Error when launching (--rpc-bind-ip) monerod with external IP address: Failed to bind server

Question

I thought I would try and set up a remote node, but I'm getting errors:

$ ./monerod --rpc-bind-ip 31.xxx.xxx.xxx --restricted-rpc --confirm-external-bind
2017-05-30 10:47:13.002     INFO    global  contrib/epee/src/mlog.cpp:145   New log categories: *:WARNING,net:FATAL,net.p2p:FATAL,net.cn:FATAL,global:INFO,verify:FATAL,stacktrace:INFO
2017-05-30 10:47:13.003     INFO    global  src/daemon/main.cpp:282 Monero 'Wolfram Warptangent' (v0.10.3.1-release)
2017-05-30 10:47:13.003     INFO    global  src/daemon/protocol.h:55    Initializing cryptonote protocol...
2017-05-30 10:47:13.003     INFO    global  src/daemon/protocol.h:60    Cryptonote protocol initialized OK
2017-05-30 10:47:13.003     INFO    global  src/daemon/p2p.h:63 Initializing p2p server...
2017-05-30 10:47:17.789     INFO    global  src/daemon/p2p.h:68 P2p server initialized OK
2017-05-30 10:47:17.789     INFO    global  src/daemon/rpc.h:58 Initializing core rpc server...
2017-05-30 10:47:17.789     INFO    global  contrib/epee/include/net/http_server_impl_base.h:70 Binding on 31.185.55.164:18081
2017-05-30 10:47:17.790     ERROR   net.http    contrib/epee/include/net/http_server_impl_base.h:74 Failed to bind server
2017-05-30 10:47:17.790     INFO    global  src/daemon/p2p.h:90 Deinitializing p2p...
2017-05-30 10:47:17.793     INFO    global  src/daemon/core.h:89    Deinitializing core...
2017-05-30 10:47:17.793     ERROR   daemon  src/daemon/core.h:94    Failed to deinitialize core...
2017-05-30 10:47:17.793     INFO    global  src/daemon/protocol.h:77    Stopping cryptonote protocol...
2017-05-30 10:47:17.793     INFO    global  src/daemon/protocol.h:81    Cryptonote protocol stopped successfully
2017-05-30 10:47:17.793     ERROR   daemon  src/daemon/main.cpp:290 Exception in main! Failed to initialize core rpc server.

I'm pretty sure I've got ports 18080 and 18081 open and have forwarded the ports on my router.

It works if I set up a LAN IP address. Just can't get it working with an external IP address. Any ideas?

Answer 1

It looks like you are attempting to bind to your public internet address, which is the address of your router. This will not work, because you need to bind to an IP address that is actually attached to your local network interface (the IP address of your computer on your local network).

If you bind to that, then traffic that hits your router's public internet address will be forwarded to your computer's IP address on your local network, and the daemon will be listening on that IP address to accept the traffic.