Mac OS X Server

“PWD Failed to Start Listener” Errors in CommuniGate

I originally posted this at http://www.318.com/TechJournal

PWD Service issues on Communigate Pro
When running Communigate Pro on a Mac OS X Server, many users have had issues with an error that reads:
PWD failed to start listener on [0.0.0.0:106]. Error Code=network address (port) is already in use

The PWD service in Communigate Pro is used to interface with Stalker’s custom API for programming extensions to Communigate. This can often just be ignored unless you need to use the PWD service.

This error is caused because another service is already running on port 106 for TCP traffic. Using netstat –a will tell you that it is the passwordservice that is running on port 106. In order to get the PWD service to start for CommuniGate you will need to change the port for one of these two services. The easiest one is by far the CommuniGate Pro PWD service.

To do this:
1. Open your Communigate Pro Administrative Portal (typically 127.0.0.1:8010 from the server)
2. Click on Acccess
3. Authenticate if you are asked to do so
4. Click on listener under the section for Serving PWD Clients
5. Type in a new Port (personally I use 1060, but make sure it doesn’t conflict with any other ports)
6. Click on the Update button

That’s it. Those annoying PWD errors should disappear from your logs. Most people don’t actually use any of the PWD features, but if you do and you are not already getting an error that the PWD service is not running then this could break the API based applications you are using and you may need to customize the port for the application.