Do You Block Socket Connections To Outside Hosts?

[agusus]

I'm trying to write a CGI script that would telnet to an external host (a chess server), and retrieve a list of users to display on a webpage (updated every hour or so).

 

But I can't connect to the host (using Perl's Net/Telnet.pm module).

When I try to ping the host from the TCH server, I get:

ping: icmp open socket: Operation not permitted

 

does this mean you're blocking socket connections?

Does anyone know another way I can do this?

[TCH-RobertM]

wouldn't that require shell access to run ? if so I dont believe that TCH allows that on shared servers.

I just finished reading something about that a minute ago which is why I am replying

 

if I am incorrect please excuse my ignorance

[jandafields]

No, it would not require shell access to run, just a regular cgi script. You can see that the user is actually running the commands without shell access, the problem is the error that it is returning.

 

About the error:

Actually, the ping error can be fixed by editing a config file (usually the vserver .conf file) Search CAP_NET_RAW for your own personal satisfaction and entertainment if you want.

 

However, access to raw ICMP sockets is disabled for security reasons on many shared servers. I am sure that is the reason here.

 

Anyway, what error are you getting when you actually try to connect (not the ping error).

[MikeJ]

We do block some outgoing non-standard connections. If there is a particular one you need, submit a support ticket with the information about what you need access to.