You receive a "Groove cannot reach activation server" error message when you try to activate Groove (906895)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Groove Virtual Office 3.0 File Sharing Edition
  • Groove Virtual Office 3.0 Professional Edition
  • Groove Virtual Office 3.0 Project Edition
  • Groove Virtual Office 3.1 File Sharing Edition
  • Groove Virtual Office 3.1 Professional Edition
  • Groove Virtual Office 3.1 Project Edition
  • Groove Workspace 2.5 Preview Edition
  • Groove Workspace 2.5 Professional Edition
  • Groove Workspace 2.5 Project Edition
  • Groove Workspace 2.5 Standard Edition

SYMPTOMS

When you enter your Groove Virtual Office activation key or your Groove Workspace activation key and then click Next on the Activate Groove or Activate Product page, you receive the following error message:
Groove cannot reach activation server: server name. Check your network connection or contact your Groove administrator.

CAUSE

This issue occurs if Groove cannot connect to the indicated activation server. This issue may occur if one or more of the following conditions are true:
  • An incorrect value is specified for the activation server on the Activate Groove or Activate Product page.
  • A problem exists on the activation server.
  • A firewall or a proxy server does not allow the connection to the server. Note that both network firewalls and personal firewalls, such as the Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) Windows Firewall or McAfee Personal Firewall Plus, can block these connections.
  • A local Internet security program, such as Norton Internet Security, blocks the content of the transmission or of the reply.
  • A temporary problem exists at some location of the Internet between your location and the activation server.
  • A problem exists on the local network.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, use the following methods in the order that they are presented.

Determine which activation server you should use

To determine the correct activation server, use one of the following methods, depending on your configuration:
  • If you start Groove on a Groove domain that uses an onsite management server, and the computer that is running Groove is not managed, you must specify the onsite management server in the Activation Server box of the Activate Groove or Activate Product page.

    Note Groove Workspace 2.5 and earlier versions do not correctly use configuration scripts or automatic detection for proxies when they try to connect to an IP address. If your network connection uses automatic configuration for proxies, you must use a host name in the Activation Server box for Groove Workspace 2.5 and earlier versions.
  • If you start Groove on a Groove domain that uses Groove Hosted Management Services, type gms.groove.net in the Activation Server box.
  • In all other cases, type activate.groove.net in the Activation Server box.

Resolve server errors

If you receive the "Groove cannot reach activation server" error message after you click Next on the Activate Groove or Activate Product page, there may be a server configuration error. If you are trying to activate Groove as part of a managed Groove domain, and you have an activation key that was issued by the Groove domain administrator, the error indicates that you cannot access the gms.dll file that Groove requires to communicate with the Enterprise Management Server (EMS). Ask the EMS administrator to make sure that the management server's Internet Information Services (IIS) Web site does not require authentication for the gms.dll file. This file is located in the root of the site. Additionally, the gms.dll file must be allowed anonymous access.

Test network connectivity

If you are not part of a Groove domain that is managed in your organization, and you have an activation key that was issued by Groove Networks, use Microsoft Internet Explorer to confirm that you can access the following Groove Networks Web site:

http://activate.groove.net

Note For this test, use Internet Explorer only. Other browsers will return other errors.

If the connection succeeds, you will see an error page that states "The page cannot be found" at the top and "HTTP 404 - File not found" at the bottom. If the connection fails, you will see an error page that states "The page cannot be displayed" at the top and "Cannot find server or DNS Error" at the bottom. If the connection fails, contact your IT administrator. Tell the IT administrator that your computer cannot connect to the host that is specified in the Activation Server box.

Optimize the browser configuration

If you receive the activation error message even though you can access the activation server, you may have to optimize the Web browser configuration. Groove Workspace 2.5 and earlier versions may have connectivity problems when the proxy settings in Netscape do not match the proxy settings in Microsoft Internet Explorer. If you have both Netscape and Internet Explorer installed, confirm that the proxy settings match for both browsers. If the proxy settings do not match, configure the proxy settings in Netscape to match the proxy settings in Internet Explorer.

Additionally, you may be able to resolve some browser issues by deleting cookies and temporary Internet files in Internet Explorer. Note that when you delete these files, you will remove offline content. This may disrupt Web operations that rely on cookies. For example, some Web sites may treat you as a new visitor the next time that you visit them. To delete cookies and temporary Internet files in Internet Explorer, follow these steps:
  1. In Control Panel, double-click Internet Options.
  2. On the General tab, click Delete Files in the Temporary Internet files area. When you are prompted to confirm the deletion, click to select the Delete all offline content check box, and then click OK.
  3. On the General tab, click Delete Cookies in the Temporary Internet files area. When you are prompted to confirm the deletion, click OK.
  4. Click OK to close the Internet Options dialog box.
If these steps do not resolve the issue, consider posting to the Groove support forums. To post to the Groove support forums, visit the following Groove Networks Web site:

http://www.groove.net/support/forums/index.cfm

The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:12/3/2005
Keywords:kbExpertiseInter kbprb KB906895 kbAudKnowledgeWorker
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