Linux Connection Refused

Overview

Linux "Connection refused" means a TCP connection attempt was actively rejected because no service is listening on the target port.

Key Details

• errno 111 (ECONNREFUSED) — TCP RST received
• Target host is reachable but no service on that port
• Different from timeout (host unreachable) or no route
• Firewall may also send RST packets

Common Causes

• Service is not running on the target port
• Service is listening on a different port or interface
• Firewall rejecting (not dropping) the connection
• Service crashed and is not restarting

Steps

1. 1Check if service is running: systemctl status servicename
2. 2Check listening ports: ss -tlnp | grep port
3. 3Check firewall: iptables -L or firewall-cmd --list-all
4. 4Verify service binds to correct interface (0.0.0.0 vs 127.0.0.1)

Tags

More in Network

Frequently Asked Questions