How to run a live server win winsock? - c++

Question

So I want to run a live server on my pc to connect and get info from someone else. I thought I can let the other person connect to my ip address on a port that is not used. So for example if my hypothetical ip address is 214.231.34.12 and port 50000 and I open te connection and give this information to someone, they can connect to it and send me information through TCP.
I thought I could use this code:
// TCPClient.cpp : Defines the entry point for the console application.
//
#include "stdafx.h"
#define _WINSOCK_DEPRECATED_NO_WARNINGS
/*
Live Server on port 50000
*/
#include<io.h>
#include<stdio.h>
#include<winsock2.h>
#pragma comment(lib,"ws2_32.lib") //Winsock Library
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
WSADATA wsa;
SOCKET s, new_socket;
struct sockaddr_in server, client;
int c;
char *message;
printf("\nInitialising Winsock...");
if (WSAStartup(MAKEWORD(2, 2), &wsa) != 0)
{
printf("Failed. Error Code : %d", WSAGetLastError());
return 1;
}
printf("Initialised.\n");
//Create a socket
if ((s = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0)) == INVALID_SOCKET)
{
printf("Could not create socket : %d", WSAGetLastError());
}
printf("Socket created.\n");
//Prepare the sockaddr_in structure
server.sin_addr.s_addr = inet_addr("214.231.34.12");
server.sin_family = AF_INET;
server.sin_port = htons(50000);
//Bind
if (bind(s, (struct sockaddr *)&server, sizeof(server)) == SOCKET_ERROR)
{
printf("Bind failed with error code : %d", WSAGetLastError());
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
puts("Bind done");
//Listen to incoming connections
listen(s, 3);
//Accept and incoming connection
puts("Waiting for incoming connections...");
c = sizeof(struct sockaddr_in);
while ((new_socket = accept(s, (struct sockaddr *)&client, &c)) != INVALID_SOCKET)
{
puts("Connection accepted");
//Reply to the client
message = "Hello Client , I have received your connection. But I have to go now, bye\n";
send(new_socket, message, strlen(message), 0);
}
if (new_socket == INVALID_SOCKET)
{
printf("accept failed with error code : %d", WSAGetLastError());
return 1;
}
closesocket(s);
WSACleanup();
return 0;
}
But it is failing at binding the connection. This whole TCP and winsocket stuff is totally new to me and I do not understand how I should approach this differently. I know this code is not receiving any information yet, it is just the connection that I try to get working at the moment. Is this not the right way to set this up?
The bind() fails with windows socket error 10049

Answer 1

There are plenty of obstacles for establish a TCP connection over internet:
internet itself: bad/unstable connection, dynamic ips, etc
ISP: maybe your ISP blocks some ports or ips
router: router firewall, NAT traversal problems, upnp, etc
OS: windows firewall, antivirus, port blocked/in use
YOUR APP: maybe a code mistake
Is a complete new world link to pcs over internet, the concept is the same, but implement it......

Answer 2

So it might be an answer, but maybe I have to use another port as datenwolf suggested.
I found that it is not possible to bind to my ISP's ipaddress. So I have forward the port I want to use and then connect to the ipaddress of my computer, as mentioned here:
connecting to an IP address instead of localhost?
I tried that, so I changed the ipaddress in code to:
//Prepare the sockaddr_in structure
server.sin_addr.s_addr = inet_addr("192.168.178.93");
server.sin_family = AF_INET;
server.sin_port = htons(50000);
And then when I connect to 214.231.34.12 and port 50000 with telnet, the connection works! I just wonder if this is a valid result?