Ethereum Connection Refused: Troubleshooting Guide

When trying to connect to the Ethereum network using a WebSockets client like curl in a container running Ubuntu 16.04, you may receive an error message that the Ethereum node refused to connect. In this article, we will look at the possible causes of this error and provide steps to resolve it.

Why was the connection refused?

There are several reasons why the connection might be rejected:

• Invalid or incomplete credentials: Make sure that the user and passphrase variables passed with the -user option have valid Ethereum wallet addresses.

• Invalid WebSocket handshake: The Ethereum node may not be configured to listen for incoming connections on the specified port (7687 by default). Verify that the container is running and listening on this port.

• Firewall or network issues: If you are using a firewall, it may be blocking the connection. Check your firewall configuration to make sure the port is allowed.

• Outdated Ethereum Node Software: Make sure your Ethereum Node software (e.g. ethers.js) is up to date.

Troubleshooting Steps

• Verify credentials:

• Double-check the user and pass variables provided with the -user option to make sure they contain valid Ethereum wallet addresses.

• Verify WebSocket handshake:

• Verify that the container is running and listening on port 7687 by running docker ps -f name=bitecoin-ethereum. If not, start it manually using docker run ….

• Firewall or network issues:

• Check your firewall configuration to make sure port 7687 is allowed.

• Update Ethereum Node software

  

  :

• Run sudo apt update and install the latest Ethereum node software (e.g. ethers.js) using sudo apt install ethers.js

• Check your network connection:

• Make sure you can connect to the Ethereum node from another terminal or command line.

Example use case

Here is an example of how you can use curl in a container running Ubuntu 16.04 and a web server running Docker.

”bash

Create a new user and wallet in Bitcoin Core (BTC)

echo “key = ‘your wallet address’;” > bitcoin.conf

Start the Bitcoin node

sudo systemctl start btcd –no-logfile

Create a new Ethereum wallet address using ethers.js

ethers.js new –wallet-type=eth

Connect to the Ethereum network using curl

curl –user your-username:your-password –binary ‘{“jsonrpc”:”1.0″,”method”:”eth_getTransactionCount”,”params”:[“0x0 “Connection refused” error when using curl in a container running Ubuntu 16.04 and a web server running Docker with Ethereum.