I have been using SAGE without issue for the past year.  All of a sudden yesterday I couldn't open SAGE. I received a troubleshooter message that said that my computer firewall is blocking required processes to access my data.  Then is gives me a whole list of processes that I need to add to my firewall's list of permitted programs.
I entered them all into my sage 50 firewall list and it's still not working. I haven't changed my computer or computer protection software or even my ISP. I don't understand how all of a sudden (at tax time), it doesn't work.  

The Sage 50 Accounts Data Service runs on the computer or server which holds your Sage 50 Accounts data. The service acts as a gateway and controls the reading and writing of data.

If you require further help with Sage 50 firewall errors you may need to contact your IT administrator.

Resolution

Check which firewall you're using


If you're  not sure which antivirus or firewall software you use, you can check by using the following options:
 
  • If you're using Sage 50 Accounts, open Help > About and from the System Details section, check the Firewall details.
  • Start > All programs > look for anti-virus or firewall software in the list.
  • Start > Settings > Control Panel > look for any antivirus or firewall software.
  • Start > Run > enter services.msc >  OK > look for anti-virus/firewall software in the Services list.
  • Use the mouse to hover over the system tray The system tray is normally found in the bottom right corner of your screen, next to the clock. Each option you hover over shows the name of the application that is running. Look for any antivirus or firewall software.

URLs to exclude from a firewall


Firewall and antivirus software may interfere with the installation of software updates. To minimise this issue, you can configure firewall and anti virus software to permit access
 
  • http://update.sage.com
  • https://update.sage.com
  • http://downloads.sage.co.uk
  • http://download.sage.com

Ports to exclude from firewall


To ensure that your firewall doesn't block the Sage Data Service, please ensure the following ports are open

Sage Accounts v30

  • Sage 50 Accounts Control v30: TCP 34230
  • Sage 50 Accounts Service v30: TCP 32230
  • Sage Accounts v30  TCP 32330

Sage Accounts v29

  • Sage 50 Accounts Control v29: TCP 34229
  • Sage 50 Accounts Service v29: TCP 32229
  • Sage Accounts v29  TCP 32329

You can configure the ports for specific IP addresses. On the server, you can add the IP addresses for the client computers to the inbound rule for the port. On the client computers you can add the IP address for the server to the outbound rule for the port. Naturally, this can't apply if you use dynamic IP addresses.