User can't connect to FM after IP address of server changed

Questions
1

The IP address on our FileMaker server changed after a recent power outage. Most of us were able to reconnect to our databases using the new IP address, some over VPN, some in the office by changing the IP address in the File/Hosts screen. One user has tried to connect a number of times but can only see two of the databases. I've tried a number of things to resolve this (some mentioned in this thread:Database not showing! - Questions - the.fmsoup.org - Independent FileMaker Forum. Help, Discussions & Answers for Developers and Users).

Any thoughts on what the problem would be?

Thanks

FM_host
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2

Hi @phyllo , welcome to our Community !

Which OSs and versions are running on the server and client computer ?

3

Thanks for the welcome @planteg !

Both are Windows 11 (I should have mentioned this in the original post)

4

My guess would that this user has saved passwords for the IP from another server, e.g. guest account.

So instead of using the account you expect, it uses the guest account or another one from stored passwords.

5

No. I had him delete any previous links to the old IP and he's entering his password from scratch.

6

My setup is different: the server is a Mac mini M4 Pro, and the client is Windows 11. The Windows computer had a hard time connecting to the Mac mini, as well opening files from the Mac mini. It worked intermittently. It was also a matter of having spaces in the name of files - that was impacting the IPad.

I suspected that MacOS had issues at the time , end of 2025, and Windows 11 sometimes would not "see" the Mac mini.

Personally I HATE Windows 11, but had no choice to buy a new computer since my old computer was not supported by Windows 11. Windows 11 for me is a pain.

Speaking of Windows, you said that your server runs Windows 11, I guess you had a hard time installing FMS on it.

7

I agree about Windows 11! Surprisingly FMS (v.21) installed seamlessly.

8

It’s always worthwhile checking the external data source paths.

When the files are running on the same FMS there should not be any path info, names only.

9

Can the affected users access the files by specifying the filename in the url?

10

This still sounds like a saved username and password problem. Is the user holding down the Shift key when clicking on the host name to force the username and password to appear?

If, after entering their credentials the files still do not appear, in one of the files that is not appearing check the username in Security against the one they are using and, if they match, change the password to one you know will work. If the username does not match, then amend this as well.

11

Thanks all. I got him connected by specifying the filename with the IP address.

12

It sounds like you’ve got references to external file sources somewhere in one of your files.

If all the files are stored on the same server they only need to have local file references. No domain, IP address, nor path. This is the optimal way to reference local files.

When you have IP or domain names the server has to call out to a DNS server or network router to find out where that machine is. It may not seem like much but each transaction with that file will be a little bit slower. And, down the road, if your network config changes, things break.

Search for those references and remove them. You’ll get quicker load times and less trouble in the future.