Thunder connections FAIL!

I am trying in vein to connect Thunder to my sitefinity project, running my local IIS 7.5 server. No matter what IP I give it, the bloody thing will not connect.

I try the localhost:[port number] IP that you get when you select "Go to Administration", but no... that fails with a "Error occurred while connecting to the server." error, right after I enter it in the URL text box.

Then, if I use the IP of my webserver, the one that I bind to the website hosting sitefintiy, I don't get that initial error, but when I try to test the connection, I get "Test connection failed" every... single... time!

The video LIES, it's not that easy to set up the connection! What am I doing wrong? Is it that I'm using IIS with Sitefinity that is causing it to fail?

Hi,

Before connecting, would it be possible to do the following: In Visual Studio, go to Telerik - Sitefinity Thunder - Install Sitefinity Thunder Module and browse to the folder of the project you want to connect to and click install. This will install the Thunder module again. After that, refresh and restart the application. Test the connection again and you should be able to connect without problems. 

I did that, and... fail, fail and BIG SURPRISE, NOT... FAIL!

I cannot understand how something that sounds so simple, is SO FRIGGING HARD TO IMPLEMENT!!

OK, finally got this working. Had to uninstall Thunder, do a registery clean with CCleaner, reinstall Thunder and reboot my machine. To my surprise, when I got Visual Studio up and running, I was able to connect, finally!

Now I have to work out how this Thunder thing functions, so I can add in my custom C# classes for custom web page controls, well widgets now.

[quote]Lurch said:OK, finally got this working. Had to uninstall Thunder, do a registery clean with CCleaner, reinstall Thunder and reboot my machine. To my surprise, when I got Visual Studio up and running, I was able to connect, finally!

Now I have to work out how this Thunder thing functions, so I can add in my custom C# classes for custom web page controls, well widgets now.[/quote]
Lurch,

Thanks for this info. I was able to get a successful Thunder connection using your suggestions above.

However...

There was a new version of Thunder released today. I foolishly thought this wouldn't cause any issues, and let the thing update itself. Big mistake.

My connection now fails all over again. Uninstalling Thunder, cleaning the registry, reinstalling, and rebooting did not help this time.

This is INCREDIBLY FRUSTRATING. There are at least four or five other threads about this exact same issue, and no one can provide a decent solution. In fact, despite multiple questions about it, no one has addressed whether there's even a log somewhere we can check to see WHY the remote connection consistently fails.

UGGH!

Addendum: Deleted all Thunder-related files from the live site; rebuilt project and published. Thunder connects just enough to retrieve membership providers, but the test connection continues to fail. Once again, this connection was working until the update today.

Addendum #2: Found this entry in ~/App_Data/Sitefinity/Logs/Error.log:

Hi,

Did you install the site module again after you updated the Visual Studio extension by going to TELERIK-Sitefinity Thunder - Install Sitefintiy Thunder Module from the VS menu? This steps needs to be repeated every time the a new version is downloaded, this is the most likely cause for the connection error. This version was released to add support for the recently released hotfixes, it does not contain any changes that could cause issues. 

[quote]Atanas Valchev said:Hi,

Did you install the site module again after you updated the Visual Studio extension by going to TELERIK-Sitefinity Thunder - Install Sitefintiy Thunder Module from the VS menu?[/quote]
Oh yes. Just tried it again, in fact, and the connection still fails.

Please keep in mind that this connection repeatedly failed until I followed Lurch's suggestion above from March 18. Now even those steps won't allow me to connect.

I thought perhaps the fact that I've got SSL required for backend login might have something to do with it, but using "https://" in the connection string prevents even the membership providers from being discovered.

Update: Another new version of Thunder was released today. I installed that, uninstalled and reinstalled Sitefinity itself (v. 5.2), installed the Thunder module to the local project, built the project and published to the server, logged into the server as admin before trying to connect with Thunder, and VIOLA'! Thunder can now connect.

Not sure what I did differently this time or what changed, but it works.

Thanks,
Kevin

I've tried installing the thunder module and it keeps saying that the folder is an invalid Sitefinity folder.

I was having TONS of problems with Thunder as well... I'm not sure how/when/why it happened, but ALL the Thunder related files became corrupted, preventing them from being overwritten, deleted, or even renamed.  The Thunder interface in VS just kept saying "Invalid Sitefinity Folder".   I recreated the directory structure of my site minus the Thunder files and I was then able to install and connect.

As a first step i did Install Sitefinity module and then tried to connect.. it works fine  thank you.

I was running into the same issue as Lurch.  Unlike him I was able to follow Valchev's suggestion to get my connection up and running.

Hi telerik team.. 

Is there any way to connect sitefinity thunder using different domain/network url.?

while trying to connect using other network url it shows an error like Test connection failed, but its successfully  connects for same domain url.

because here im creating a sitefinity project in server machine, and i need to connect that project with thunder from other machine. Can any one please let me know how to do that ?

Thank you.

Hi,

You should be able to connect ok to either project. Use the url to connect and just make sure that thunder module for the project you are connecting to is up to date (you can do this from the visual studio menu for Thunder and install the module assembly to the project you are connecting).

Regards,
Atanas Valchev
Telerik

My issue appears to be a 401 problem.  I am using a VPN to connect to a VM and my local machine which has VS 2013 is attempting to connect to the deployed project on the VM's IIS.  I can get there via the UI (web sites and configuration dashboards, etc.) but when I attempt to make the connection it fails.  Just need to confirm that if I am connecting via an IP and I set up the site over there to be the default one on port 80 I would use the following for the url:   http://###.###.###.###/SiteFinity  and for credentials I would use (assuming the trial version) admin and admin ... or is this incorrect?  Should I be using the app pool credentials (albeit on a totally different domain?)    Thanks

My issue appears to be a 401 problem.  I am using a VPN to connect to a VM and my local machine which has VS 2013 is attempting to connect to the deployed project on the VM's IIS.  I can get there via the UI (web sites and configuration dashboards, etc.) but when I attempt to make the connection it fails.  Just need to confirm that if I am connecting via an IP and I set up the site over there to be the default one on port 80 I would use the following for the url:   http  ... the IP ... and nothing after the slash (I tried Sitefinity but that seems to fail immediately)    and for credentials I would use (assuming the trial version) admin and admin ... or is this incorrect?  Should I be using the app pool credentials (albeit on a totally different domain?)    Thanks

Hello,

That is correct, just http and the ip, if you have not added the fully qualified domain yet. When you add this, you need to use the credentials for the Sitefinity user that you created for Thunder. If the thunder module is installed correctly, you should be able to connect. The easiest way to test this would be to run the project locally on IIS and try connecting there.

Regards,
Atanas Valchev
Telerik

Thanks Kavin,

This works for me too.

Having said that, I am wondering, is there any way, so that we can block latest version of thunder to interfere with existing-working version, as I noticed, there wasn't any particular pointer to think on thunder's update, rather I spent some time to look into my solution & its configuration itself, :-( & only got to worked it, after your post.

Thanks again.

Hello,

We have our Sitefinity site installed on a server separate from our development boxes.  I am trying to set up Code Sync.  I am, first of all, unable to load Sitefinity Explorer, and get the message:

"The installed Thunder module is not updated.  Please, reinstall the module..."

1) I had just installed the most current version of Thunder, so I don't understand the "not updated" message.

2) When I do attempt to install  the module, I'm prompted with a message box that states "Select a Sitefinity project...".  However, again, I am running Visual Studi on a DIFFERENT server than the one on which Sitefinity is installed.

The documentation has been of no help.  How do I proceed?

Benjamin Haag

Hello Benjamin,

Can you please check and ensure if the Thunder module is active (Administration > Modules & Services)

Ensure also that the module is upgraded on both machines, as per that instructions:
http://docs.sitefinity.com/thunder-upgrade

Code Sync could be set-up by following the instruction as per that article:
http://docs.sitefinity.com/code-sync or as per the instructions available on its start page:
Telerik > Sitefinity Thunder > Start Page

Regards,
Svetoslav Manchev
Telerik

No matter what i do, this does not work for me. Installed the module, uninstalled, rebooted, updated... When i type in the url it just does not work especially with the latest thunder module.

So frustrating and I cannot do my work, c'mon guys please help?

I don't get it what rocket science has applied no matter what you do you'll see "error occurred while connecting to the server." I have created a brand new application and followed every single step but nothing worked for me.

I don't know how it gonna work,  because whenever you are running application local you'll see a different port number. So, how this connection will work?  

I have done each and every step to establish a connection. Re-installed thunder module, closed the sitefinity project manager, rebooted my machine. Even I enter valid url and admin credentials, still it shows "Test connection Failed". I've tried 100 times but everytime it fails. Please help me 

Regards

Sanjay Sharma