AutoCAD requests to Autodesk servers blocked by proxy servers

Issue

You are using AutoCAD 2012-2013 and notice that some requests to Autodesk servers are being denied.
AutoCAD requests to Autodesk servers can be blocked by proxy servers. The following components can be affected when proxies block requests to Autodesk servers:

• Welcome Screen (AutoCAD 2013 only)
• Online Help (AutoCAD 2012 and 2013)
• Sign in to Autodesk (Single sign-in to Autodesk Servers e.g. Autodesk 360, Subscription Center, etc)
• Sign in to Autodesk 360
• Autodesk Sync
• Content Explorer: Accessing SEEK from the Content Explorer AutoCAD plug-in

Solution

If your network uses proxy servers to access the Internet, one of the following methods should help avoid internet access issues for AutoCAD components:
Exception Rules:
If you are experiencing issue accessing Autodesk servers through a proxy, adding an exception to the Internet Explorer proxy settings to allow the following domains to bypass the proxy server should help:
*.autodesk.com
*.google-analytics.com
*.cloudfront.net

Note: Please make sure your network is setup to route requests directly to the these domains without routing through the proxy servers.



Authenticated Proxies:To use the above mentioned AutoCAD Online components through proxy servers with Authentication enabled, you should enable http (port 80) and https (port 443) access to the following domains in the proxy without Proxy Authentication (i.e. Access for “All users” or Anonymous access through the proxy):

*.autodesk.com
*.google-analytics.com
*.cloudfront.net

Transparent proxies:
An intercepting proxy (also known as a forced proxy or transparent proxy) combines a proxy server with a gateway or router (commonly with NAT capabilities). Connections made by client browsers through the gateway are diverted to the proxy without client-side configuration (or, often, knowledge). Connections may also be diverted from a SOCKS server or other circuit-level proxies.
Transparent proxies will not prevent access to Autodesk Server components.

To see the full Knowledge base article please follow the link below:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=16732564&linkID=9240617

Posted by Andy Roe (Application Engineer)