Share via

SQL Server Configuration Manager Help

  • Article

Use SQL Server Configuration Manager to configure SQL Server services and configure network connectivity. To create or manage database objects, configure security, and write Transact-SQL queries, use SQL Server Management Studio. For more information about SQL Server Management Studio, see SQL Server Books Online.

This section contains the F1 Help topics for the dialogs in SQL Server Configuration Manager.

Note

SQL Server Configuration Manager cannot configure versions of SQL Server earlier than MicrosoftSQL Server 2005.

Services

SQL Server Configuration Manager manages services that are related to SQL Server. Although many of these tasks can be accomplished using the Microsoft Windows Services dialog, is important to note that SQL Server Configuration Manager performs additional operations on the services it manages, such as applying the correct permissions when the service account is changed. Using the normal Windows Services dialog to configure any of the SQL Server services might cause the service to malfunction.

Use SQL Server Configuration Manager for the following tasks for services:

  • Start, stop, and pause services

  • Configure services to start automatically or manually, disable the services, or change other service settings

  • Change the passwords for the accounts used by the SQL Server services

  • Start SQL Server using trace flags (command line parameters)

  • View the properties of services

SQL Server Network Configuration

Use SQL Server Configuration Manager for the following tasks related to the SQL Server services on this computer:

  • Enable or disable a SQL Server network protocol

  • Configure a SQL Server network protocol

Note

For a short tutorial about how to configure protocols and connect to the SQL Server Database Engine, see Tutorial: Getting Started with the Database Engine.

SQL Server Native Client Configuration

SQL Server clients connect to SQL Server by using the SQL Server Native Client network library. Use SQL Server Configuration Manager for the following tasks related to client applications on this computer:

  • For SQL Server client applications on this computer, specify the protocol order, when connecting to instances of SQL Server.

  • Configure client connection protocols.

  • For SQL Server client applications, create aliases for instances of SQL Server, so that clients can connect using a custom connection string.

For more information about each of these tasks, see F1 help for each task.

To open SQL Server Configuration Manager

  • On the Start menu, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft SQL Server (version), point to Configuration Tools, and then click SQL Server Configuration Manager.

See Also

SQL Server Services
SQL Server Network Configuration
SQL Native Client 11.0 Configuration
Choosing a Network Protocol