strace ends with:

socket(PF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, IPPROTO_TCP) = 7
fcntl64(7, F_GETFL)                     = 0x2 (flags O_RDWR)
fcntl64(7, F_SETFL, O_RDWR|O_NONBLOCK)  = 0
connect(7, {sa_family=AF_INET, sin_port=htons(8140), sin_addr=inet_addr("192.168.0.18")}, 16) = -1 EINPROGRESS (Operation now in progress)
gettimeofday({1219839542, 891113}, NULL) = 0
select(9, [], [7], [7], {119, 993070}


ipaddress and port are correct, nmap shows port is open.

puppet.conf on the client 

[main]
    # Where Puppet stores dynamic and growing data.
    # The default value is '/var/puppet'.
    vardir = /var/lib/puppet

    # The Puppet log directory.
    # The default value is '$vardir/log'.
    logdir = /var/log/puppet

    # Where Puppet PID files are kept.
    # The default value is '$vardir/run'.
    rundir = /var/run/puppet

    # Where SSL certificates are kept.
    # The default value is '$confdir/ssl'.
    ssldir = $vardir/ssl

[puppetd]
    # The file in which puppetd stores a list of the classes
    # associated with the retrieved configuratiion.  Can be loaded in
    # the separate ``puppet`` executable using the ``--loadclasses``
    # option.
    # The default value is '$confdir/classes.txt'.
    classfile = $vardir/classes.txt

    # Where puppetd caches the local configuration.  An
    # extension indicating the cache format is added automatically.
    # The default value is '$confdir/localconfig'.
    localconfig = $vardir/localconfig

and on the server:

[main]
    templatedir = /etc/puppet/templates

    # Where Puppet stores dynamic and growing data.
    # The default value is '/var/puppet'.
    vardir = /var/lib/puppet

    # The Puppet log directory.
    # The default value is '$vardir/log'.
    logdir = /var/log/puppet

    # Where Puppet PID files are kept.
    # The default value is '$vardir/run'.
    rundir = /var/run/puppet

    # Where SSL certificates are kept.
    # The default value is '$confdir/ssl'.
    ssldir = $vardir/ssl

[puppetd]
    # The file in which puppetd stores a list of the classes
    # associated with the retrieved configuratiion.  Can be loaded in
    # the separate ``puppet`` executable using the ``--loadclasses``
    # option.
    # The default value is '$confdir/classes.txt'.
    classfile = $vardir/classes.txt

    # Where puppetd caches the local configuration.  An
    # extension indicating the cache format is added automatically.
    # The default value is '$confdir/localconfig'.
    localconfig = $vardir/localconfig

[puppetmasterd]
#storeconfigs=true
dbadapter=mysql
dbuser=puppet
dbpassword=
dbserver=localhost
#dbsocket=/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock
Certname=puppet


master is at 192.168.0.18, client at 192.168.20.10 .. allows for both ranges are in the fileserver.conf:

# This file consists of arbitrarily named sections/modules
# defining where files are served from and to whom

# Define a section 'files'
# Adapt the allow/deny settings to your needs. Order
# for allow/deny does not matter, allow always takes precedence
# over deny

[scripts]
path /etc/puppet/scripts
allow 192.168.0.0/24
allow 192.168.20.0/24
allow 192.168.246.0/24

[keys]
path /etc/puppet/keys
allow 192.168.0.0/24
allow 192.168.20.0/24
allow 192.168.246.0/24

[fonts]
path /etc/puppet/fonts
allow 192.168.0.0/24
allow 192.168.20.0/24
allow 192.168.246.0/24

[files]
path /etc/puppet/files
allow 192.168.0.0/24
allow 192.168.20.0/24
allow 192.168.246.0/24