change the port for the client as well? If so, where would I change that value?

NOTE: Currently placeshifter works perfectly for me... just not from work. However, my work DOES allow port 80.... which is why I want to do this.

Thanks in advance!
-Michael

[GKusnick]

Why not just load up the standard STV, do your Placeshifter configuration, test it out to make sure you've done it right, and then reload your custom STV. That way you don't have to shut anything down to mess with properties files, or worry about which file or properties to edit.

You should always keep a current copy of the standard STV on your disk anyway for troubleshooting purposes.

[mkanet]

After I had posted my message, I realized, I was just being lazy So, I actually did what you said and loaded the default STV, configured Placeshifter, and loaded my regular one back up.

So... it's that simple? All I did was set a manual port to 80 in the placeshifter configuration. It then told me to configure my firewall/router to forward port 80 to 31099. I tested this locally, and it worked. I'm guessing this is a pretty straight forward thing to do.

Thanks!

[ke6guj]

Originally Posted by mkanet

So... it's that simple? All I did was set a manual port to 80 in the placeshifter configuration. It then told me to configure my firewall/router to forward port 80 to 31099. I tested this locally, and it worked. I'm guessing this is a pretty straight forward thing to do.

Thanks!

that sounds a little off to me. If you set your server to placeshift on port 80, then your firewall needs to forward port 80 to 80, not 31099.

However, depending on the router, you could have left the server on port 31099 and had the router forward a port, ie: 80, to 31099. Then, on the placeshifter client, told it to connect on port 80.

IIRC, changing the placeshifter port on the server from 31099 will break the Media Extender (MVP) since it is "hard-coded" to 31099.

[mkanet]

Hmmm... I'm not sure how else to interpret what SageTV placeshifter config is trying to tell me... it sounds like pretty straight forward English to me. So who is correct?



EDIT: I think I figured out all the confusion:
FYI: It appears I actually did do it "right" ...at least the way SageTV wants me to do it without breaking media extenders. There are two values. Only one can be changed in the SageTV interface. The other one can be changed in the properties file.. .but that one will also break media extender connectivity.

extender_and_placeshifter_server_port=31099
placeshifter_port_forward_extern_port=80

It looks like the "external port=80" is meant for telling the placeshifter "client" to use port 80.


Hopefully, this information will be useful for other people in the future...

Originally Posted by ke6guj

that sounds a little off to me. If you set your server to placeshift on port 80, then your firewall needs to forward port 80 to 80, not 31099.

However, depending on the router, you could have left the server on port 31099 and had the router forward a port, ie: 80, to 31099. Then, on the placeshifter client, told it to connect on port 80.

IIRC, changing the placeshifter port on the server from 31099 will break the Media Extender (MVP) since it is "hard-coded" to 31099.

[ke6guj]

Ok, I took a look at the placeshifter settings on my system just now ( I set it way back when placeshifter came out so I haven't have to mess with it. It looks to have been improved in adjustments).

It appears that that wizard you are using is designed for uPNP configing. It is not changing the "real" placeshifter port that your server is using. It stays at 31099. This is the line in sage.properties, extender_and_placeshifter_server_port=31099

So, after you do the config in Sage to do 80>31099, it changes this line in sage.properties, placeshifter_port_forward_extern_port=80 . You make the change in Sage, but since it is "manual config", you have to do the router changes yourself. I don't see why if you did the changes in the router first, that you'd even need to make the change in Sage. The router already took care of the forwarding for you.


So, If you had a router that didn't do port forwarding, you would need to change the first line to port 80, but it would break the extenders. If you have a port forwarding router, you have to do 80>31099 in the router and may not even need to do 80>31099 in Sage.

[mkanet]

Thanks for explaining! I just realized I dont have upnp while trying to do all of this

Although, my router has port forwarding ...and, it's set correctly to forward port 80->31099. I think I'm going to take that out and change it in the properties file. I dont have any media extenders and don't plan on getting any.

So, should I have both settings at 80? I'm not sure what to put for placeshifter_port_forward_extern_port=80 if I dont have upnp on my router.

Thanks so much for helping out!

Originally Posted by ke6guj

Ok, I took a look at the placeshifter settings on my system just now ( I set it way back when placeshifter came out so I haven't have to mess with it. It looks to have been improved in adjustments).

It appears that that wizard you are using is designed for uPNP configing. It is not changing the "real" placeshifter port that your server is using. It stays at 31099. This is the line in sage.properties, extender_and_placeshifter_server_port=31099

So, after you do the config in Sage to do 80>31099, it changes this line in sage.properties, placeshifter_port_forward_extern_port=80 . You make the change in Sage, but since it is "manual config", you have to do the router changes yourself. I don't see why if you did the changes in the router first, that you'd even need to make the change in Sage. The router already took care of the forwarding for you.


So, If you had a router that didn't do port forwarding, you would need to change the first line to port 80, but it would break the extenders. If you have a port forwarding router, you have to do 80>31099 in the router and may not even need to do 80>31099 in Sage.

[Opus4]

The port info is at the very end of chapter 7 in the manual & there should be a link to that spot from the Placeshifter section of the manual... at least for v6.

Some routers do not allow the external & internal ports to be different when setting up a port to be forwarded to a PC on your LAN. This would be the situation where you would need to also change the internal port number property when manually configuring your router & thus break any MVP connections. Sometimes, UPnP can forward from one port # to another even when you can't do it manually.

But, if your router is capable of setting manually configured port forwarding from port X to port Y, then you don't need to change the internal port that is also used by the MVP. This is what the above screen capture is instructing you to do & it sounds like your router is handling it just fine.

- Andy

[ke6guj]

Since you aren't planning on doing any media extenders, you could set up Sage to totally use port 80 in both lines in the sage.properties files.

However, I personally would leave it at the default 31099 so that if Sage ever releases an HD-extender for cheap, you're already configured correctly.

I would leave both lines at 31099 and see if just port forwarding in the router will take care of it. You can check to see if your ports are set up correctly with this website, www.canyouseeme.org . Just type in the port you are testing and it will let you know if it sees a service on that port.

I'd set it up at 31099 everywhere and no port forwarding in the router and test that connection. Then, if that works, try to just port forward 80>31099 in the router and see if canyouseeme can see you at port 80. If yes, then you're all set.

[mkanet]

Hi Andy, I just tried to set my router to send port 80 to my sageTV PC without changing the port ...AND changing both values in the properties file to 80. When I tried to use placeshifter client (on same machine as my sageTV server), placeshifter stopped working all together. I guess that was a bad idea afterall

My original setup looks like it was the best way to configure it for me... and, it doesnt break media extender functionality.

Originally Posted by Opus4

The port info is at the very end of chapter 7 in the manual & there should be a link to that spot from the Placeshifter section of the manual... at least for v6.

Some routers do not allow the external & internal ports to be different when setting up a port to be forwarded to a PC on your LAN. This would be the situation where you would need to also change the internal port number property when manually configuring your router & thus break any MVP connections.

But, if your router is capable of setting manually configured port forwarding from port X to port Y, then you don't need to change the internal port that is also used by the MVP. This is what the above screen capture is instructing you to do & it sounds like your router is handling it just fine.

- Andy

[ke6guj]

Originally Posted by mkanet

Hi Andy, I just tried to set my router to send port 80 to my sageTV PC without changing the port ...AND changing both values in the properties file to 80. When I tried to use placeshifter client (on same machine as my sageTV server), placeshifter stopped working all together. I guess that was a bad idea afterall

My original setup looks like it was the best way to configure it for me... and, it doesnt break media extender functionality.

If you change it to port 80, then you have to put port 80 in the address so the client knows to go to port 80.

Such as, if your server was 192.168.1.100, then you need to 192.168.1.100:80


edit: if you haven't switched it back yet, try a test at canyouseeme.org and see if it can see your server on port 80. One thing you have to look out for is, does your ISP block any incoming ports, such as port 25 or 80?

[ke6guj]

Originally Posted by Opus4

But, if your router is capable of setting manually configured port forwarding from port X to port Y, then you don't need to change the internal port that is also used by the MVP. This is what the above screen capture is instructing you to do & it sounds like your router is handling it just fine.

- Andy

So Andy, does changing this line, placeshifter_port_forward_extern_port=31099, which is the line that the placeshifter wizard changes, actually change the port that the server uses? Or is it more of an informational line so that it can tell you what port forwarding to set up in the router. I could see it adjusting the uPNP settings if it were enabled, but in manual mode, any real benefit?

[mkanet]

That's what I was missing!

One last question... When I had it working before, I had the external port manually set to 80, and the server port to 31099. In your previous message, you mentioned to set both to 31099. What's the correct value for "external port" if I'm going to have my router forward 31099 to 80?

Originally Posted by ke6guj

If you change it to port 80, then you have to put port 80 in the address so the client knows to go to port 80.

Such as, if your server was 192.168.1.100, then you need to 192.168.1.100:80

[ke6guj]

Originally Posted by mkanet

What's the correct value for "external port" if I'm going to have my router forward 31099 to 80?

I'm trying to figure that out myself. I'm trying to figure out exactly what "external port" actually does. I know that if I have both of them set to 31099, I'm leaving Sage in the default placeshifter settings. If I have my router port forward 80>31099, then all sage sees is incoming 31099 packets. It shouldn't need to know it was originally port 80 packets. So why tell it that the external port is port 80, when it won't even be seeing any port 80 traffic to the actual server.


edit: right now I have both sage lines set to 31099, and port forwarding 80>31099 in the router. canyouseeme.org does see me at port 80, so it looks good. I won't know 100% for sure until I try a real client outside my network.

[mkanet]

Hmmm... the wording to the upnp manual setup in the screenshot above suggests that "80" should be used for the external setting and 31088 for the server port. I'm not sure... lets see what Andy has to say. I put my external port to 80 for the time being.

Originally Posted by ke6guj

I'm trying to figure that out myself. I'm trying to figure out exactly what "external port" actually does. I know that if I have both of them set to 31099, I'm leaving Sage in the default placeshifter settings. If I have my router port forward 80>31099, then all sage sees is incoming 31099 packets. It shouldn't need to know it was originally port 80 packets. So why tell it that the external port is port 80, when it won't even be seeing any port 80 traffic to the actual server.


edit: right now I have both sage lines set to 31099, and port forwarding 80>31099 in the router. canyouseeme.org does see me at port 80, so it looks good. I won't know 100% for sure until I try a real client outside my network.

[ke6guj]

Originally Posted by mkanet

Hmmm... the wording to the upnp manual setup in the screenshot above suggests that "80" should be used for the external setting and 31088 for the server port. I'm not sure... lets see what Andy has to say. I put my external port to 80 for the time being.

Yup, lets see what Andy says. I don't thing setting the external port to 80 hurts any, but I don't see how it helps in a manual config, except for the instructional pop-up in the wizard.

As a point of reference, my external port was originally set at ZERO, and my placeshifter worked just fine.

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by ke6guj

So Andy, does changing this line, placeshifter_port_forward_extern_port=31099, which is the line that the placeshifter wizard changes, actually change the port that the server uses? Or is it more of an informational line so that it can tell you what port forwarding to set up in the router. I could see it adjusting the uPNP settings if it were enabled, but in manual mode, any real benefit?

This property is not informational only. In the v6 manual, the bottom of p. 213 mentions one thing it is used for: when using the Locator ID to have the PS client connect, PS will be able to automatically connect to the proper port from your remote location. It is, of course, necessary when using UPnP router configuration, so SageTV can know which external port set it to use.

The best thing to do is to not directly edit the properties file for this unless you really have to. Just go through the configuration wizard and set it up that way. If you need to manually configure the router, then do so after SageTV is configured -- just as was done above (from that screen shot).

You only really have to edit the properties file if you must have the same custom external and internal port numbers when your router isn't UPnP capable and can't manually forward from one port to another.

- Andy

[ke6guj]

there you go, thanks for the info Andy. I missed that line regarding linking the port to the Locator ID. Since I use Dynamic DNS'ing to get to my server instead of Locator ID, I overlooked it.

I wasn't manually changing it in sage.properties, just letting the wizard change it and noted the changes. I was looking at it from the IP networking side and trying to figure out what Sage was doing with the "external" port when the router was going to be giving it data on the internal port anyways.