Sharepoint: Cannot connect to master database master at…
I was installing a test version of Sharepoint 2010 earlier today. Plain vanilla installation with a separate SQL 2008 R2 server. Installation went fine but when running the configuration wizard I got an error that surprised me. it said:
“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.“
First thing you think about is of course that TCP1433 needs to be open in the Windows firewall, but that was already done. The account used to connect with had more than enough rights assiged. A quick google search did not gave my any tip other than to open the firewall. Ok, I didn’t check all search results but the first 3-4 didn’t anyway 
Hope I can help someone else out there by posting this blog post 
Solution
In the plain vanilla installation of SQL server 2008 R2 I had not activated TCP/IP connections. To enable it do the following:
- Start the SQL server configuration manager.
- Go to SQL Server Configuration Manager (Local) –> SQL Server Network Configuration –> Protocols for MSSQLSERVER (or whatever your SQL instance is named).
- Right click TCP/IP and chose enable.
- Restart the SQL service.
- Do the happy dance
If you need information about how to configure the Windows firewall to allow SQL server traffic, have a look at this Microsoft KB article.
Cheers
Martin
