"localhost refused to connect." error on starting HFS 0.55.0 (build 2024-12-30T14:34:39.587Z)

[pboulton]

The web interface refuses to load where previously it was working fine. The load process output is:

HFS ~ HTTP File Server © Massimo Melina <[email protected]> - License https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.txt started 2025-01-02 12:11:05 version 0.55.0 build 2024-12-30T14:34:39.587Z working directory (cwd) C:\PortableApps\HFS node v18.20.4 platform win32 x64 binary pid 18236 12:11:05 config config.yaml 12:11:06 HINT: type "help" for help 12:11:06 http serving on any network : 80 12:11:06 serving on http://192.168.1.165 12:11:06 serving on http://172.30.112.1 12:11:06 upnp found http://192.168.1.254:57220/6890d55c/rootDesc.xml 12:11:07 loading plugin antibrute

I am running on Windows 11 Professional.

I have a feeling that the issue may have been caused by an attempt to renew the https certificate through the interface which failed. However, I have deleted the contents of the HFS folder and unzipped the latest build into it, and am still getting the issue.

I have disabled Windows Defender Firewall and still get the issue.

I don't believe I have any other applications using port 80, other than the PID associated with Microsoft Edge browser:

C:\Windows\System32>netstat -aon | findstr :80 TCP 192.168.1.165:51685 192.168.1.149:8009 ESTABLISHED 18084

Any suggestions for restoring operation would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

[SanokKule]

Run netsh interface portproxy show all in cmd/powershell as admin.
Do you have any port proxies here?

[pboulton]

Thank you for the suggestion. No, I get no output whatsoever from the netsh interface portproxy show all command as admin. So I assume that means no port proxies.

I wonder whether the virtual network adaptors from my Hyper-V could be causing an issue? I get the following list:

Name: vEthernet (External3)
Interface Description: Hyper-V Virtual Ethernet Adapter #2
MAC Address: 40-AE-30-7C-B4-AC
Status: Up

Name: Ethernet 3
Interface Description: Realtek PCIe GbE Family Controller #2
MAC Address: D8-BB-C1-05-E8-C4
Status: Not Present

Name: vEthernet (Default Switch)
Interface Description: Hyper-V Virtual Ethernet Adapter
MAC Address: 00-15-5D-48-47-D5
Status: Up

Name: Network Bridge
Interface Description: Microsoft Network Adapter Multiplexor Driver
MAC Address: 40-AE-30-7C-B4-AC
Status: Up

Name: WiFi
Interface Description: TP-Link Wireless MU-MIMO USB Adapter
MAC Address: 40-AE-30-7C-B4-AC
Status: Up

The WiFi one at the bottom is the 'physical' adaptor. I have an Ethernet adaptor disabled in Device Manager.

[SanokKule]

I don't think they should affect that

[rejetto]

1. what is the previous version that used to work?
2. are you opening http://localhost ?

the certificate cannot stop the http, only the https

[SanokKule]

The fact you don't see something like: TCP 0.0.0.0:80 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING 24156
when running netstat -aon | findstr :80 is weird by itself

[rejetto]

right!

[pboulton]

OP here. If I type "http://localhost/" into the Edge address bar it converts to https and "ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED"

I tried Laragon instead and "https://localhost:8080/" and it returns "ERR_SSL_PROTOCOL_ERROR", which may or may not be indicative of anything.

Though I wonder if there may be an issue with my certificate store?

I accept this is not a HFS issue but an issue somewhere with my computer. Thanks for all the replies - much appreciated!

[rejetto]

8080 is normally http, not https, so you may want to try http://localhost:8080 instead.

but if hfs says "http serving on any network : 80", you will probably find some other software on 8080, not hfs.

[pboulton]

Thank you. You're right, the HFS Powershell window does say http serving on any network : 80. Using Nirsoft's CurrPorts utility, I get this when HFS starts (but the web interface page reports ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED):

Does that mean it's not a ports in use issue? Is there anything you'd suggest I can do to get a handle on why this is happening?

Many thanks for taking the time to try to help me - it is much appreciated!

[rejetto]

you said your firewall is off, so i really don't know. It's still like some other software is preventing HFS from working.
I know it's not wrong configuration of HFS blocking you because you would see error ERR_EMPTY_RESPONSE.
Do you confirm you are using the browser on the same machine you are running HFS ?
You say localhost doesn't work, but did you try other addresses printed by HFS at start, like http://192.168.1.165 ?
Also you can try a different browser, and if you can, make a test running hfs on a different computer.

[pboulton]

Yes, I'm running the browser on the same machine as I'm running HFS.

Great suggestion on trying http://192.168.1.165. I get to the standard user interface. If I manually change the address bar to http://192.168.1.165/~/admin/ I get "Admin-panel only for localhost. because no admin account was configured". On latest Edge and Firefox.

I installed HFS on another computer on the same network (router) as you suggested. This works fine, including setting up port forwarding on my router, other than on the 'Internet' page of the HFS admin interface. where the 'Internet check' fails with:

We couldn't reach your server from the Internet. Possible causes: There could be a firewall, try configuring or disabling it. Your Internet Provider may be blocking ports under 1024. A bug in your modem/router, try rebooting it. HFS will probably not be reachable on the Internet.

I am using a Plusnet Hub 2 in the UK, which is the same as the BT Hub 2. I don't have a different router to try, but could the issue be router-related? (Though as everything works on the other computer apart from access to HFS from outside my network, there's clearly more that's wrong on the original machine!)

Many thanks again for taking all your time on helping me. Very much appreciated.

[rejetto]

it's very strange that localhost is not working on your computer, while other addresses are.
The only thing that comes to my mind is when another software is listening on localhost, same port, while HFS is listening (after the other software) on "any".
Check if other softwares are listening on port 80, but I doubt that, because then you shouldn't get ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED.
You are totally positive that's not the firewall, right?

no admin account was configured

you can use the create-admin command as reported in https://github.com/rejetto/hfs/?tab=readme-ov-file#installation

[pboulton]

I select 'Windows Defender Firewall' (on Win11), 'Turn Windows Defender Firewall on or off' link and then choose 'off' on the next screen, all indicators red and not green, and then clicking OK. No reboot, which I don't think is necessary. And I still have the issue.

The image in https://github.com/rejetto/hfs/discussions/849#discussioncomment-11724607 in my previous post suggests (?) that there is no other software on the same port.

Sorry for this being so difficult. I totally accept it's an issue with my computer, not HFS!

[rejetto]

don't worry, i'm curious on what's causing you the problem, although i ran out of ideas.
the firewall doesn't require reboot, correct.
the image you posted don't show what filter is applied to the list, just the results, so i cannot know if there's another process on port 80. You could have filtered by process name, for what i know.

[meemore]

I am having the same problems

[rejetto]

did you read all that was already suggested above?