Difficultly Connecting to Database

[UKOnshore]

I have a SQL Express setup on a remote machine.  I am able to logon to the remote machine and access SQL databases through ArcCatalog etc. with no problem.

However, I have difficulty accessing the SQL databases from another machine in ArcCatalog etc.  I can see the server instance and a list of databases (although it is slow).  However, when I try to access the database, I get a DBMS server error.

I can access the server and database through SSMS from other machine with no problems.

I am running 10.6.1 on both machines.

As I can access on the remote machine with no issues using the same logon I do not think it is a permission thing and as I can access through SSMS from another machine I do not think ports/firewall are an issue.

Any suggestions on what may be causing the problem?

[JonathanFarmer_oldaccount]

Hi,

This is something to check, I've seen it before with SQL Express. Since Express is meant for home or single computer use, networking protocols are disabled by default. You would need to actually set Express up to accept remote connections.

This is an old blog but still valid. Can you make sure you've done this?

How to: Configure Express to accept remote connections – SQL Server Express WebLog 

Also, make sure your version of SQL Express is compatible with 10.6.1

Microsoft SQL Server database requirements for ArcGIS 10.6.x—System Requirements | ArcGIS Desktop 

Jonathan

[UKOnshore]

Hi Jonathan,

Thanks for the response.

To respond.

1.  Yes SQL Express does accept remote connections,  I am able to connect through SSMS on a remote machine.  Just not through ArcGIS.

2. Yes SQL Express version is compatible with 10.6.1.  Running 2014 64 Bit version

The issue is connecting through ArcGIS from a remote machine.

[JonathanFarmer_oldaccount]

Hi,

OK, so if the SQL Express instance is setup to allow remote connections then that rules that out. You may consider opening a support case with Esri UK and having them troubleshoot this with you, it would probably be quicker.

But I would now check things like:

• You've got the 32 bit SQL client installed. You need that for ArcMap, regardless of your SQL Express instance version
• The database name has no spaces or special characters and is less than 31 characters
• Is the issue specific to one database in this instance? I know you said you can see the list of databases but get the error when you click on one. Does it happen for all of them? Could be an issue with one database for some reason.

Some things to check at least. But this may need to be troubleshooted by support in order to screen share and really dig into what is going on.

Jonathan

[JuliaHarrell1]

I had a similar situation at a former employer (US Fed Gov). I beat my head against the wall for a long time with this, was even trying to trace network traffic with wireshark portable on a thumb drive (got in trouble for that too) to see if it was ports being blocked, even though I specifically set them open on both machines for specific users to connect from only ArcCatalog and ArcMap. Finally one of the network security jerks finally admitted that they were deliberately overriding my firewall rules and settings at much higher level of group policy (that I would never see) because there was an IT security policy to block all peer to peer "user workstation" connections, and only allow user workstation to server connections in specific, approved cases.  With SQL Express and Workgroup SDE not being able to be installed on real 'server class' machines, they essentially refused to allow me to use SQL Express and Workgroup SDE.  Totally ruined a project that would have been very helpful for replicating data from field offices. Hopefully you aren't suffering under equally benighted IT security policies in your workplace, but it may be something to check into...