Troubleshooting

Use these tips to troubleshoot the results of testing your deployment.

Admin Console doesn't start after installation on the primary

If Admin Console doesn't start on the primary machine after you run the FileMaker Server installation program, the most common solutions are:

  • On the primary machine, start Admin Console either by:

    • entering http://127.0.0.1:16001/admin-console into a web browser.

    • using a desktop shortcut. To start Admin Console using a desktop shortcut:

      • Windows: Double-click the FileMaker Server Admin Console shortcut on the desktop.

      • Windows versions with the Start menu: Click Start menu > All apps or All Programs > FileMaker Server > FileMaker Server Admin Console.

      • Windows versions with the Start screen: Go to the Start screen and click FileMaker Server Admin Console.

      • macOS: Double-click the FileMaker Server Admin Console shortcut on the desktop.

  • Windows: On the primary machine, ensure that IIS is enabled (see Enabling the IIS web server in Windows). In IIS Manager, check that the site named FMWebSite has started.

  • When you open the URL http://127.0.0.1:16001/admin-console in a web browser, if the web browser displays a message like "Can't Open the Page," then the browser may be enforcing HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) for local host URLs. To correct the issue, clear the browser history.

  • If the Admin Server process does not respond within 60 seconds to the FileMaker Server installation program, the following message appears: "The FileMaker Server Admin Console is not available."

    If you see this message:

    1. Restart the Admin Server process by entering the following command in a command prompt (Windows) or the Terminal application (macOS) , or a Linux terminal application (Linux):

      fmsadmin restart adminserver

    2. In Windows, stop and then restart the FileMaker Server service in the Windows Administrative Tools > Services control panel.

    3. If your server computer has a firewall, make sure all required ports are open in the firewall. (See Ports used by FileMaker Server.)

    4. If your machine is running slowly, shut down any unnecessary applications.

    5. Restart your machine. Open a web browser on the primary machine and enter http://127.0.0.1:16001/admin-console

Secondary machine Admin Console doesn't start after installation on the secondary machine

If the secondary machine Admin Console doesn't start after you run the FileMaker Server installation program:

  • On the secondary machine, start the Admin Console either by double-clicking the FileMaker Server Deployment Assistant shortcut on the desktop, or by entering http://127.0.0.1:16003 in a web browser.

Cannot start Admin Console from a remote machine

If you cannot start Admin Console from a remote machine but you can from the primary machine, the most common solutions are:

  • Ensure that you're using the correct URL:

    http://[host]/admin-console

    where [host] is the IP address of the server.

    See Starting Admin Console.

  • If the primary machine has a firewall enabled, open the ports required by FileMaker Server to communicate with users and administrators. See Ports used by FileMaker Server.

Web browsers display a certificate message

Web browsers may display a certificate error or warning message when you use an HTTPS connection to go to any webpage hosted by the FileMaker Server web server. This includes Admin Console, a FileMaker WebDirect solution, or a Custom Web Publishing solution that uses an HTTPS connection. Displaying this message is expected behavior if your FileMaker Server deployment uses the default SSL certificate provided with FileMaker Server.

  • To proceed to the desired page, users can click the option in the web browser to continue.

  • To prevent this error message, see Requesting an SSL certificate.

Clients cannot see databases hosted by FileMaker Server

  • The firewall settings on the primary machine may be blocking the display of databases to clients. See Ports used by FileMaker Server for information on which ports need to be unblocked in firewalls.

  • Use supported clients to open files that are hosted by FileMaker Server. See the FileMaker Server system requirements.

  • Make sure users have applied the most recent update of their client software.

Apache web server used by FileMaker Server stops responding (macOS)

Ensure that no other websites or HTTP services in macOS use the ports required by the FileMaker Server web server. For example, if you have the macOS Server application installed and use it to enable HTTP services such as websites or a wiki, the existing Apache instance installed in macOS may be reenabled after FileMaker Server is installed.

To ensure the Apache instance used by FileMaker Server works normally, you need to configure any other HTTP services to use different ports from the ports that FileMaker Server uses, disable other HTTP services, or uninstall the macOS Server application.