Why Your Web Application Can't Connect to SQL Server
One of the trickiest problems I encountered when I was just starting ASP.NET web development was debugging issues with my web application connecting to SQL server, especially when connecting to a local instance of SQL Server.
Often the error messages related to these issues were not quite clear or ended up sending me on a wild goose chase.
To that end, here’s a list of a few error messages I’ve often encountered and how to solve them:
A network-related or instance-specific error occurred
A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. The server was not found or was not accessible. Verify that the instance name is correct and that SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. (provider: Named Pipes Provider, error: 40 - Could not open a connection to SQL Server)
This is the most generic and most frustrating of the errors. There are a couple possible solutions:
First, double-check the server name in your connection string. In other words, let’s say your connection string is the following:
Server=ServerName;Database=DatabaseName;
The error above can occur if something has gone wrong with the Server=ServerName piece. Check for the following:
- Server name is spelled correctly
- Server port number (if applicable) is correct
- Application pool account has permissions to send requests to the server
If you are connecting to a local instance, this will likely be Server=(local). However, it’s also possible your local instance could have a different name (e.g. (local)\SQLEXPRESS or (local)\MSSQLSERVER).
Second, ensure that the instance of SQL server has not stopped.
You can do this by accessing the “Services” list in Windows. In Windows 10, this is simply a tab on the Task Manager:
(In earlier versions of Windows go to “Run” and enter “services.msc”.)
Once you have accessed the list of Services, look for your instance of SQL server in the list (probably named MSSQLSERVER or MSSQL$SQLEXPRESS) and ensure that is “Running.” If it has stopped, simply right-click the service and click “Start”:
Login failed for user ‘’
Login failed for user ‘’.
The important bit to notice here is that there is no username displayed, which means no username is being sent to SQL Server for authentication. So, with that in mind:
First, did you intend to send over a username and password but forgot?
Server=ServerName;Database=DatabaseName;User Id=Username;Password=Password;
Second, did you intend to use integrated security (Windows Authentication) but didn’t specify that?
Server=ServerName;Database=DatabaseName;Integrated Security=SSPI;
(In most cases, this is probably what you want: this setting allows your web application to use Windows Authentication to authenticate with your application pool’s account)
Cannot open database “DatabaseName” requested by the login
Cannot open database “DatabaseName” requested by the login. The login failed. Login failed for user ‘DOMAIN\Username’.
This is another generic error with a couple solutions:
First, double-check the database name in your connection string is spelled correctly.
Second, ensure your website’s domain account has permissions to access the database:
Login failed for user ‘DOMAIN\Username’
Login failed for user ‘DOMAIN\Username’.
This is similar to the error above. The slight difference, however, is that there is no “Cannot open database” alongside this error message.
This means that your website’s application pool account does not have permissions to access the database instance itself (not the actual database, but the instance on which the database is hosted):
