Communication via several Coordinators does not work

[BenediktBurger]

My measurement control program can communicate with components connected to the same Coordinator, but not with components connected to another Coordinator, which is located on another computer.
All computers use Windows.

(Question from a Coworker)

[BenediktBurger]

Problem description

Sometimes windows update changes the firewall rules to blocking incoming connections.
Coordinators use two symmetric connections for communication, each Coordinator sends messages via its outgoing connection to the other Coordinator.
If a Firewall blocks incoming connections, the Coordinator can send messages, but will never receive messages from the other Coordinator.

Investigate problem

The following code gives a clue, whether the connection is asymmetrically broken:

from pyleco.directors.coordinator_director import CoordinatorDirector
d = CoordinatorDirector()
d.get_nodes()  # this shows all known Coordinators (outgoing)
d.get_global_components()  # this shows all connected Coordinators (incoming) with attached Components

If d.get_nodes() does show the other Coordinator (and you know that the other Coordinator is running), but d.get_global_components() does not show it, probably the firewall blocks the connection.

Solve problem

1. Start a Coordinator (if you do not want to stop the other one, start it with a new port number), for example with coordinator -p 12345.
2. If the firewall is the problem, a firewall allow window should pop up, asking to allow network connection for that program.
3. Allow network connection for python for your network situation (domain, local, unsecure network).