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Opening Ports in the Firewall

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New: 5 December 2005

Firewall systems help prevent unauthorized access to computer resources. To enhance security, Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 (SP2) turns on Windows Firewall. To connect to SQL Server from another computer, you must open a port in the firewall.

Important

Opening ports in your firewall can leave your server exposed to malicious attacks. Be sure to understand firewall systems before opening ports. For more information, see Security Considerations for a SQL Server Installation.

After you configure the Database Engine to use a fixed port, follow the following instructions to open that port in your Windows Firewall. (You do not have to configure a fixed port for the default instance, because it is already fixed on port 1433.)

To open a port in Windows Firewall

  1. On the Start menu, click Control Panel.

  2. In Control Panel, click Network and Internet Connections, and then open Windows Firewall.

  3. In Windows Firewall, click the Exceptions tab, and then click Add Port.

  4. In the Add a Port dialog box, in the Name box, type SQL Server*<instanceName>*.

  5. In the Port number box, type the port number of the Database Engine instance. Use 1433 for the default instance. Type 1500 if you are configuring a named instance and configured a fixed port in the previous task. Verify that TCP is selected, and then click OK.

Next Task in Lesson

Connecting to the Database Engine from Another Computer

Change History

Release History

5 December 2005
New content:
  • This is a new tutorial.