If the server does not appear to be accepting connections from clients, you can first check the current server state by using the bin/server-state command.
Potential reasons the server won't accept client connections include the following:
- The server is not running.
- The underlying system on which the server is installed is not running.
- The server is running but is not reachable as a result of a network or firewall configuration problem. If that is the case, then connection attempts should time out rather than be rejected.
- If the server is configured to allow secure communication via SSL or StartTLS, then a problem with the key manager and/or trust manager configuration can cause connections to be rejected. If that is the case, then messages should be written to the server access log for each failed connection attempt.
- If the server has been configured with a maximum allowed number of connections, then it can be that the maximum number of allowed client connections are already established. If that is the case, then messages should be written to the server access log for each rejected connection attempt.
- If the server is configured to restrict access based on the address of the client, then messages should be written to the server access log for each rejected connection attempt.
- If a connection handler encounters a significant error, then it can stop listening for new requests. If this occurs, then a message should be written to the server error log with information about the problem. You can also restart the server to address this condition.