Trouble shooting for connection/proxy problems

 
This page is designed to assist you in troubleshooting proxy/ connection related problems before they are escalated, and also to ensure that you are able to provide support staff with all the necessary information when such a problem is escalated.
Please ensure you have captured all the information below, and completed all the appropriate steps before logging a job with myinternet support.

Check List

Below are all the questions you should be asking the customer, as well as tests that you and the customer should be completing before logging a job for Plus. Each item is linked to a more in-depth explanation as to what steps to take for each, and what information is required from each question or test. 

What are the symptoms of the problem?

It is important that the customer gives you a precise description of the problem, including the following things: 
    Do they receive an error message? YES
    Are they being prompted for authentication? NO 
    Does the browser time out when trying to retrieve pages? YES 
    Are pages being displayed incorrectly when using the Plus proxy? YES
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Who is experiencing the problem?

Get specific login names. If all users are having the problem, it is still important to note down at least a couple of users who have had the problem, and when they had it. This sort of info is extremely useful to myinternet support staff, when using proxy logs as a diagnostic tool. If only particular users at the school are having a problem, the problem is more likely to be with the network, or user machine than with Plus. Check browser configurations etc, and get the user to try accessing from a different machine at the school. Also check the particular users privileges in SINA ® (Schoolsnet Internet Network Administrator), and try resetting the users password if the problem is with authentication. Also, check that the problem is occurring for both sides of the network. If the problem only occurs on the admin or curriculum side, the problem lies with the network side. Check that the local network addresses in the myinternet database (viewable through management) are correct. If they are not, log a job with myinternet to change the addresses.

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When does the problem occur?

Get the fine details of what the customer is doing or trying to do when the problem occurs. If the problem is intermittent , get times and dates that the problem has occurred so that the logs for the relevant times can be looked at.

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What pages is the customer trying to access?

The main diagnostic tool used by myinternet for proxy related problems is the squid log. As the logs record ALL hits on the proxy server, it is difficult to obtain useful information unless we have something specific to look for. If the customer is having problems with all sites, we still need examples of specific sites they have tried accessing while the problem was occurring. Get exact urls. If the customer is having a problem getting to some sites and not others, get examples of both. This assists us when determining the nature of the problem as we can ascertain the differences between the sites, which will point to the problem. If the user is only having problems with specific sites, always check that the problem sites are not in the customer's browser exceptions, or autoproxy pac file. If they are, the problem is outside of myinternet's relm, as the Plus proxy is not being utilised to retrieve these sites. 

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Error messages

If the customer is receiving an error message, always get the exact wording. Try to establish the source of the error message. 
Is the error generated by squid? 
If this is the case, get all the appropriate details, and a screen dump of the error message and log a job with myinternet.
Is the error generated by the browser?
Check the browser settings. Try clearing the browser cache. Try accessing using a different browser, or the same browser on a different machine. Get the school to try these things, and try them yourself, both using the proxy, and going direct. If the problem is only visible on some machines, check the configurations for both, and correct the differences.
Is the error generated by the web server of the page they are trying to retrieve? 
If this is the case then the problem is more than likely a remote problem which we will be unable to assist with.

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No Authentication prompt

If the school is not being prompted at all for authentication, this could mean a number of things. It is possible that the proxy is down. You should test this by trying to access the internet through the same proxy that the school is using. Try pinging the schools proxy interface, and telneting to the interface on port 3128. If these tests fail, log a job with myinternet describing the problem.

If you are able to contact the proxy, find out if the school has an onsite proxy server. If they do, get them to bypass their onsite and point directly to proxy.schooldomain. See if this solves the problem. Note that some lans are set up so that it isn't possible to bypass the onsite. 

If neither of these things seem to be causing the problem, you should contact the appropriate network people for the deployment and get them to check the network side of things.

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Page Timeouts

With page timeouts, you should check first whether all sites are affected. If only some sites are affected, you should try going to these sites yourself, through proxies, and directly. If you can get the site ok through the same proxy the school is using, then the proxy is ok. Check if the sites that the customer is trying to access are actually being fetched through the SINA® proxy (are they in the customer's browser exceptions, or autoproxy pac file?) Ask the customer whether they have an onsite proxy. If they do, does bypassing the onsite solve the problem? If so, check the onsite configuration. If you have been unable to determine the nature of the problem, please complete all steps in the check list and log a job with myinternet. 

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Onsite Proxy Servers

It is important with all connection problems to find out whether the customer is using an onsite proxy, and more importantly, whether bypassing the onsite proxy fixes the problem. If it does, then the issue needs to be investigated at the school's end, and not with myinternet.

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Incorrect page display

Pages can sometimes be displayed incorrectly due to conflicts between our proxies and the code or scripts used in the site. If you receive a complaint from a customer about this, you should try going to the site both through SINA® proxies and through a direct connection. If the problem is that images are not being displayed, check that the images are not being fetched from a domain which is blocked by the central filters list. If you have checked these things and determined that the proxy is the cause, log a job with myinternet and the problem will be investigated.

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