# Cannot connect to neo4j server remotely **URL:** \ **Category:** Server\ **Tags:** remote, bolt\ **Created:** [August 11, 2024, 3:24pm UTC](https://community.neo4j.com/t/cannot-connect-to-neo4j-server-remotely/69174 "2024-08-11T15:24:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![alexander\_diab](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex021/user_avatar/community.neo4j.com/alexander_diab/32/32473_2.png) [@alexander\_diab](https://community.neo4j.com/u/alexander_diab)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2024, 3:24pm UTC](https://community.neo4j.com/t/cannot-connect-to-neo4j-server-remotely/69174/1 "2024-08-11T15:24:32Z")
Dear Community, In short; I cannot access my neo4j server remotely. I am trying to setup a remote neo4j server (enterprise version 5.22.0). 1. I installed it on an Ubuntu 22.4 VM. 2. In the neo4j.conf file I stated: server.default\_listen\_address=0.0.0.0 server.bolt.enabled=true server.bolt.tls\_level=disabled server.bolt.listen\_address=:7687 server.bolt.advertised\_address=:7687 server.http.enabled=true server.http.listen\_address=:7474 server.http.advertised\_address=:7474 (In my understanding that should enable unencrypted requests to the dbms.) 3. I started the server. It runs and I can access it locally from cypher-shell 1. When I try to remotely access from my home computer with > cypher-shell -a 'bolt://(IPaddressofneo4jserver):7687' -u neo4 I will be asked for a password, then I get: "Unable to connect to (IPaddressofneo4jserver):7687, ensure the database is running and that there is a working network connection to it." with > cypher-shell -a 'neo4j://(IPaddressofneo4jserver):7687' -u neo4 I get: "Connection refused" I have no idea, how to fix it or where to look after a solution. I realized though that netstat on the db server outputs tcp6 0 0 127.0.0.1:7687 :::\* LISTEN tcp6 0 0 127.0.0.1:7688 :::\* LISTEN tcp6 0 0 :::22 :::\* LISTEN tcp6 0 0 127.0.0.1:7474 :::\* LISTEN Apparently neo4j sets by default an IPv6 connection as requirement and I wonder whether this would be a problem and if so, how to modify this then. I would be grateful to any hint even to further reading, but ideally, how to debug this. Thanks a lot in advance, Alex ---
**Author:** ![dana\_canzano](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex021/user_avatar/community.neo4j.com/dana_canzano/32/27392_2.png) [@dana\_canzano](https://community.neo4j.com/u/dana_canzano)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 1:14pm UTC](https://community.neo4j.com/t/cannot-connect-to-neo4j-server-remotely/69174/2 "2024-08-12T13:14:13Z")
@alexander_diab with the neo4j.conf settings you describe I am not able to replicate the issue. Further with said settings my netstat output is different than yours ```auto netstat -a | grep -i listen | grep 7687 tcp6 0 0 [::]:7687 [::]:* LISTEN ``` is there a reference to 127.0.0.1 in your conf/neo4j.conf? ---
**Author:** ![alexander\_diab](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex021/user_avatar/community.neo4j.com/alexander_diab/32/32473_2.png) [@alexander\_diab](https://community.neo4j.com/u/alexander_diab)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 2:01pm UTC](https://community.neo4j.com/t/cannot-connect-to-neo4j-server-remotely/69174/3 "2024-08-12T14:01:11Z")
Hi Dan, Thanks a lot for coming back to me. When I execute netstat only with -a (instead of -an) flag, I get the same output, I get something similar: tcp6 0 0 localhost:7688 [::]:\* LISTEN but the local address still points to localhost, which is the same as 127.0.0.1, which yours does not. I forgot to mention another network setting in my conf file: server.default\_advertised\_address="myneo4jserveraddress" Here I tried both the domain name and the ipv4 address. Could that be the reason? But again, reading the conf description, I understand that I am supposed to set this value. Is there perhaps a log, which I could analyze to identify the cause for refused connection? Thanks again, Alex ---
**Author:** ![john.stegeman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex021/user_avatar/community.neo4j.com/john.stegeman/32/26277_2.png) [@john.stegeman](https://community.neo4j.com/u/john.stegeman)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 2:24pm UTC](https://community.neo4j.com/t/cannot-connect-to-neo4j-server-remotely/69174/4 "2024-08-12T14:24:29Z")
The advertised address should not impact what IP/port the server actually listens on. Is there any chance that you have multiple default\_listen\_address lines in the config? You could also try setting the server.bolt.listen\_address to a specific IP:port to see if that helps. ---
**Author:** ![alexander\_diab](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex021/user_avatar/community.neo4j.com/alexander_diab/32/32473_2.png) [@alexander\_diab](https://community.neo4j.com/u/alexander_diab)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 3:08pm UTC](https://community.neo4j.com/t/cannot-connect-to-neo4j-server-remotely/69174/5 "2024-08-12T15:08:54Z")
Hi John, Indeed, I found another entry at the very bottom server.default\_listen\_address=0.0.0.0=true I commented it out and restarted. No change. I have set server.default\_listen\_address="ipaddress" to the ip address of the machine from which I want to connect No change in netstat output and no success either. But I do understand that I need to get rid of the locahost address on the server machine? Perhaps I find a way to change this on OS level and overwrite what neo4j has set. I need to investigate there. Still, if there is any tool, which can do some surveillance, that would help a lot. Cheers, gentlemen, Alex ---
**Author:** ![john.stegeman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex021/user_avatar/community.neo4j.com/john.stegeman/32/26277_2.png) [@john.stegeman](https://community.neo4j.com/u/john.stegeman)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 3:23pm UTC](https://community.neo4j.com/t/cannot-connect-to-neo4j-server-remotely/69174/6 "2024-08-12T15:23:55Z")
> [@john.stegeman](#): > > server.bolt.listen\_address DId you try server.bolt.listen\_address=yourIP:7687 ---
**Author:** ![john.stegeman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex021/user_avatar/community.neo4j.com/john.stegeman/32/26277_2.png) [@john.stegeman](https://community.neo4j.com/u/john.stegeman)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 7:38pm UTC](https://community.neo4j.com/t/cannot-connect-to-neo4j-server-remotely/69174/7 "2024-08-12T19:38:32Z")
Also, found out something new today: > **[Configuration settings - Operations Manual](https://neo4j.com/docs/operations-manual/current/configuration/configuration-settings/#config_server.config.strict_validation.enabled)** > > This page provides a complete reference to the Neo4j configuration settings. This will help you catch those "I put the option in there twice" issues. ---
**Author:** ![alexander\_diab](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex021/user_avatar/community.neo4j.com/alexander_diab/32/32473_2.png) [@alexander\_diab](https://community.neo4j.com/u/alexander_diab)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 1:26pm UTC](https://community.neo4j.com/t/cannot-connect-to-neo4j-server-remotely/69174/8 "2024-08-22T13:26:44Z")
Hi Dan, John, Thanks a lot for your input. It helped a lot to chase down the problem. Just to let you know. The problem has been, that the environment variable for NEO4J\_CONF was never set. That is why no change on the file has ever had an effect. I found this by invoking \>neo4j help which lists the commands but also the environment variables to be set. Unfortunately launching and connecting to the server the default configs work just fine and there is no warning that the environment vars are not complete. Nonetheless, thanks again, alex