HS3 pro install help w/ 2012 essentials r2

[screamincamaro]

I have a 2012 server essentials r2 micro server I would like to run hs3 pro on. Is anyone currently doing the same and any suggestions on how to set it up?

Thanks

[IanIreland]

I have mine running on Server 2012 R2.
Just set it up as you would on any PC.

[screamincamaro]

I was able to get it installed, running, and access from the server. It sounds like IE doesn't play well with it. Didn't want to install another web browser on my server. I have Google Chrome installed on other PCs in my local network. I can't access it on the assigned port from any of the other PC's in my local network. Suggestions on what the issue might be?

[S-F]

I think IE is the recommended browser.

I'm running HS3 on WHS 2011 (Server 2008 R2) so I'm a tad familiar with your situation. Sounds like a firewall problem to me. I had a 5 on of those when moving to WHS from Windows 7.

[IanIreland]

I was able to get it installed, running, and access from the server. It sounds like IE doesn't play well with it. Didn't want to install another web browser on my server. I have Google Chrome installed on other PCs in my local network. I can't access it on the assigned port from any of the other PC's in my local network. Suggestions on what the issue might be?

I use IE and it works fine. Try turning the firewall off and see if you can access

[randy]

I was able to get it installed, running, and access from the server. It sounds like IE doesn't play well with it. Didn't want to install another web browser on my server. I have Google Chrome installed on other PCs in my local network. I can't access it on the assigned port from any of the other PC's in my local network. Suggestions on what the issue might be?

Windows Server Essentials automatically enables IIS on port 80. You'll need to put HomeSeer on another port.

[S-F]

Windows Server Essentials automatically enables IIS on port 80. You'll need to put HomeSeer on another port.

Oh yeah. I had to do that too.

[Rupp]

Windows Server Essentials automatically enables IIS on port 80. You'll need to put HomeSeer on another port.

You can also stop IIS and then change the port it's using as well. Especially if you are using IIS.

[randy]

You can also stop IIS and then change the port it's using as well. Especially if you are using IIS.

That's true. The only reason I suggested moving HomeSeer is because it is easier. If he is using Anywhere Access, VPM, media sharing, etc, it is easier to move HomeSeer than the WSE bindings to ports 80 and 443.

[screamincamaro]

Yes, I had to move hs3 to port 8080 to get it running and I still can't access it from other desktops on my network.

[LeoS]

Other than double checking firewall, you might want to disable ip blacklisting (and restart homeseer?) just in case it put your other computers into its ignore/blacklist due to too many repetitive connections.

[IanIreland]

Also worth checking you can ping the server.

[Rupp]

Yes, I had to move hs3 to port 8080 to get it running and I still can't access it from other desktops on my network.

If you stop IIS can you connect if HS3 is on port 80?

[randy]

Yes, I had to move hs3 to port 8080 to get it running and I still can't access it from other desktops on my network.

I just installed HomeSeer on a test instance of WSE 2012, set it to port 81 and it worked well, no firewall or other issues. I'm sure yours could work as well. If you think it might be a firewall issue, temporarily disable it. If you are using the browser from within a WSE user session you might want to disable Explorer's ESC, make sure you know your servers IP (if it has multiple connected NICs try each of them), then try to connect to XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:81 (or :8080) from the server's browser. If that works, it should work anywhere on your network.

I had initially tried HomeSeer last year on my WSE server, and there were just too many reasons not to. The first problem is that WSE relies heavily on its IIS integration for remote apps, remote access, VPN, etc. so it is really a lot of work to get it to play well without leaving it on port 80. I would recommend that HomeSeer be put on port 81 and leave the server configuration. The second problem is that HomeSeer is designed from the ground up to be run in the user mode. Running it on WSE requires that you have it running under an active user for all features to work properly. Running it as a task is possible as is using a product like Fire Daemon Pro, but it may be crippled or unreliable - HomeSeer runs best in user mode.

My final solution was to build a VM with an instance of Windows 7 - if you haven't, just install the Hyper-v role. I installed and configured HomeSeer and it worked very well except it seemed a little slow loading webpages. My second solution was to move the VM to an SSD which made the VM just as fast as a physical machine. I subsequently switched the O/S to Windows 8.1 to get a little more speed and some better TTS voices. I have also tested it on Windows 10 and it works fine as well. With it on a VM, you can turn off UAC (sometimes a problem with HS and plug-ins), run it where it automatically starts logged in so that HS can run in user mode. You have snapshots for recovery and you can keep all of the security and design features of WSE 2012 intact.

If you still want to run it on WSE, I'm sure several of us can walk you through it. Also, let us know your technical skill level with WSE so we don't assume wrongly one way or the other. I am moderately skilled.

[screamincamaro]

Yes, I can ping the server.