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Local or campus firewalls can block information flowing to Sierra. You will want to ensure that the firewall allows access to the Sierra server, which has the IP address of 216.17.113.109 (was previously 52.14.35.127). You will also want to ensure the following ports are not blocked:

Confirm that ports are open (Windows):

Using the Windows Powershell, you can use the Test-NetConnection commandlet to confirm communication to a specific server on a specific port. 

For example, the follow command can be used to test communication to the OPAL Sierra server on port 63000:

Test-NetConnection -ComputerName ohnet.iii.com -Port 63000

If the connection is successful, i.e., the port is open, you will see something like this:

ComputerName     : ohnet.iii.com
RemoteAddress    : 216.17.113.109
RemotePort       : 63000
InterfaceAlias   : Ethernet
SourceAddress    : 192.168.1.18
TcpTestSucceeded : True

If the connection is not successful, you will see something like this:

WARNING: TCP connect to (216.17.113.109 : 63000) failed

ComputerName           : ohnet.iii.com
RemoteAddress          : 216.17.113.109
RemotePort             : 63000
InterfaceAlias         : Ethernet
SourceAddress          : 192.168.1.18
PingSucceeded          : True
PingReplyDetails (RTT) : 10 ms
TcpTestSucceeded       : False

For macOS, you can use the nc command in Terminal to test that a particular port is open. For example: 

nc -vz cat.opal-libraries.org 63000

... to confirm that port 63000 is open.

If the connection is successful, i.e., the port is open, you will see something like this:

Connection to cat.opal-libraries.org port 63000 [tcp/*] succeeded!

If the connection is not successful, you will see something like this:

nc: connectx to cat.opal-libraries.org port 63000 (tcp) failed: Operation timed out

The setting "Enforce strict TCP compliance with RFC 793 and RFC 1122" can cause dropped packets for Sierra. Make sure this setting is disabled. Other settings to disable would be "TCP checksum enforcement" and "TCP handshake timeout". For Sonicwall devices these settings are located under Firewall Settings > Flood Protection.

Other software may interfere or prevent Sierra from installing or running. Start by temporarily disabling firewalls and antivirus software.

AVG Antivirus
Deep Freeze
Windows Firewall

Sierra polls the printers visible to your PC at the time of launch. Multiple printers will take longer to check than one or two. Occasionally, a disconnected printer or network printer can cause the Sierra Desktop Client to take several minutes to load, so be sure to remove or disable any printers if appropriate.

Clear the contents of jarcache folder in the Sierra Desktop Application 

1. Close all open Sierra windows.
2. Open the folder the SDA is installed to (typically ‘C:\Sierra Desktop App’)
3. Open the folder called ‘jarcache’
4. Select everything in the folder and delete them all (the folder will not be deleted).
5. Restart Sierra. 

It will take a while for the client to download new jars from the server.  This is normal. 

Sometimes the window gets hidden and it's in the background. SHIFT + right click can move it back into place.

The Sierra installer initially asks for a server address. You will want to use cat.opal-libraries.org instead of an IP address. To check or change this entry:

• Navigate to C:\Sierra Desktop App\
• Double-click on the file iiirunner.lax
• If asked, choose to open the file with Wordpad
• About 25 lines down from the top, confirm or change the line:
  lax.command.line.args=ip=cat.opal-libraries.org port=64000

If you try to launch the Install for Sierra after unzipping the file and it doesn't work, it may be the result of the OS blocking anything that doesn’t come through the app store or is certified by Apple. 

You might need to adjust the Sierra application's permissions; you can do that in your Sierra Preferences: under Security & Privacy > Privacy > Full Disk Access. From there, you'll click the plus sign at the bottom of the list of allowed applications and browse through to the iiirunner.app in your Applications folder.

If that doesn't work here's another approach. We recommend downloading the client to your desktop because that's where the shell command in the email message is looking for the installer. If you have the files elsewhere, you'll have to navigate to that directory in Terminal before running the command.

• Unzip the downloaded file on your desktop
• Open Terminal in the Applications section (get to it in Finder)
• Enter whoami to find out your username
• Run the following command (there is a space in front of users and before and after &&):
• Cd /Users/your username/Desktop/sierra_macosx/ && ./installerMacOS.sh

• Once you run the command in Terminal you will likely still get the message: “install” cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified
• Ignore that and hit enter from your Terminal screen
• Go back to the Install icon and right click on it or press and hold the Control key, single-click the installation file, and select Open from the resulting menu 
  
• This time you will get the same message only it will also have a warning and ask you if you want to go ahead

• Once you tell it to open it will run the install and you should be able to go through the rest of the Sierra installation steps