Error Message: "Service Error, Please check services and hosts files"

Sockets-based connections to Progress and OpenEdge require three options set through case-sensitive flags, e.g.,

-S prog91c -H prog-host.example.com -N tcp

This error message indicates that one or more of these is missing or set incorrectly.

• The values passed for the -S and -H flags in the DSN must match those used when the Progress or OpenEdge server was started. You can see what these values were in the <dbname>.lg file typically found alongside the <dbname>.db file.
  
• The value passed for the -S flag must be either a port number or the service name defined in the /etc/services file on the Progress or OpenEdge host. If using a service name, the identical definition must also be set in the /etc/services file on the ODBC client host.
  
• The value passed for the -H flag must be either an IP address, a DNS-resolvable hostname, or a hostname defined and resolvable through the /etc/hosts file. As with service name, if using a hostname defined in the /etc/hosts file, the same definition must be fonud on both the ODBC client host and the Progress or OpenEdge host.
  
• The -N flag should always get the value tcp.