I'm running Microsoft SoftGrid, and when my client tries to get updated desktop configuration from the server, I receive an error. Do you know why?

A. You might have received the following error:

The SoftGrid Client could not update desktop configuration information from the server . No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it. Error code: xxxxxx-xxxxxx2A-0000274D

This error occurs when the client can’t communicate with the SoftGrid server. Although the error message states "actively refused," this wording doesn’t mean that the SoftGrid service has refused. This error can be caused by connectivity problems.

First, check the server name and port match on the client and the server. On the server, open the SoftGrid Management Console and navigate to Server, Server Groups, . Right-click the server, and select Properties. On the General tab, make a note of the hostname, and on the Ports tab, make a note of the Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) port (normally 554). On the client, start the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) SoftGrid Client Management snap-in (by navigating to Start, Programs, Administrative Tools, SoftGrid Client Management) and select Desktop Configuration Servers. Then, right-click the server and select Properties. The hostname and ports should match.

If these settings match and you can confirm connectivity between the boxes, the actual service that the client communicates with is the SoftGrid Virtual Application Server service. To ensure that this service is running, you can use the MMC Computer Management snap-in, or just use

net start softgridserver

If you have no connectivity after ensuring that the SoftGrid Virtual Application Server service is running, check for any firewalls between the client and server, including on the server itself. To try and confirm connectivity, you can telnet to the RTSP port:

C:>telnet 554

For example,

C:>telnet demosoftsrv.demogrid.test 554

Press Enter twice at the blank screen, and you should get the response

RTSP/1.0 400 Bad Request
Server: Softricity SoftGrid Server/4.1.0.56 [Win32; Windows NT 5.2]
Date: Wed, 07 Mar 2007 15:52:16 GMT

If you get a response, it means connectivity is working fine. If it doesn’t work, you might need to contact Microsoft support. If you don’t get the above response or the connection is blocked, you probably have a network connectivity problem, or the service still isn’t started.