Can't Connect to MS SQL Server

MS SQL Server Won’t Connect

This is just a quick and simple troubleshooting post about MS SQL Servers. There are quite a few issues that can arise when using these servers, but one of the most common that I’ve found is that a user cannot connect to the SQL Server. Especially after a fresh installation. This can be very confusing and frustrating. Your installation went well and without a hitch, but when you try to connect to it, you get an error with the following in the message:

SQLException: The TCP/IP connection to the host has failed. Connection refused to connect.

One thing that is commonly overlooked is that MS SQL Server doesn’t come with TCP/IP enabled by default. You have to manually turn it on. If you are just entering the realm of SQL Servers, this is a good first step to take when troubleshooting. This is the first post-installation task that you should do in the future as well.

Step 1

Navigate to your Start Menu and you should see an entry labeled “Microsoft SQL Server 2005” or “Microsoft SQL Server 2008” depending on which one you have installed. Expand this and you should another entry labeled “Configuration Tools”. Expand one more time and select “SQL Server Configuration Manager”.

Step 2

You should now be at the following screen. From here, expand the entry labeled “SQL Server 2005 Network Configuration” and click on the entry labeled “Protocols for MSSQLSERVER”. Notice in the right hand pane, four protocols are displayed. Also take note that TCP/IP is Disabled. Double click on the TCP/IP protocol.

Step 3

You should now be at the following screen. Simply click on the drop down list next to “Enabled” and select “Yes”. When you are done click “Apply”

Step 4

At this point you should see the following window that informs you the service needs to be restarted. You can click “OK” all the way out and close all windows for the configuration manager. Now SQL Server needs to be restarted in order for the changes to take effect. You can do this by two different methods. The first is easy enough, simply restart the computer itself and everything should be working properly. The second method is to restart the SQL Server service. This only takes a few seconds and allows you to keep your machine running uninterrupted.

Step 5

The simplest way is to go to your Run command. The easiest way to access this is to hold the Windows key and the press “R”. Once you see the Run window appear type “services.msc” in the box and click “OK”.

Step 6

You should see the following screen, which is a list of all services that are available to your computer. Scroll down until you see the entry “SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER)”. The name in parentheses is actually the name of your instance. If you used the default then you will see “MSSQLSERVER”. If you named it something else, then you should see that displayed as well.

Right mouse click on “SQL Server” and select “Restart”. It should be the fifth entry in the menu. Once this task has completed you should be up and running and be able to connect.