This application communicates with the EVP Systems Data Center for three different reasons:
- Getting messages and user information
- Looking up identifiers for put/call options
- Evaluating portfolios
Depending on how your network is configured, the default selections in the Tools → Options… → Communication dialog might not be sufficient to allow that communication to happen. Below is information about what the different selections available through the dialog allow and how they can help you connect.
Messages and User Information
When the application first runs and before each evaluation, the program automatically connects to an EVP Systems server—actually, a load-balancer with a rotating IP address—called tools.evpsys.com, using the HTTPS protocol on port 443. It retrieves general information about the current release of the software, any announcements that the user should be aware of, and identifying information about the current user that EVP Systems has: name, address, e-mail, phone, etc.
If the connection is successfully made, the software might display an upgrade button (if the current version is lower than the latest version) or show messages (via a drop-down menu on the menu bar). It will also populate the user-information dialog box available by clicking Tools → Update User… Edited user information is also sent back to the same server, using the same protocol.
If the connection fails—either because it’s blocked by your firewall or there’s some transient failure—the Tools → Update User… menu item is greyed out and no messages or upgrade button will appear. This does not affect the core functionality of the program.
However, if the connection does fail because of a firewall, there are a few possibilities to fix it: You can either ask your network team why a querying https://tools.evpsys.com is blocked, and ask them to allow the connection, or you can set a proxy.
A proxy is a server that sits between the application and EVP Systems servers, trusted and monitored by your organization. The application connects to it, and then asks it to connect to the final destination. By changing the settings in the “Proxy” box, you can configure the application to use this method to connect.
By default (when the “Use System Proxy” is set to Yes), the program will ask the operating system if any proxies are in use, via the Windows → Settings → Network & Internet → Proxy settings. If they are, the program will show the settings in the dialog box, but greyed out. If not, the “Proxy Type” will be greyed out, but set to None. If there isn’t a proxy set at the operating system level, you can set it manually by changing “Use System Proxy” to No.
The application supports three different types of proxies: “SOCKS4”, “SOCKS5”, and “HTTP”. You’ll need to ask your networking team which, if any, is available. If they support a proxy, they’ll provide you with a hostname (maybe something like proxy.yourcompany.com) and a port (for example, 1080) and you can enter them in the appropriate fields after selecting the proxy type.
Your proxy might also require authentication. If the setting “Use System Credentials” is set to Yes, the program will try to log onto the proxy using your current Windows username and password automatically. If it’s set to No, or your proxy doesn’t use the same credentials as your computer, you’ll need to find out from your network team what the appropriate settings are (if any) and enter them manually, in the appropriate fields.
After your networking team opens the firewall or after you have set appropriate proxy information in the dialog, restarting the application should properly connect and deliver (and update) messages and user information.
Put/Call Identifier Look-Up
By selecting Tools → Look Up → Put/Call Identifier…, filling out the dialog box that appears, and selecting Look Up, the application attempts to connect to the EVP Systems Data Center to retrieve an identifier for the option you described. Likewise, the connection may fail if your network doesn’t allow it.
The solution to this connectivity problem is almost exactly the same as with Messages and User Information, above, but the function uses a different rotating-IP load-balancer, called api.evpsys.com. The same HTTPS protocol, on port 443, is used.
If you can’t look up put/call identifiers, either ask your networking team to add a firewall exception for https://api.evpsys.com, or configure the proxy field in the “Proxy” box as described above. If you’ve already configured the proxy for Messages and User Information, that same configuration applies to put/call look-ups.
Portfolio Evaluations
The primary function of this application is to evaluate portfolios, and there are two ways to configure the network connectivity required to do it:
- Secure
- Classic
Setting the Evaluation Connection Type field to “Secure” follows the same rules as outlined above in Messages and User Information, and Put/Call Identifier Look-Up. This time, the rotating-IP load-balancer is called dc.evpsys.com, but the protocol is still HTTPS running on port 443.
As with both of the functions above, if a firewall is preventing connection, you’ll either need to ask your networking team to open up access to https://dc.evpsys.com, or set the appropriate values in the Proxy box for any proxy you have available to you. (See Messages and User Information for more details about the proxy settings.)
Also available when Evaluation Connection Type is set to “Secure”, is “Force IPv6”. By setting this option to Yes, the program will connect to https://dc-ipv6.evpsys.com, which only has IPv6 name resolution. The proxy settings work the same way as they do when “Force IPv6” is set to No and the connection is made to https://dc.evpsys.com.
When the Evaluation Connection Type drop-down is set to “Classic”, the application uses an older, more complicated method of connecting to the EVP Systems Data Center:
First, there’s an attempt to connect to a rotating-IP load-balancer called dc1.evpsys.com on port 60000, using TCP/IP and a EVP Systems-proprietary protocol rather than HTTPS. If that connection fails, the application then attempts to connect to dc2.evpsys.com (which has a fixed IP address of 23.21.116.73), on port 60000.
If a firewall prevents both of these connections, you can either ask your networking team to open up the firewall to allow a connection to 23.21.116.73:60000, or you can set a proxy in the Classic Evaluation Proxy box.
The proxy settings in the Classic Evaluation Proxy box are only relevant when you are running evaluations using the “Classic” method. They are independent of the proxy settings that are shared by Messages and User Information, Put/Call Look-Up, and when you use the “Secure” evaluation type.
Supported are “SOCKS4”, “SOCKS5”, “HTTP Tunnel”, “HTTP Tunnel with Authorization”, and “Network Address Translation” proxies, and you’ll need to ask your network team which you might have available to you, as well as the proxy host (something like proxy.yourcompany.com) and the port that it listens for connections on (something like 1080). If you use the “HTTP Tunnel with Authorization”, you’ll also need a username and password to enter, so the proxy will allow you through.
If, after working with your networking team, and trying either opening up your firewall or setting proxy details, you still can’t connect and some or all of the features of the application aren’t available to you, please contact our Support Department.