Why opening a port in the firewall is necessary
A firewall is a function that protects your computer by blocking unwanted communications from accessing your PC. Any communication that is initiated from inside the firewall is automatically allowed back through; however, if a request is sent from outside the firewall it is automatically blocked. When we assign a port in the Topcon License Server Configuration we tell the software where to listen for requests. The Topcon License Server service is not initiating any communications so we must open the port in the firewall to allow the requests to come in without compromising the security of the computer.
Opening a Port in the Windows Firewall
- Open the Control Panel and select System and Security
- Select Windows Firewall
- In the left portion of the window select Advanced settings
- In the left pane of Windows Firewall with Advanced Security select Inbound Rules
- Under Actions in the right pane, select New Rule...
- Select Port
- Select Next >
- In the Specific local ports box, enter the port number assigned in Topcon License Server Configuration (the default port is shown)
- Select Next >
- Select Allow the connection
- Seelct Next >
- Select the type(s) of network this rule applies to
- Select Next >
- Enter a name for the new rule
- Select Finish
- Your new rule will appear at the top of the list and can be edited or disabled, as needed.
