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Thursday, January 9, 2014

#SharePoint 2010 setup error: Cannot connect to database master at #sp2010 #ps2010 #sp2013

Lately i got a chance to help my customer with standard deployment of Project Server 2010, and as they say "you learn new things each day", i also learnt about an issue which could be seen as basic activity but could lead you to pull your hairs while troubleshooting.

The issue occurred while running SharePoint 2010 setup, after installing pre-requisites, and following first few initial screens of setup wizard. Once reached to the point where you can enter SharePoint database server name, and credentials which can be used to talk to database server. You may see this 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.

Now if you have followed the recommended technet article to setup service accounts and permission, this error might be little misleading at the start. But root cause of the issue is completely valid.

There is already a very detailed and helpful blog is available for you to follow to start troubleshooting:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/tothesharepoint/archive/2011/01/12/troubleshooting-sharepoint-configuration-error-cannot-connect-to-database-master-at-server-name.aspx

The possible causes of that error are as follows, first 2 are available in this blog, and the 3rd is the one i found and is the reason of this post:

  1. Permissions of the account used to configure has correct permission within SQL based on technet article.
  2. SQL Server in windows firewall required port, by default its 1433, is allowed to receive traffic from SharePoint application server.
  3. Verify that user through which you are running setup has got permissions to login to SQL Server. Yes, its very common in production or customer environments that you use different credentials to login to server than to the one you use to for deployment. Now either allow that user login permission to SQL Server by going to SQL Server and adding that user under logins within security of SQL Server. Or, run the setup as an administrator. In fact a good practice, is to always run the setup as an administrator to avoid such glitches.


Have a good day at work.




Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Year 2013 Passed, A new to come..

At the start of new year 2014, when i turn back and see 2013, it seems like it passed with the speed of light. But then this is how it meant to be, as they says "time flies" ....

For me the year starts with some big fireworks display, as Dubai has plan to create a world record of biggest fireworks at new year. It was fun to witness such historic moment, at the same time a little guilt that this enormous amount of money could be used to something more useful.


On a personal side of my Year 2013, i have had a great time with my family. My son turned 2, and i now can understand exactly the meaning of terrible 2 :) He is occupying most of my time, and i love every minute spending with him, no matter how much frustrated i could be due to worldly matters, he brings smile to my face and my source to stay motivated.

Year 2013 was good for me in terms of learning, as Project 2013, online and on-premises versions, was released in this year, and i have got lot of new dimensions of a product to learn. 

Working as PPM/EPM specialist is my passion, and i got a chance to work with different aspects of PPM as a tool to help lay down project management methodology for organization. For some reason, i have got more chance to work on reporting part of a product, and i explored in detail the database level of a product. And here i learnt that how rite use of Top-Down and Bottom-Up approaches of reporting can help organizations to see their desired results.

Despite of being occupied with work and personal stuff, i have tried to be on my mark when its about gaining knowledge or information about the world of SharePoint/Project Server. And for this i found twitter as my best friend :) i am following some great people from around the world to learn about fact paced technology evolution. Also with the passage of time technology is really coming to palms of our hands now, and i am relying more on my mobile device to stay connected instead of laptop. 

During year 2013, i have also tried to be active through my blog and forums as well. My blog stats reached near to 100,000, and i have got 150+ visitors each day from around the world. So thank you everyone for visiting my blog, and i try to share more during the coming year.

Lets stay connected, keep visiting my blog, leave your comments, and have a great new Year 2014.



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