Using ENT Server with SQL Server 2005 [Express]

A number of things could prevent a successful connection to MS SQL Server 2005. The most likely causes are : 

1. In order to be able to connect to named instances of SQL Server 2005 [Express] using the TCP/IP network protocol, you will need to make sure the SQL Server Browser service is enabled and running. Again, this can be done uing the SQL Server Configuration Manager. Please be aware that you won't be able to start this service until it's enabled. To enable the SQL Server Browser service, right click on this in SQL Server Configuration Manager and select "Properties" from the popup menu, then set the Start Mode to Automatic (from the Service tab). Having done that, you should be able to select the service from the SQL Server Configuration Manager and then click on the Start button (on the toolbar).
   
2. Your server must be configured to accept SQL Server Authentication (which our software requires in order to establish a connection). For more information on how to enable this, please see our knowledge base article:  Configuring SQL Server Authentication for MSDE and MS SQL Servers . Also make sure that the login that you are trying to use to connect to your SQL Server (e.g. the 'sa' or system administrator user) is enabled - you can do this by inspecting the properties for the user in under the security tree in Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express.
    
3. The TCP/IP network protocols for SQL Server are enabled on your SQL Server. The interface for the Shared Memory protocol was changed in SQL Server 2005 so you will not be able to connect to SQL Server 2005 using the Shared Memory protocol. This means that you will have to enable the TCP/IP protocol for your SQL Server 2005 database server, which you can do using SQL Server Configuration Manager which is installed when you install SQL Server 2005 (select All Programs | Microsoft SQL Server | Configuration Tools | SQL Server Configuration Manager from the start menu in Windows). For more information, please refer to http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms191294(SQL.90).aspx .
   
4. The TCP/IP network libraries for SQL Server are installed and enabled on your ENT Server. Once your SQL Server is configured to accept requests via TCP/IP, you will also have to ensure that the corresponding network libraries are installed and enabled on any client machines that need to communicate with that SQL Server 2005 database server (which includes any machines running ENT Server or ENT Report Forge). For further information, see the Microforge.net knowledge base article Configure MSDE Protocols ([DBNMPNTW] Access Denied) .
   
5. If you installed a named instance of SQL Server 2005 Express then it your SQL Server is likely configured to use Dynamic ports - which means that the TCP/IP port that the instance of SQL Server listens on (for requests from your ENT Server) will jump around and change randomly. The install set for SQL Server 2005 Express will install SQL Server 2005 as a named instance by default (using the instance name "SQLEXPRESS"). If you want to connect to such an instance using ENT Server then you will need to reconfigure the instance to use static ports. Please refer to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/823938/ for further information.
   
6. If your SQL Server is installed a computer that is running Windows 2003 SP1, Windows XP SP2 or later and the Windows Firewall is installed/enabled on the machine then you will need to add add an exception to the Windows Firewall in order to be able to communicate with the SQL Server via TCP/IP. If you installed the SQL Server 2005 Express using the default instance name (MSSQLSERVER) then you will need to open port 1433, otherwise you will need to open the port that you configured for your instance name (see above). For further information, see Microsoft KB Article: 841252 .

If none of these helps, the Microsoft Knowledge Base article Potential causes of the "SQL Server does not exist or access denied" error message may also be useful. 

Finally, as always, you can contact Microforge.net support if you require further assistance.