"Accept incoming connections" every time qBittorent is opened

[chrstphrchvz]

[EDIT: a workaround has been stickied as well as an issue on GitHub opened.]

Hi,
I am running OS X 10.9.3. I am using littletree76's builds, and, at least for the recent versions (3.1.9.1 to 3.2.0 alpha) every time qBittorrent is opened, I get the "Deny/Allow incoming connections" prompt from the Firewall, even though I have clicked "Allow" the previous time the program was opened, and qBittorent is listed as "Allowed" in System Preferences (see the attached screenshots).
Is anyone else experiencing this? I find reports for other programs doing this (mainly Java-based ones) going back several years, but haven't found anything that would apply to qBittorent.

[bluecar]

I'm on 10.9.3 running 3.1.9.2 and experience the same issue.  It's been happening for several releases going back many months now...

[ciaobaby]

Uncheck "[ ] Use a different port on each start-up" in Options -> Connection.

[chrstphrchvz]

Here is a screenshot of the connection settings. I suspected the "use different port" myself and sure enough it was already unchecked. Any other settings to check though?

[sledgehammer_999]

Does the firewall have an "advanced view"? Something that shows EXACTLY the firewall rules like ip adrress,port,interface etc...

[ignas2526]

I'm experiencing same issue.
I also have 10.9.3, and this has been happening since I started using qBittorrent, at least 3 releases.
Checked/unchecked "use different port" doesn't help.
The qBittorrent is in the Firewall as allow incoming connections.
uTorrent did not had this issue.

I think the problem lies somewhere in a fact, that qBittorrent binary does not call to open/listen/etc. connections, instead it is done by other binary/library. This somehow confuses Mac's Firewall.
Is that the case?
Does qBittorrent binary consits of qBittorrent object and  Libtorrent object, or is Libtorrent a dynamic library? Same question applies to Libtorrent's dependencies.

[sledgehammer_999]

[quote="ignas2526"]
I think the problem lies somewhere in a fact, that qBittorrent binary does not call to open/listen/etc. connections, instead it is done by other binary/library. This somehow confuses Mac's Firewall.
Is that the case?
Does qBittorrent binary consits of qBittorrent object and  Libtorrent object, or is Libtorrent a dynamic library? Same question applies to Libtorrent's dependencies.
[/quote]

I don't know how dumbed down is the OSX GUI, but on Windows the firewalls have an advanced view/info pane that will always point to the exact binary and to the exact path, to the network interface, the incoming/outgoing ip, port etc.

Does OSX have something similar? If yes, does the binary pathc/name stay the same between runs? What about the incoming port? Are the firewall rules that get created correct?

[chrstphrchvz]

[quote="sledgehammer_999"]
[quote="ignas2526"]
I think the problem lies somewhere in a fact, that qBittorrent binary does not call to open/listen/etc. connections, instead it is done by other binary/library. This somehow confuses Mac's Firewall.
Is that the case?
Does qBittorrent binary consits of qBittorrent object and  Libtorrent object, or is Libtorrent a dynamic library? Same question applies to Libtorrent's dependencies.
[/quote]

I don't know how dumbed down is the OSX GUI, but on Windows the firewalls have an advanced view/info pane that will always point to the exact binary and to the exact path, to the network interface, the incoming/outgoing ip, port etc.

Does OSX have something similar? If yes, does the binary pathc/name stay the same between runs? What about the incoming port? Are the firewall rules that get created correct?
[/quote]

In the client version of OS X, the user-friendly "application" firewall is strictly by system sharing services (e.g. SMB, VNC) and .app files or other identified binary files, and there are two options: allow and block, and only for incoming connections. I assume that when allowed, it is on all ports possible, since it is not configurable here. There are other separate BSD firewall services included (ipfw, pfctl) but, lacking a GUI frontend in the client version of OS X, they would not be responsible for the recurring prompt, and neither of which have I modified their default configuration nor are familiar with their operation.

As for the theory that OS X records an exception for the wrong "aspect" of qBittorent, it seems to go against the idea of how the application firewall is supposed to behave in this case, since qBittorrent is installed here as a standalone "bundle" like some other ordinary apps on OS X. The Activity Monitor app typically shows if a "helper" process is responsible for generating network traffic, and in this case only qBittorrent.app is listed. Digging into the .app file, the application firewall does allow specifying individual binaries and .dylib files; I do not know if it is the case that only the main MacOS/qbittorrent binary is allowed, but I would assume that so are the frameworks and dynamic libraries.

Nonetheless, given just the symptoms of the issue, the application firewall could be at fault, and not qBittorrent.

[sledgehammer_999]

Can you test the new builds from littletree76? They are based on the newer libtorrent which fixes some incorrect use of upnp. This might cause the problem you are seeing.
Link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/45qkagvurvxh3tp/UX0Ni-BVK3

[ignas2526]

[quote="sledgehammer_999"]
Can you test the new builds from littletree76? They are based on the newer libtorrent which fixes some incorrect use of upnp. This might cause the problem you are seeing.
Link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/45qkagvurvxh3tp/UX0Ni-BVK3
[/quote]
I've tried qbittorrent-3.1.9.2.dmg, mac's firewall still asks me every time.

[littletree76]

My recommendations:

In qbittorrent application:
Disable UPnP/NAT-PMP and startup with random port, provide two specific ports for incoming connections and DHT.

For hardware firewall in your router:
Disable UPnP/NAT-PMP and open two specific ports for incoming connections and DHT.

For software firewall bundled with Mac OS 10.9.3:
Add a entry for qbittorrent application with option "Allow incoming connections" under "System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Firewall > Firewall Options". You may want to turn off software firewall temporary to confirm whether the issue is caused by this setting. Notice that ports are managed on application basis rather than port basis to simply configuration (so called user friendliness provided by Apple).

In other words, disable UPnP/NAT-PMP port broadcasting protocol throughout and make sure the two necessary ports have been opened in both hardware and software firewalls (straight forward configuration with two known ports opened and forget about UPnP/NAT-PMP). Actually you do not need to have cascaded hardware and software firewalls, the software firewall can be turned off when hardware firewall has been set up properly in router. Note turning off UPnP/NAT-PMP will not impact on performance as long as the two critical ports are opened in all firewalls.

Hopefully these recommendations help in resolving your issue.

P/S:
Since I use Intego NetBarrier rather than Apple Firewall bundled with Mac OS 10.9.3, I decided to disable Intego NetBarrier and enable Apple Firewall for testing. The result is the same as what you have found even with all settings provided above. So if you can't bare with the prompt, either turned off Apple Firewall completely and rely solely on hardware firewall in your router or use another software firewall to replace Apple Firewall.

In this window: "System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Firewall > Firewall Options", you should see following option relevant to the issue:
Atomatically allow signed software to receive incoming connections
The prompt always appear even when this option is checked, I suppose it is because qBittorrent application is not a signed software with proper certification from Apple (refer to Utilities folder > System Information application > Software > Applications > qbittorrent). So not until qBittorrent application has been signed and certified by Apple, whether this option is checked or not does not matter.

[Athanatos]

I know that this thread is old, but I'm still having the same issue. Has there been a solution to this at all? I am getting this prompt every time I open qBittorent on OS X 10.11.1 El Capitan.

[ciaobaby]

Has there been a solution to this at all? I

Turn OFF your firewall.

It is not a qbittorrent problem, it is a firewall problem.

[pafkata]

Has there been a solution to this at all? I

Turn OFF your firewall.

It is not a qbittorrent problem, it is a firewall problem.

I think it was better to leave this unanswered.. I have the same issue and I googled to see if anyone else has it and found this forum.

It's so sad to see your reply suggesting to turn off the firewall and refuse to believe that it's an issue with qTorrent.

It is definitely a problem with qTorrent, because I do not experience any firewall issues with uTorrent, Transmission or Deluge.

Sadly, qTorrent developers will probably never care, because they are obviously running only Windows or Linux, and the Mac users aren't that numerous or important.

It's a shame that the program is exceptionally good, but many Mac users won't use it due to very simple annoying behaviors.

Another very awkward thing happens when I close qTorrent and it's minimized to the dock icon... If the dock icon is clicked - nothing happens.
qTorrent can be maximized and usable only if you use the tray icon at the top.

I have used qTorrent on Windows, but I won't on my Mac due to those two bugs.. Yes, those are bugs. They make users angry and the otherwise perfect program will not be used.

[ciaobaby]

It is definitely a problem with qTorrent, because I do not experience any firewall issues with uTorrent, Transmission or Deluge.

No,  qbittorrent is the catalyst that exposes a problem in your firewall, if it was a qbittorrent problem every user of qbittorrent on a Mac OS version would have the same problem, and that is patently not the case here.