Troubleshooting "We are unable to contact the PaperCut Cloud Storage Service" error for PaperCut MF

This article explains how to resolve connectivity errors between PaperCut MF and PaperCut Cloud Services when configuring or using scan actions.

When creating or editing a scan action in PaperCut MF, you might experience one or more of the following symptoms:

• The Cloud Storage icon is greyed out on the Scan Action Details page.
• A yellow warning banner displays: We are unable to contact the PaperCut Cloud Storage Service. Check the Application Log for more details.
• Cloud service activation fails with the message: No internet connection or other connection issues.

Check PaperCut Cloud Service status

Before troubleshooting local network configurations, verify that PaperCut Cloud Services are operational.

Go to the the PaperCut Software Status (external site) page and check the live status of cloud infrastructure.If an outage is reported, the service will resume automatically after the outage is resolved.

Verify firewall ports and URL allow-listing

Ensure your host firewall, network firewall, and security appliances permit outbound traffic to PaperCut Cloud Services.

Verify that outbound traffic on port 443 (HTTPS) is permitted from the PaperCut MF Application Server to the following URLs. You can find the full list at PaperCut MF Cloud Services port and URLs.

Ensure rules are configured on all host-based firewalls (such as Windows Firewall), network routers/firewalls (such as FortiGate or SonicWall), and Network Intrusion Protection Systems (NIPS).

Resolve SSL inspection and PKIX certificate errors

Network security appliances that perform SSL packet inspection can break the secure connection between PaperCut MF and PaperCut Cloud Services.

If SSL inspection or proxy interception is active, the PaperCut MF Application Log displays an error similar to:

Failed to contact the PaperCut Cloud Services. Error message: sun.security.validator.ValidatorException: PKIX path building failed: sun.security.provider.certpath.SunCertPathBuilderException: unable to find valid certification path to requested target. To resolve this error, import your security appliance or proxy server's Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) SSL certificate into the Java keystore on the PaperCut MF Application Server.

For help with SSL packet inspection, take a look at Using SSL Packet Inspection (Man-in-the-Middle) with PaperCut NG/MF.

Verify license file signature and validity

An invalid or corrupted license file signature can prevent successful cloud service activation. In the PaperCut MF Application Log or diagnostic bundle, check for activation errors similar to:

ERROR Cloud Services Activation:72 - Cloud Services activation received unsuccessful response, status code 500, message {"error":"error","errorDescription":"failed to retrieve license detail using license file: receive unsuccessful code from PC Internal: 400

If this error appears, reinstall the PaperCut MF license file in the Admin web interface to restore valid license signature verification.

Check network access

If connectivity issues persist, test the network path between the PaperCut MF Application Server and PaperCut Cloud Services.

1. Run a traceroute command to `scan.cloud.papercut.com` from the Application Server command prompt to identify which network hop is dropping or filtering packets.
2. Temporarily connect the Application Server to an external network (such as a mobile hotspot) to confirm whether local network policies or firewalls are blocking traffic.

Alternative scan options for when network access is being configured

While network access to PaperCut Cloud Services is being configured, alternative scanning options remain available.

You can set up Scan to Folder or Scan to Email scan actions in the PaperCut MF Admin web interface to maintain user scanning capabilities.