This may not be relevant to you issue but one I found by rereading a guide (looking for something else)
There is an additional line in7.1 that has to be added to force the launching of the browser pointed at the remote server.
It is at p452 of v7.1 user guide. This is missing from the installation guide. Haven't checked if this is applicable to v8 yet
OperationMode
The URL that will be used by the Configuration Tool to login into the Operation mode – see Logging into the Operation Mode.