TROUBLESHOOTING HYLAFAX PROBLEMS
This section contains tips for dealing with the most common problems encountered when setting up and running the software. If you did not follow the instructions in the chapter on ``Server Setup and Basic Configuration'' then do not bother reading this chapter; read the setup information first!

There are several components to the complete HylaFAX software package:

If you are having trouble first try to identify which part of the system is failing. Work forward from the client application to the server machine. On the server machine work from the hfaxd process to the scheduler to the delivery programs. Usually it is pretty obvious which piece of the system has got a problem but if you are unfamiliar with the software you can easily be fooled by error messages that may be passed back to client programs from a process deep within a server machine. The following sections cover specific areas: You can also consult the HylaFAQ for answers to common questions.

TROUBLESHOOTING: CLIENT BASICS

All client applications support a -v option to enable various levels of debugging. It is possible with one or more -v options to trace the protocol between the application and the hfaxd process on the server machine. hfaxd has a ServerTracing configuration parameter that controls various tracing support, including the protocol messages it receives. If you are in doubt whether a problem is on the client machine or the server, try the following:

Run faxstat to request server status. You should see something like:

or possibly, If you do not see something like this, then you are having problems communicating with the hfaxd program on the server machine or there is a configuration problem on the server machine. If you cannot establish a connection to the hfaxd process on the server machine, then verify that you have your FAXSERVER environment variable setup correctly (if the server is not on the same machine where the faxstat program is run) and that both client and server programs are communicating on the same TCP port.

NOTE: Beware of settings that might be present in personal or system-wide configuration files. Some applications such as sendfax search an additional file as well. Consult manual pages for complete information about configuration file handling.

On the server machine make sure that the hfaxd program is setup to run standalone or properly configured to be invoked by the inetd program. If run standalone then hfaxd should be running and have been started with a -i option (and possibly other options). hfaxd should also send messages to the system logging facility whenever it is started up and these messages should identify the client-server protocols it is servicing; e.g.

Otherwise check the contents of /etc/inetd.conf, or similar, for a line of the form: There may also be other entries if support for the old client-server protocol and/or SNPP is enabled.

Be certain that inetd has ``reread'' its configuration file; either send it a SIGHUP or restart it. This should automatically happen when the faxsetup program is run on the server machine.
Note also that the fax service must be defined on the server machine in order for inetd to startup the hfaxd program--check for this entry in the /etc/services file and/or the YP/NIS database.

Note that hfaxd uses the chroot system call to confine clients to the HylaFAX spooling area on the server machine. On most systems only the super-user is permitted to do a chroot call so if hfaxd is not started by the super-user or the executable program is not setup to be setuid-root then it will not function properly. If this happens clients will usually be denied access with a message of the form ``Cannot set privileges.''.

You can also use an existing network program such as telnet or ftp to communicate with the hfaxd process;