Remote Client Setup
You can set up client machines to access a DiffDog Server that is located on another machine. To do this you will need to (i) copy the cmdlclient subfolder from the DiffDog Server installation folder and (ii) set the client configuration file to access DiffDog Server on the remote machine. In this way you can set up multiple clients to access a DiffDog Server.
This topic describes client setup and how to fix common problems.
Client setup steps
1.Make sure that DiffDog Server is installed, licensed and running as a service (see Setup on Windows, Setup on Linux and Setup on macOS).
2.In the server configuration file make sure that the address and port for client requests are correct according to your requirements. The respective defaults are 127.0.0.1 and 29800. To enable incoming connections from other machines, set the address parameter to 0.0.0.0. Also ensure that the server's address and port are not blocked by a firewall.
3.Restart DiffDog Server as a service (see Step 1 above).
4.If the client machine runs on the same operating system and platform as the server machine, copy the cmdlclient subfolder from the DiffDog Server installation folder to a suitable location on the client machine. If the client machine runs on a different machine than the server: (i) download DiffDog Server for the client's OS and install it on the client machine, (ii) copy the cmdlclient subfolder from the installation folder of the client to another folder on the client, (iii) uninstall DiffDog Server from the client (which leaves you with only the cmdlclient subfolder on the client).
5.On the client machine, edit the client configuration file so that it points to the address and port where DiffDog Server listens for HTTP client requests.
On the client machine, you can now use the client executable diffdogcmdlclient to run DiffDog Server commands. On running a command, the client connects to DiffDog Server to call the server command. Here is an example command that compares a file on the client with a file on the server.
diffdogcmdlclient diff --client-left=path\to\client\file.txt --server-right=path\to\server\file.txt --mode=text
Troubleshooting
The following table lists common problems that you might encounter and their solutions.
Incompatible Windows version
Problem: On running DiffDogCmdlClient.exe on Windows, an error message is displayed at the command line: This version is not compatible with the version of Windows you're running. Check your computer's system information and then contact the software publisher.
Solution: This could occur if you run a 64-bit executable on a 32-bit operating system (or vice versa). Install the appropriate DiffDog Server version for your Windows version.
Wrong file selection for the "diff" command
Problem: On running the diff command, an error message is displayed at the command line: Unknown error processing the command line.
Solution: Ensure that paths on the server are supplied with the --server-left or --server-right options and that paths on the client are supplied with the --client-left or --client-right options.
Files access on the server is restricted
Problem: On running the diff command, an error message is displayed at the command line: Server is restricting file access to aliases, but client didn't specify an alias name.
Solution: Specify the command's --alias option.
Read/write error
Problem: On running the diff command, an error message is displayed at the command line: [ERROR] FatalError: I/O operation on file 'file:///home/etc//Address.xsd' failed. Details: System Error 13: Permission denied [ERROR] [PH] Failed to prepare path for comparison. Check log for more info.
Solution: Make sure that you have read-write access to the necessary paths on the remote server.