node.jslocalhostconfigwebminvirtualmin

Why can't I listen on 'localhost' but can I listen on '127.0.0.1'?

I'm having difficulties understanding why the following line of code works in node.js:

server.listen(12345, "127.0.0.1"); // works

but this one does not:

server.listen(12345, "localhost"); // fails

Coding localhost literally results in the following error thrown:

events.js:45
        throw arguments[1]; // Unhandled 'error' event
                       ^
Error: ECONNREFUSED, Could not contact DNS servers
    at IOWatcher.callback (dns.js:74:15)

I do not understand why it should 'contact DNS servers' as it's localhost as defined in my HOSTS file (I'm using node.js under Windows).

Why doesn't hardcoding localhost work?

Solution

  • It turned out that using the cygwin build was the problem.

    I looked at http://nodejs.org/ and I discovered that only recently a native Windows binary file was made available, which works like a charm.