Why is it trying to use localhost

It is common on some linux distributions for it to map your hostname to localhost/127.0.0.1 this confuses java.

/etc/hosts (wrong)

127.0.0.1 myhost localhost.localdomain localhost

/etc/hosts (correct)

ipaddress myhost
127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost

Check what java thinks is your host/ip

import java.net.InetAddress;

public class WhatIsMyAddress
{
   public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception
   {
      System.out.println(InetAddress.getLocalHost());
   }
}