IMPORTANT: THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN UPDATED TO WHITELIST EVIVVE 2.0 WHICH CAN BE HOSTED USING app.evivve.com ONLY!
Preface
As you begin to use Evivve with your clients, you’ll notice that players from some organizations are not able to go beyond the initial screen in the game. It’s very likely that their internal firewall is blocking access to the game. This document will help you work through the firewall challenges and ultimately run the game for the client without any hiccups.
Step 1 - Diagnose
It’s important to diagnose the problem before attempting to solve it. Here are a few things you’ll want to consider when diagnosing if the firewall is blocking access:
Internet connectivity of the host: The host (you) should have stable internet connection in order to run the game. If you do not, the game may not have been set up correctly which could be a reason players may face challenges in connecting.
Accessibility: A few things could happen here:
If only some players are not able to access the game (arrive at the “Please wait while other players join” screen), try migrating them to a different internet connection. If on Wifi move to mobile data. If on mobile data move to wifi.
If all players are not able to access the game it is very likely that it is the company’s internal firewall that’s blocking access. Here’s what all players will see if this is the case:
You’ll see the “Loading” spinner going in circles
If this is the case, the following steps will help you to whitelist the game for your client. Remember, at any point in time you can write to support@gamitar.com (or to Mohsin directly) to get assistance if you feel stuck.
Step 2 - Connect with IT
This is best done before your big session/demo with the client so it doesn’t look badly on you. At the end of the day, the client will not see it as their fault that your game was not able to bypass their firewall - even though it is their firewall!
Ask to be connected with the IT team who can help you with the configuration
Schedule a 30 minute (should be enough) meeting to help them configure the firewall settings
Step 3 - Whitelist
In the meeting, you want to do the following things: 1. Confirm the problem, 2. Provide vital firewall settings information, 3. Test the changes have taken place.
Confirm the problem
Ask the IT professional to open: https://production.evivve.com/game/
Ask them to share their screen
Set up the game and get them to log in (tip: you should log in to the player screen as well just to make sure you’ve got the game set up correctly - if you can connect they should be able to connect too unless their firewall is blocking access)
Confirm that they’re seeing the loading spinner (image above)
Refresh the game
Provide firewall settings
Ask the IT team member to allow the following IP and range of ports on their firewall and proxy:
Domain: *.evivve.com/* (all sub-domains and paths of evivve.com)
Port Range: 3000 to 5000 for TCP
Test the changes
After the changes have been made the IT team will inform you. This should not take more than 5-7 minutes.
Conduct the test by running a new game and asking them to log in.
If the test works, try again to confirm.
If the test doesn’t work, try again.
If the test doesn’t work on the second attempt, ask IT to confirm that they have allowed the range on both the firewall AND proxy (learn more about firewall and proxy server here)
Conclusion
After conducting these three simple steps you should be able to whitelist the game into the company’s firewall. We ask to give access to a range of 3000 to 5000 because each game that is run is run on a different, new and unused port. It’s nearly impossible to know which of the ports the game will run on when you hit that “Refresh” button because it’s highly dynamic. But we do know that it will be one of the 2000 ports between 3000-5000 thus whitelisting all of them ensures that no matter which port the game runs on, you will be able to conduct a seamless gaming-based learning experience.
As always, feel free to write to support@gamitar.com for any assistance.