Cannot connect to SQL Server remotely or locally after reboot

sql-server sql-server-2005 connectivity
dev picture dev · Feb 26, 2009 · Viewed 15.7k times · Source

After some network maintenance last weekend, we had some trouble with our development server which led to us restart it. Some updates were installed during the restart, which may or may not have been a factor. Since then, we have been unable to connect to SQL Server 2005, even locally via Management Studio. Depending on the protocol used for the connection attempt, we get one of the following two errors:

  1. When you try to connect to the instance by using the named pipes protocol or the shared memory protocol, you receive the following error message:

No process is on the other end of the pipe.

  1. When you try to connect to the instance by using the TCP/IP protocol, you receive the following error message:

An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host.

The aforementioned protocols are all enabled, and the SQL services are all running happily (apart from the SQL Server Agent, which cannot connect to SQL Server either). We also checked the Surface Area Configuration tool to ensure it accepts connections.

It's not a certificates problem (as seen online) as we don't use encrypted connections.

Any suggestions? Otherwise we will probably resort to a full reinstall.

** UPDATE **

Further clues:

  • We can connect to Integration Services, but nothing else
  • We can connect to the instance of SQL Server Embedded Edition running on the same server

Answer

NotMe picture NotMe · Feb 26, 2009

Verify that the SQL Browser service is running. Most likely it's not set to Auto Start.

You might want to look in it's properties to verify it's listening on correct network interface.

Run the SQL Server Configuration Manager. Under the SQL Server 2005 Network Configuration, you will see 4 protocols. Then go to properties for TCP/IP. You should be able to figure it out from there.

The only reason for this to fail is if the SQL Server service or SQL Server Browser services aren't running or if the browser service is misconfigured.

**** UPDATE **** Another possibility is the use of a firewall. Be sure to turn off the windows firewall, then try again.

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