Determining (Debugging) Why Your Machine Can Not Reach Our Licensing Server Using Process Monitor from Microsoft

Here is what a GOOD connection looks like when using Process Monitor. If you do NOT see this once the filter is set up (described below), then something is blocking the application from accessing the internet and/or the server:

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Use Microsoft's Process Monitor to Debug Licensing Server Connection

Here are instructions to help debug why your PC/server/machine is blocking our API call or can not reach our licensing server (https://v2.knownapi.com and/or IP address 52.45.156.188):

Note: Do NOT try to PING our IP address. For security reasons, we do not respond to pings to this server (that's why we give you an API call to test).

1. Download and run Process Monitor:
   • Go to https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/procmon
   • Download and extract the zip file
   • Run Procmon.exe as Administrator
2. Set up a filter:
   • Click "Filter" in the top menu
   • Click "Filter" again
   • In the "Process Name" field, type the name "Report Runner Unified.exe" (executable is usually C:\Program Files (x86)\Jeff-Net\Report Runner\Report Runner Unified.exe). Note, specific process IDs for Report Runner are shown at the top of all log files if you happen to have multiple executables running at once.
   • Click "Add", then "Apply", then "OK"
3. Reproduce the issue (CLEAR the Display Process Monitor before retrying for easiest review of the data/feedback using menu items Edit, Clear Display):
   • Retry activating your license via the Licensing Manager (or Refreshing your license)
4. Look for blocked connections:
   • In Process Monitor, look for entries containing "TCP" in the "Operation" column (Connect, Send, Receive)
   • If you see "NAME NOT FOUND" or "ACCESS DENIED" in the "Result" column, that's likely the blocked connection
   • If you ONLY see "TCP Disconnect", then something is blocking the application from even attempting a connection by hiding the internet connection
   • The bottom line is if you do not see activity as shown in the screenshot above, something is interfering with the application connecting to our licensing server
5. Check the blocking software:
   • Look at the "Stack" column for the blocked connection
   • The name of the blocking software should appear here (for example "mcafee.sys" for McAfee)

If you still don't see anything, try these additional steps:

6. Check Windows Firewall:
   • Open Control Panel > System and Security > Windows Defender Firewall
   • Click "Allow an app or feature through Windows Defender Firewall"
   • Look for your API's exe in the list and make sure it's checked for both private and public networks
7. Check for other security software:
   • Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc)
   • Look in the "Processes" and "Services" tabs for any running security software

These steps should help identify what's blocking the API call.

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Test Our Licensing API

If you want to see a "test" API call to our licensing server, you can click on this:

https://v2.knownapi.com/api/Tasks/TEST

This does NOT mean "nothing is blocking access to it" if you get a result back. We are simply showing you that are web API is active, working, and responding. This is the type of call we make from within Report Runner.

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Multiple Internet Connections?

One other random possibility, but not common, is your machine has multiple internet connections, and the internet connection the operating system is giving our application to use does not have access to all of the internet. We had an issue with a customer being unable to connect, and it's because our application was using a dedicated internet connection to a remote check printer. In this case, the user had to temporarily disable this connection, and then our application "found" another connection and it worked.

If you are unsure of how many internet connections you have or what's being used, we've created a utility that will display all of your various connections and make a "test" API call (https://v2.knownapi.com/api/Tasks/TEST). When it makes that test, it will monitor which internet connection is used, and tell you if the connection worked or not. Of course, if Report Runner is having issues connecting to the licensing server, this test will probably fail as well. And when this test works, then Report Runner should be able to connect as well. 

Download ZIP: https://knownkeep.s3.amazonaws.com/Known+Keep+Web+API+Tester.zip

or

Download EXE: https://knownkeep.s3.amazonaws.com/Known+Keep+Web+API+Tester.exe

There is nothing to install. Just run the executable. It will look like this when it runs successfully: