gethostbyname: unknown error

I am getting this right after the initial install of WINSCP. I am trying to logon for the first time. When logging on for the first after installing, I was prompted by Norton Internet Security to allow access to the internet by the WINSPC program, I did not give access. I subsequently got the error message below. I have since tried to uninstall the WINSCP software, rebooted my machine, disabled Norton, reinstall the software and receieved the same error message.

. --------------------------------------------------------------------------
. WinSCP Version 3.6.1 (Build 221) (OS 5.1.2600 Service Pack 1)
. Login time: Tuesday, November 09, 2004 10:03:15 PM
. --------------------------------------------------------------------------
. Session name: jannunziata@fgate.hillsborough.k12.nj.us
. Host name: fgate.hillsborough.k12.nj.us (Port: 22)
. User name: jannunziata (Password: Yes, Key file: No)
. Transfer Protocol: SFTP (SCP)
. SSH protocol version: 2; Compression: No
. Agent forwarding: No; TIS/CryptoCard: No; KI: Yes; GSSAPI: No
. Ciphers: aes,blowfish,3des,WARN,des; Ssh2DES: No
. Ping type: -, Ping interval: 30 sec; Timeout: 15 sec
. SSH Bugs:
. Proxy: none
. Return code variable: Autodetect; Lookup user groups: Yes
. Shell: default, EOL: 0
. Local directory: default, Remote directory: home, Update: No, Cache: Yes
. Cache directory changes: Yes, Permanent: Yes
. Clear aliases: Yes, Unset nat.vars: Yes, Resolve symlinks: Yes
. Alias LS: No, Ign LS warn: Yes, Scp1 Comp: No
. --------------------------------------------------------------------------
. Looking up host "fgate.hillsborough.k12.nj.us"
* (ESshFatal) gethostbyname: unknown error

If you know IP address of the server, try to enter it instead of the hostname.

martin wrote:

If you know IP address of the server, try to enter it instead of the hostname.

I tried unsuccessfully to enter the IP address. The following is the log file:

Any help would be appreciated.

. --------------------------------------------------------------------------
. Session name: jannunziata@66.243.76.7
. Host name: 66.243.76.7 (Port: 22)
. User name: jannunziata (Password: Yes, Key file: No)
. Transfer Protocol: SFTP (SCP)
. SSH protocol version: 2; Compression: No
. Agent forwarding: No; TIS/CryptoCard: No; KI: Yes; GSSAPI: No
. Ciphers: aes,blowfish,3des,WARN,des; Ssh2DES: No
. Ping type: -, Ping interval: 30 sec; Timeout: 15 sec
. SSH Bugs:
. Proxy: none
. Return code variable: Autodetect; Lookup user groups: Yes
. Shell: default, EOL: 0
. Local directory: default, Remote directory: home, Update: No, Cache: Yes
. Cache directory changes: Yes, Permanent: Yes
. Clear aliases: Yes, Unset nat.vars: Yes, Resolve symlinks: Yes
. Alias LS: No, Ign LS warn: Yes, Scp1 Comp: No
. --------------------------------------------------------------------------
. Looking up host "66.243.76.7"
. Connecting to 66.243.76.7 port 22
. Attempt to close connection due to fatal exception:
* Network error: Connection refused
. Closing connection.
* (ESshFatal) Network error: Connection refused

Anonymous wrote:

* (ESshFatal) Network error: Connection refused

It seems like where is no SSH server on the host. Are you sure there should one?

martin wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

* (ESshFatal) Network error: Connection refused

It seems like where is no SSH server on the host. Are you sure there should one?

I am not sure about the SSH server, however WINSCP is working on another computer in my house using Windows 98 SE. It works on my second computer using the hostname or the IP address.

Is there some switch that may have been set somewhere during the installation that is not getting unset when I uninstall the software?

Anonymous wrote:

I am not sure about the SSH server, however WINSCP is working on another computer in my house using Windows 98 SE. It works on my second computer using the hostname or the IP address.

There's no switch that may affect this. It is probably some problem with network settings on the computer. Have you tried other SSH client?

I was able to log in by just using my IP address. But I have a question...how do i know that this is a secure connection? I am very worried about connecting remotely and somehow giving access to my files to outside hackers. How do you know for sure that you have a secure connection when you login? Thanks

I read the FAQ and understand what you mean about the Client being secure. I am worried about the server. Since this is the first time I am trying this and since the server in this case is just my Mac computer with OS 10.3.6, I am not sure how i can teel if the connection being made is secure. Under Mac OS 10.3.6 you can turn on ssh remote login (secure) or ftp login (not secure I assume)...when i log in with WinSCP I just put in the IP address, not the full address that my mac shows (ssh myname@xxx.xxx.x.xxx)...so how do I know which type of connection it is establishing? Is there only one type of connection that this client can establish, which is secure? In other words, if I can log in it is a secure connection by default? My "server" has both a hardware and a software firewall so I assume that it's secure. thanks for the help!

Anonymous wrote:

I read the FAQ and understand what you mean about the Client being secure. I am worried about the server.

I can see your problem, but, this forum is not the place to ask about your worries on the server. WinSCP simply assumes that the server you are
connecting is a secure-enough server.

Having said that, it might be a good idea to include some sort of 'Properties' menu (or some such) to show us what the server's security cert says.

This might already be in WinSCP, but if it is, I haven't come accross it, yet.

Anonymous wrote:

ssh myname@xxx.xxx.x.xxx

With this, you are assured to get connected to your server over the ssh protocol. However, unless I am mistaken, that does not force the connection to be, say, v2 of ssh --I am informed that ssh v1 has flaws.

Anonymous wrote:

...so how do I know which type of connection it is establishing?

If it succeeds: ssh. nothing but ssh.

Anonymous wrote:

Is there only one type of connection that this client can establish, which is secure?

security, in this case, belongs mostly to the server. WinSCP is secure enough --from my POV.

Anonymous wrote:

In other words, if I can log in it is a secure connection by default?

Yes, but read about v1 vs v2 issues of ssh.

Anonymous wrote:

My "server" has both a hardware and a software firewall so I assume that it's secure. thanks for the help!

Having "both a hardware and a software firewalls" does not automatically make it safe. It all depends upon how secure you have set it up.

Then again, this topic --i.e server security-- does not really belong in here. And, it is not a short & simple two-liner topic.

HTH,

Cheers,
Adem

Adem wrote:

Having said that, it might be a good idea to include some sort of 'Properties' menu (or some such) to show us what the server's security cert says.

This might already be in WinSCP, but if it is, I haven't come accross it, yet.

There are no certificates in SSH. Only thing WinSCP can show is server's public key, which is currently displaied only on the first connection and when it changes. I'll show it in "server/protocol information window" in the next version. But this is not something that will be useful unexperienced used.

I connect to the same server just fine from the office, but when I try to connect through the vpn, I get the same error.

Ideas?

Thanks!

trumpetmic wrote:

I connect to the same server just fine from the office, but when I try to connect through the vpn, I get the same error.

I assume by same error you mean the error saying "connection refused." This means that WinSCP is not being allowed to talk to the server. It could be a firewall on your local computer, a firewall on the remote computer/server, or simply that your network administrator has not allowed connections to that server from the VPN. I'd check with your system or network administrator for assistance. There's nothing WinSCP can do if it's not allowed to talk to the server.