My Successful Configuration of Screen Monkey Lite 1.8k

Configuration for Screen Monkey Lite 1.8k

Ok, this is how I set up Port Forwarding for Screen Monkey Lite 1.8k, and made changes to my router, and firewall, and Screen Monkey's Preferences to get it successfully working. I didn't really find a good overview of the entire process so I thought this might help. I have it successfully running on Window's Vista.

Note - I did not us uPnP, nor did I configure a static IP, my PC's IP seldom changes.

Step 1

I looked for my current IP, by opening Windows Network and Sharing Center Control Panel. In the window, just above the image of the world with the word internet below it is the text, "view full map". If you click on this link Windows will build a map of your home network. This only takes a moment and if you then put your pointer over your PC it will tell you what the ipv4 address is, your IP. It is a series of digits, typically in the form nnn.nnn.n.n where "n" represents a digit; copy this number down it will come in handy later.

Screen Monkey is a server program and you will be running it from your PC. That is why you need your IP.

You will require access to your router, which means that you must be able to log into it and change the settings. I chose to configure it manually rather than use uPnP (user plug and play) and uPnP is turned off by default in my router.

Step 2

I logged into my router using 192.168.0.1 This is typed into your browser address bar, and you press enter. Not all routers use this address. You will be prompted to enter the admin name and password for your router. If you are successful, your router will launch an administration interface in your browser and you will be able to change the settings.

In my case access to the port forwarding settings was under the routers "Advanced" tab. There I found another tab for "Forwarding" which allowed me to create a new ipv4 entry and enter the following values:

Local IP, nnn.nnn.n.n, matching the pc running the Screen Monkey game server from Step 1
Local Start Port, 10015
Local End Port, 10015
External IP, leave blank because this is for a Remote Host Address
External Start Port, 10015
External End Port, 10015
Protocol, set to TCP by default, change to "Both"
Description, Screen Monkey Port 10015
Enabled, Off by default, turn On.

In my case I needed to click on apply, and then log out of the router. I did not need to restart it.

Step 3

Windows Firewall also needs to be configured. This is an essential step, for without configuring the firewall to allow access on port 10015 my experience has been that when a player attempts to connect to the game they will get an error message:

The connection has timed out
The server at xxx.xxx.xx.xxx is taking too long to respond.

Note - I also noticed that software that reports on the open port will also indicate it is open even though it is blocked at the PC by the firewall, which is somewhat misleading. Note that the xxx... address won't match your PCs IP from Step 1, do not be alarmed... It has to do with your ISP on the other side of the router...

You must create an entry, "an exception", for port 10015 twice. Once for TCP and once for UDP. To do this open Windows Control Panel, "Windows Security Center", and click on "Windows Firewall", and then click on "Allow a Program Through Windows Firewall", this is an administrative function, so you will be prompted to continue. When the window opens click on the button "Add a Port". Enter the following:

Name: Port_1015_Screen_Monkey_TCP
Port: 10015
Check the radio button TCP

click OK

Repeat the process for UDP:

Name: Port_1015_Screen_Monkey_UDP
Port: 10015
Check the radio button UDP

click OK, close the Security Center.

Step 4

Start Screen Monkey. In Screen Monkey, the preferences are set by default, and you should re-configure them from the menu File/Preferences, be sure to reame your session, change any other information, and change the default passwords! Write the player password down! Your players will need it. When you are done click ok. Note that the port is already be set to 10015 by default; which matches both the firewall and the router configuration.

You use the Announce Button at the top left of Screen Monkey, when the dialog box appears leave the IP/Address URL field blank. The Game Info fields show up at NBOS exchange when your game is announced. Type in a description of the game.

Note that there is a little link in this window which will open your browser at the exchange site. The site won't show your game until you click OK and refresh the browser page.

Click OK.

Refresh your browser window to see your game announcement. At the NBOS web page Players can log in by clicking on the announcement there (a link) and no one can log in to it without the Player Password you set in the preferences. You will have to send this password by email to your players!

When you click on the announced game, it will open in your browser and if everything is working properly you will get a login screen. I was able to log into the game as a players, very cool! I was pleased it worked!

Screen Monkey has other configuration features so be sure to dig into the help files for more details.