I have installed SQL Server Express 2008 and SQL Server Management Studio on a 64-bit machine running dual-boot Windows 7 and Xubuntu 12.04. When I try to open SSMS and connect to the server I get an error message:
Cannot connect to (ComputerName)\SQLEXPRESS.
Additional information: A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. The server was not found or was not accessible. Verify that the instance name is correct and that SQL Server is configures to allow remote connections.) provider: SQL Network Interfaces, error 26 - Error Locating Server/Instance Specified)(Microsoft SQL Server)
I haven't had a chance to create any databases yet so it should be connecting to the default instance on my own computer. I have already tried using single or double backslashes, made sure sqlbrowser.exe is running, and tried connecting with firewall disabled.
Any ideas how I can connect to the server?
Edit: I have looked through several previous entries and tried the things suggested on them. I have enabled TCP/IP in the Network Configuration. I have made sure both SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER) and SQL Server Browser are running. I have even uninstalled and reinstalled the entire program.
I am using Windows Authentication and am entering variations on BIGONE\SQLEXPRESS. When creating the default instance during installation it appeared to be listed as MSSQLEXPRESS rather than SQLEXPRESS, so I have tried this too.
The only features I have installed are Database Engine Services, SQL Server Replication, Full-Text Search and Management Tools-Basic. Other features such as Client Tools Connectivity don't seem to be available in the various versions of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Express that I have found. Are other features required?
Here are a few lines from one of the Error logs which might possibly be relevant:
2013-03-26 18:38:26.60 Server Dedicated administrator connection support was not started because it is disabled on this edition of SQL Server. If you want to use a dedicated administrator connection, restart SQL Server using the trace flag 7806. This is an informational message only. No user action is required. 2013-03-26 18:38:26.62 Server The SQL Server Network Interface library could not register the Service Principal Name (SPN) for the SQL Server service. Error: 0x54b, state: 3. Failure to register an SPN may cause integrated authentication to fall back to NTLM instead of Kerberos. This is an informational message. Further action is only required if Kerberos authentication is required by authentication policies. 2013-03-26 18:38:26.62 Server SQL Server is now ready for client connections. This is an informational message; no user action is required. 2013-03-26 18:38:42.00 spid10s Starting up database 'tempdb'. 2013-03-26 18:38:46.74 spid13s The Service Broker protocol transport is disabled or not configured. 2013-03-26 18:38:46.75 spid13s The Database Mirroring protocol transport is disabled or not configured. 2013-03-26 18:38:47.69 spid13s Service Broker manager has started. 2013-03-26 18:38:48.19 spid7s Recovery is complete. This is an informational message only. No user action is required. 2013-03-26 22:24:50.59 Server Server resumed execution after being idle 11872 seconds: user activity awakened the server. This is an informational message only. No user action is required. 2013-03-27 00:33:53.68 Server SQL Server is terminating because of a system shutdown. This is an informational message only. No user action is required. 2013-03-27 00:33:57.06 spid13s Service Broker manager has shut down. 2013-03-27 00:33:57.14 spid13s Error: 17054, Severity: 16, State: 1. 2013-03-27 00:33:57.14 spid13s The current event was not reported to the Windows Events log. Operating system error = (null). You may need to clear the Windows Events log if it is full. 2013-03-27 00:33:58.51 spid7s SQL Trace was stopped due to server shutdown. Trace ID = '1'. This is an informational message only; no user action is required.
Update: I have managed to connect by using only my computer name (without \SQLEXPRESS afterwards). Thanks for the suggestions :-)
