If you are trying to access Informant remotely (outside of your department) via Informant's remote access feature (OnPatrol) but are getting an error message when starting Informant, use this guide to help troubleshoot the issue.


TABLE OF CONTENTS


Is the OnPatrol Server installed and running on your server?


Make sure the OnPatrol Server is installed and running on your server. Sometimes the server application may stop running or may need to be restarted.


To check if the OnPatrol server is running and to restart it if needed:


  1. Log into your Informant server with a Windows user account that has Administrator permissions.
  2. Click the Windows Start menu and type "Informant Configuration Manager," then click Infomrant Configuration Manager when it appears.
  3. If prompted to make changes to your device, click Yes.
  4. Click Server Roles in the left sidebar.
  5. Check the "STATUS" column next to "OnPatrol": if it does not say "RUNNING," click More Actions and select Start.

    Note: If you don't see "OnPatrol" under "Server Roles," then it is not installed. See Install OnPatrol Server to learn how to install the OnPatrol Server.
  6. When the OnPatrol is "RUNNING" again, try to connect remotely to Informant again.


Do you have a working Internet connection?


Confirm that you have a working Internet connection on the device where you are having connection issues. For example, open your web browser and access any website to check that your Internet connection is working. If not, troubleshoot that issue separately and try to connect to Informant again after your Internet connection issue is resolved.


If your Internet connection is working, check the remaining sections in this article for other troubleshooting tips.


Do you have the right version of Informant installed?


To connect to Informant remotely, the version of Informant installed on your device must be compatible with the version of Informant installed on the server where the OnPatrol server is running.


Check the Informant version on the server (What version of Informant am I running?) and install the corresponding version of Informant on the device that is having connection issues (Download Informant).


Did the OnPatrol server's internal or public IP address change / Did you recently reboot your server or have a power outage?


If the internal (LAN) IP address of the server where OnPatrol is installed has changed, or if your router's public (WAN) IP address has changed, this can cause connection issues.


By default, your LAN IP and WAN IP addresses may be dynamic, which means they can change from time to time, especially after a hardware reboot or power outage.


To prevent future issues when either your LAN or WAN IP address changes:


  • Assign a static LAN IP address to your server (check the instructions for your router for how to assign a static IP address to a device).
  • Request a static IP address for your router from your Internet Service Provider.


After you've assigned a static LAN IP address to your server and acquired a static WAN IP address:

  • Configure the port forwarding rule for OnPatrol to forward TCP/IP traffic to the server's static LAN IP address. See Set up port forwarding for OnPatrol Server for more details.
  • Configure your OnPatrol clients to connect to the static WAN IP address assigned by your ISP. See the next section for details.


Are the OnPatrol connection settings correct?


Make sure the device you are trying to connect from has the correct settings:


  1. On the device you are trying to connect from, click the Windows Start menu and type "Informant Configuration Manager," then click Informant Configuration Manager when it appears.
  2. If prompted to make changes to your device, click Yes.
  3. Make sure "Installation Type" says "OnPatrol Client," which is required for remote access. If it doesn't, click Change Installation Type, select ONPATROL CLIENT, and click OK.
  4. Click Connection Setup in the left sidebar.
  5. Make sure "Server" lists your public IP address. If not, click Change Settings, enter the correct public IP address, and then click OK. If you don't know your public IP address, see How to find your public IP address for use with OnPatrol.
  6. If the connection is working, "STATUS" will show "Connection Status: OK." If you don't see this status, check the other sections in this guide.


Is port forwarding set up for incoming connections to the OnPatrol server?


For remote access to Informant to work, your router or network gateway usually will need to have a port forwarding rule set up to allow external connections to the OnPatrol Server application running inside your network.


If you replaced your router after setting up OnPatrol, you will also likely have to set up port forwarding again.


See Set up port forwarding for OnPatrol Server for information on how to set up port forwarding.


Is a firewall or router blocking outgoing connections from OnPatrol clients?


The network where the OnPatrol client is running may be blocking outgoing connections from an OnPatrol client to the OnPatrol Server. This is more common when connecting to OnPatrol from another internal network (such as when OnPatrol is being used by a school resource officer) and less common when using OnPatrol in a patrol car.


This can be confirmed by using a port checking tool, such as YouGetSignal, and entering the OnPatrol server's IP address and port number (11000 by default): if the port checking tool says the port is open, but an OnPatrol client is unable to connect using the same IP address and port number, this means something local to the client is blocking the outgoing connection.


In this case, IT staff will need to configure the network where the OnPatrol client is installed to allow outgoing connections from the OnPatrol computer on any port to the OnPatrol server's public IP address and port (11000 by default).


Is antivirus or third-party firewall software installed on the client blocking the connection?


If you have confirmed that port 11000 is open on your public IP address (such as via YouGetSignal) and a client computer cannot connect to OnPatrol, then it's likely that antivirus or other security software on the client computer is blocking the outgoing connection to the OnPatrol Server.


Consult the documentation for your antivirus/security software and create an exception to allow connections from files in the C:\ProgramData\Informant\Installation folder.