Knowledgebase

Question

I get the following error when I use the connection string in CactuShop's config file to connect to MS SQL server on Windows Server 2003:

[DBNETLIB]connectionOpen(Connect()) SQL Server does not exist or access denied.

Why is this and how can I fix it?

Answer

The problem is to do with the network libraries used, which are the elements of computer code that handle the TCP/IP connection between the web server and the database.

Our default connection string includes this:

Network Library=DBMSSOCN;

If you are having the above error on Server 2003, just remove this part from the connection string.

There are still other potential problems that can cause this error, so if this fix doesn't work, you will need to check the following:

1. Are the other details in the connection string correct?
2. Does the user have the appropriate permissions?
3. Is there a firewall blocking traffic between the web server and the database?

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