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Troubleshooting SharePoint configuration error: Cannot connect to database master at server_name

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Hello everyone. I'm Reagan Templin, a new writer on the SharePoint Server IT Pro team. Recently I've been working on getting my test environment set up with SharePoint Server 2010 for the first time. I have my SQL Server computer separate from my SharePoint Server computer, and as I ran the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard, I encountered the following blocking error on the Specify Configuration Database Settings page:

"Cannot connect to database master at SQL Server at <server_name>. The database might not exist, or the current user does not have permission to connect to it."

This error generally means that the account you're using to configure SharePoint does not have adequate permissions to connect to the SQL Server computer and complete the configuration. I went back to the SQL Server computer and verified that my SharePoint administrator account had the correct server roles assigned, and that the master database existed. I also verified that I had logged into the SharePoint Server computer with the SharePoint administrator account, so the configuration should have been able to continue. However, configuration was still unable to continue, so I spent some time troubleshooting what else might be wrong. Ultimately, it was a firewall issue blocking access to the port for the instance of SQL Server Database Engine.

The following is a summary of what I had done to configure the environment and what I did to resolve the error. Hopefully this can help others who may encounter the same error.

Created Virtual Machines

For this exercise, I'm using Hyper-V to host virtual machines. I created two new virtual machines: one for my SQL Server computer and one for my SharePoint Server computer. I installed Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise edition (64-bit) for both computers. I activated Windows, installed updates, and joined them to my test domain, contoso. I then took Hyper-V snapshots to preserve the images prior to any other installations or configuration.

Configured Accounts and Permissions

I followed the information in "Administrative and service accounts required for initial deployment (SharePoint Server 2010)" (https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee662513.aspx) and "Least Privilege Service Accounts for SharePoint 2010" (https://www.sharepointproconnections.com/article/sharepoint/Least-Privilege-Service-Accounts-for-SharePoint-2010.aspx) to set up the correct accounts in the domain, and to grant those accounts the recommended access for least-privilege administration in the environment.

Based on that information, I set up the following domain accounts in Active Directory Domain Services on the Domain Controller computer:

  •  contosoreagant – my personal domain account. This is the account that I use to log into the SQL Server computer to install and configure it. This account is a member of the local Administrators group on the SQL Server computer in addition to being part of the contoso domain.
  • contosoSQLsvc – my SQL Server service account. This is the account I specify for the MSSQLSERVER service and SQL Server Agent service during SQL Server installation.
  •  contosoSPadmin – my SharePoint administrator account. This is the account that I use to login to the SharePoint Server computer to install and configure SharePoint Server 2010. This account is a member of the local Administrators group on the SharePoint Server computer. In SQL Server, it is also a login in SQL Server with dbcreator and securityadmin server roles, which enables the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard to run and configure SharePoint.
  • contosoSPfarm – my SharePoint farm account. This is the account I specify as the SharePoint farm administrator (also referred to as the database access account) on the Specify Configuration Database Settings page of the SharePoint Products Configuration wizard.

Installed and Configured SQL Server 2008 R2

I logged into the SQL Server computer as reagant and installed SQL Server 2008 R2. For the MSSQLSERVER and SQL Server Agent services, I provided the SQLsvc domain account credentials, and added my reagant account as an administrator for SQL Server Database Engine. I then completed the SQL Server Setup process.

Following SQL Server Setup, I opened SQL Server Management Studio and connected to the default instance of SQL Server Database Engine. I created a login in SQL Server for the SPadmin domain account, and granted it access to the dbcreator and securityadmin server roles. I then closed Management Studio.

Installed SharePoint Server 2010

I logged into the SharePoint Server computer as SPadmin and installed the SharePoint Server 2010 pre-requisites and ran SharePoint Server 2010 Setup.

Ran SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard

Following SharePoint Server 2010 Setup, I ran the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard. I selected the option to create a new server farm. On the Specify Configuration Database Settings page, I specified the SQL Server computer name, a name for the configuration database, and the SPfarm domain account credentials. However, when I clicked Next, I received the error: "Cannot connect to database master at SQL Server at <server_name>. The database might not exist, or the current user does not have permission to connect to it."

I went back and verified that I had a successful SQL Server installation and that my accounts and permissions were configured correctly. After some trial and error, I remembered an issue I'd had with another product where the Windows Firewall on the SQL Server computer was blocking traffic to the port that the instance of SQL Server Database Engine runs on. By default SQL Server runs on port 1433, and in my simple test environment I had left it to run on that default port. On the SQL Server computer, I opened Windows Firewall with Advanced Services and added an inbound rule to allow traffic over port 1433. If you do not use the default port, create an inbound rule for the port you use in your environment.

When I went back to run the SharePoint Products Configuration wizard, I no longer encountered the error message and configuration was able to continue. For more information about configuring the Windows Firewall for SQL Server, see "How to: Configure a Windows Firewall for Database Engine Access" (https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms175043.aspx).

Comments

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    Hi Travis - I'm sorry that you're having issues resolving the error. Are you certain that the permissions are correct? Unfortunately I'm not sure what else might be causing the issue other than what is outlined in this blog post, so you may need to post a question to the forums or contact support for more help.

  • Anonymous
    January 20, 2011
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    March 14, 2011
    Hi I've the same symptom; I ran a "telnet SQL_IPAddress 1433" and it connected, with this test can I assume the Windows Firewall is not a fail point?

  • Anonymous
    June 13, 2011
    Thank you much for your help. I had the ports opened, since the beginning, but you made me realize that the security protocols I specified for the port connections, were off, so I lowered it as to not use a secure connection or require only certain computers/users to connect. I'll delve into this later, but there should be a method in which we can limit the port to certain computers/users. For now I'm quite happy :).

  • Anonymous
    July 14, 2011
    thank you, this fixed the issue for me.

  • Anonymous
    February 14, 2012
    I'm having the same problem and i cannot fix it. I even disabled the firewalls on both computers but nothing happened.I have one domain controller,one database server(sql 2008 r2) and one sharepoint server. All of them runs on server 2008 r2. Need immediate help!

  • Anonymous
    March 22, 2012
    I get another error while confi service account for sql server I have tried to use domain accout for sql server and agent service, but wizard returns error. Can you provide more detail information about config sql service account? Thanks

  • Anonymous
    April 10, 2012
    Hi Reagan. I recently installed Mobile Apps 2.0 to my Nokia E7. When launching SharePoint, the settings require me to enter the SharePoint Site:___ and SharePoint UAG URL: ___ . What are these? Last time, before the latest software updates, I could use SharePoint without problem, or I would like to believe so as I could see my documents from my emails in there and access them any time. I apologize for enquiring here as I did not know how else to contact you.

  • Anonymous
    April 10, 2012
    Hi. I need assistance to set SharePoint on my Nokia E7, using the latest Microsoft Applications 2.0 for Nokia phones. Could you contact me at zeitgeist1377@gmail.com to inform me how can I get the settings such as UAG address, username, domain, etc. I would appreciate it.

  • Anonymous
    April 11, 2012
    Travis - I had a same issue. Here is what it was: Go to SQL Server and run SQL Server Configuration Manager Doube click SQL Server Network Configuration Click on Protocols for {you SQL server instance} (usually if you used default settings it is Protocol for MSSQLSERVER) and then in right panel be sure that TCP/IP is Enabled. If it is not, right click on TCP/IP and choose Enable option. NOTE: Enabling TCP/IP may require you to restart service. Just to be sure, on a left panel click on SQL Server Services Then in right panel click on SQL Server  {you SQL server instance} (usually if you used default settings it is SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER)) Right click on it and choose Restart Now, try again - worked for me.

  • Anonymous
    August 01, 2012
    Hi Travis - I'm sorry that you're having issues resolving the error. Are you certain that the permissions are correct? Unfortunately I'm not sure what else might be causing the issue other than what is outlined in this blog post, so you may need to post a question to the forums or contact support for more help.

  • Anonymous
    August 01, 2012
    Go to SQL Server and run SQL Server Configuration Manager Doube click SQL Server Network Configuration Click on Protocols for {you SQL server instance} (usually if you used default settings it is Protocol for MSSQLSERVER) and then in right panel be sure that TCP/IP is Enabled. If it is not, right click on TCP/IP and choose Enable option. NOTE: Enabling TCP/IP may require you to restart service. Just to be sure, on a left panel click on SQL Server Services Then in right panel click on SQL Server  {you SQL server instance} (usually if you used default settings it is SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER)) Right click on it and choose Restart Now, try again - worked for me.

  • Anonymous
    August 16, 2012
    unfortunately I am still having this issue, I have double checked permissions but alas

  • Anonymous
    March 11, 2013
    excellent post!  exactly the issues I was having - and the steps to resolve it worked like a charm.   Thank you!

  • Anonymous
    January 09, 2014
    Pingback from #SharePoint 2010 setup error: Cannot connect to database master at #sp2010 #ps2010 #sp2013 | SharePoint (and Project Server) Shenanigans

  • Anonymous
    April 10, 2014
    Also , I hit this issue as well , tried everything. ended up needing to enable named pipes in system 32 and syswow64.