The Windows firewall is usually the culprit in these scenarios. Open TCP port 1433 for the service itself, and 1434 if you need to use the SQL Browser service.

  1. Open cliconfg from a RUN prompt and make sure TCP/IP is an enabled protocol.
    Launch "Administrative Tools",  Administrative Tools, then Services to see that the service named SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER) is started.

  2. Ensure that you are using the correct credentials to authenticate. The default SQL administrator account is named sa and if you built the server from one of our server images with MSSQL pre-installed, the password will be in a text file on the root of the C partition.

  3. Use netstat –an from the command prompt to verify that the server is listening for SQL traffic on the correct ports.

  4. If you’re using MS SQL Server 2022 you can configure remote access using:

  • SQL Server Management Studio
    1. In Object Explorer, right-click a server and select Properties.
    2. Select the Connections node.
    3. Under Remote server connections, select or clear the Allow remote connections to this server check box.

  • Using Transact-SQL
    1. Connect to the Database Engine.
    2. From the Standard bar, select New Query.
    3. Copy and paste the following example into the query window and select Execute. This example shows how to use sp_configure to set the value of the remote access option to 0.

EXEC sp_configure 'remote access', 0;
GO
RECONFIGURE;
GO

Free Download for SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) from the Official Microsoft portal.

  1. If the server is not listening for SQL traffic on the correct ports, use SQL Server Configuration Manager to change the ports.

    • Use the Windows key or hover over the left lower corner of the desktop and select All Programs > Microsoft SQL Server 2012 > Configuration Tools > SQL Server Configuration Manager.

    • Open the + next to SQL Server Network Configuration.

    • Right-click TCP/IP and select Properties.

    • Select IP Addresses.

    • All TCP ports mentioned on all interfaces should be 1433. Change this to reflect the correct port number and restart the SQL services.

  2. If you are using named instances when installing SQL,  giving you the ability to host multiple SQL versions or service types, you will have to specify the name of the SQL instance when connecting rather than just using the server’s name or IP.  If you have created a named instance, you will need to access it by appending the name to the server’s name or IP, following a backslash (e.g. 12.34.56.78\SQLINSTANCENAME or SQLSERVERNAME\SQLINSTANCENAME).