Can't Open Port 1433 on Window Server 2008 (attempting to connect to SQL Server 2008 Express)

Question

I'm trying to open Port 1433 on windows firewall but not having much luck.

I've added a new Inbound Rule (attempting to open TCP 1433) which looks okay and appears to be on but when I run netstat -an the server doesn't appear to be listening on Port 1433.

I've gone through the motions of setting SQL Server Express to not use dynamic ports (I looked down the list of IPs in the config manager and enabled the servers external IP, removed "0" from dynamic ports and added 1433).

I feel that this is an issue with the firewalling and wondered if anyone had any pointers on where I may be going wrong.

Many thanks,

Andrew

Solution 1

In response to my own question I have figured it out (with the help of Sergey).

It turns out that SQL Server 2008 Express needs to be configured correctly in addition to windows firewall before the server will start listening on Port 1433.

I was able to resolve my issue by:

1. Opening SQL Server Configuration Mangager
2. Going to the Network Configuration for SQLEXPRESS
3. Editing "IPALL" of TCP/IP Protocol.
4. Setting the values of the options to the values highlighted by Sergey above.

Turns out the issue I was having was editing the incorrect IP in this properties window. I was attempting to edit just the external IP - it seems I was mistaken in doing this.

Hope this solution helps others with similar problems.

P.S. Don't forget to add the incoming rule to your windows firewall.

Troubleshoot: If none of them works, try to add the .exe file named: sqlbrowser. usually nested in: %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft SQL Server(SQL version number)\Shared\SQLBrowser.exe (OY)

Solution 2

You should leave blank 'TCP dynamic port' field and add 1433 to 'TCP Port' field to disable dynamic port allocation for SQL Server Express instance.

Have you restarted SQL Server express after your configuration changes?

Comments

[Andrew Duncan]

Hi, I've just checked my TCP/IP Properties and for "IP2" I had set Dynamic Ports to blank and 1433 in TCP Port. Am I meant to do this for all the IP's in the list or just the external ip? I've got IP1-IP8 then an IPALL option

[Andrew Duncan]

Yes - I did restart SQL Express after making changes.

[mfinni]

Post this as a new question, and include some more details. Don't write this as an "answer" to an old question.

[Gluip]

Thanks a lot. Finally solved my problems after 2 hours of doing what should be very simple.