Azure website fails to connect to SQL Azure Database

Question

I've searched for hours and can't find anything helpful.

Using ASP.NET MVC4 with Windows Azure.

When I run the site locally on my dev machine, using the SQL Azure connection string. I can access the remote database no problem at all. However, when I deploy the site and try to access it from [mysite].azurewebsites.com I get the following error after a timeout (the connection string in Azure is identical; copy and pasted):

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 configured to allow remote connections. (provider: SQL Network 
Interfaces, error: 26 - Error Locating Server/Instance Specified) 

Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request.
Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in 
the code. 

SQLExpress database file auto-creation error: 


The connection string specifies a local Sql Server Express instance using a database location 
within the application's App_Data directory. The provider attempted to automatically create the 
application services database because the provider determined that the database does not exist. 
The following configuration requirements are necessary to successfully check for existence of 
the application services database and automatically create the application services database:

1.If the application is running on either Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008R2, special 
configuration steps are necessary to enable automatic creation of the provider database. 
Additional information is available at: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=160102. If the 
application's App_Data directory does not already exist, the web server account must have read 
and write access to the application's directory. This is necessary because the web server 
account will automatically create the App_Data directory if it does not already exist.
2.If the application's App_Data directory already exists, the web server account only requires 
read and write access to the application's App_Data directory. This is necessary because the web 
server account will attempt to verify that the Sql Server Express database already exists within 
the application's App_Data directory. Revoking read access on the App_Data directory from the 
web server account will prevent the provider from correctly determining if the Sql Server 
Express database already exists. This will cause an error when the provider attempts to create a 
duplicate of an already existing database. Write access is required because the web server 
account's credentials are used when creating the new database.
3.Sql Server Express must be installed on the machine.
4.The process identity for the web server account must have a local user profile. See the readme 
document for details on how to create a local user profile for both machine and domain accounts.


Source Error: 


An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. 
Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the 
exception stack trace below.    

Stack Trace: 



[SqlException (0x80131904): 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 configured to allow remote connections. 
(provider: SQL Network Interfaces, error: 26 - Error Locating Server/Instance Specified)]
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnection.OnError(SqlException exception, Boolean 
breakConnection, Action`1 wrapCloseInAction) +5296071
System.Data.SqlClient.TdsParser.ThrowExceptionAndWarning(TdsParserStateObject stateObj, Boolean 
callerHasConnectionLock, Boolean asyncClose) +558
System.Data.SqlClient.TdsParser.Connect(ServerInfo serverInfo, SqlInternalConnectionTds 
connHandler, Boolean ignoreSniOpenTimeout, Int64 timerExpire, Boolean encrypt, Boolean   
trustServerCert, Boolean integratedSecurity, Boolean withFailover) +5308555
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnectionTds.AttemptOneLogin(ServerInfo serverInfo, String 
newPassword, SecureString newSecurePassword, Boolean ignoreSniOpenTimeout, TimeoutTimer timeout, 
Boolean withFailover) +145
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnectionTds.LoginNoFailover(ServerInfo serverInfo, String 
newPassword, SecureString newSecurePassword, Boolean redirectedUserInstance, SqlConnectionString 
connectionOptions, SqlCredential credential, TimeoutTimer timeout) +920
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnectionTds.OpenLoginEnlist(TimeoutTimer timeout, 
SqlConnectionString connectionOptions, SqlCredential credential, String newPassword, 
SecureString newSecurePassword, Boolean redirectedUserInstance) +307
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnectionTds..ctor(DbConnectionPoolIdentity identity, 
SqlConnectionString connectionOptions, SqlCredential credential, Object providerInfo, String 
newPassword, SecureString newSecurePassword, Boolean redirectedUserInstance, SqlConnectionString 
userConnectionOptions) +434
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnectionFactory.CreateConnection(DbConnectionOptions options,   
DbConnectionPoolKey poolKey, Object poolGroupProviderInfo, DbConnectionPool pool, DbConnection 
owningConnection, DbConnectionOptions userOptions) +5311099
System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionFactory.CreateNonPooledConnection(DbConnection 
owningConnection, DbConnectionPoolGroup poolGroup, DbConnectionOptions userOptions) +38
System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionFactory.TryGetConnection(DbConnection owningConnection, 
TaskCompletionSource`1 retry, DbConnectionOptions userOptions, DbConnectionInternal& connection) 
+5313314
System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionClosed.TryOpenConnection(DbConnection outerConnection, 
DbConnectionFactory connectionFactory, TaskCompletionSource`1 retry, DbConnectionOptions 
userOptions) +143
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection.TryOpen(TaskCompletionSource`1 retry) +83
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection.Open() +96
System.Web.Management.SqlServices.GetSqlConnection(String server, String user, String password,
Boolean trusted, String connectionString) +76

[HttpException (0x80004005): Unable to connect to SQL Server database.]
System.Web.Management.SqlServices.GetSqlConnection(String server, String user, String password, 
Boolean trusted, String connectionString) +131
System.Web.Management.SqlServices.SetupApplicationServices(String server, String user, String 
password, Boolean trusted, String connectionString, String database, String dbFileName,
SqlFeatures features, Boolean install) +89
System.Web.Management.SqlServices.Install(String database, String dbFileName, String 
connectionString) +27
System.Web.DataAccess.SqlConnectionHelper.CreateMdfFile(String fullFileName, String dataDir,
String connectionString) +386

I tried to look at the remote web.config file using ftp but every time I try to "Set up deployment credentials" I get this error:

Failed to Set Credentials with error: 'Publishing username is already used. Specify a different publishing username.'

Which is BS because there is no "Deployment / FTP User" set at all.

Any help would be appreciated.

"The connection string specifies a local Sql Server Express instance using a database location within the application's App_Data directory." It seems like there is an error with your connection string, in that it point to a resource on your local development machine which is not created on the azure box. Can you post your web.config? Are you using a SQL Azure Database? — Ray Suelzer, Sep 27 '13 at 02:21
I have the same problem http://stackoverflow.com/questions/19346938/a-network-releated-or-instance-specific-error-occurred-while-establishing-a-conn but I when I first searched I didn't see this post. I found that in the server's config file there is a connection string name `LocalSqlServer` used by the `AspNetSqlMembershipProvider` and that was causing the problem. I still don't have a solution. — Old Geezer, Oct 14 '13 at 04:07

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 27 '13 at 02:41

It seems that the app is using the wrong connection string. Sometimes MVC 4 / EF5 has the Default Connection String as below:

<add name="MovieDBContext" 
   connectionString="Data Source=(LocalDB)\v11.0;AttachDbFilename=|DataDirectory|\Movies.mdf;Integrated Security=True" 
   providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" 
/>

For me, it is still using this default connection, that's why locally is working.

Some strategies:

1-get which connection string your dbcontext is using as follows:

var myconn = db.Database.Connection.ConnectionString; //set this to a ViewBag for example

2-Just to be sure, create your connection string in web.config with the same name of your DbContext or set the connection name inside the constructor.

I now that you already have the Sql Azure Connstring, but I'll post in here too, because it could help someone else:

Default Sql Azure Connection String

Server=tcp:[serverName].database.windows.net;Database=myDataBase;
User ID=[LoginForDb]@[serverName];Password=myPassword;Trusted_Connection=False;
Encrypt=True;

you could find the right one in your management portal.

enter image description here

I'm having the same issue and tried your suggestions. I have 2 DataContexts and I've sent the Database.Connection.Connectionstring for both via a ViewBag to a view that doesn't fail to load due to needing a connection to the database. When the page loads the connection string from the ViewBag match the correct SQL Azure string I have set as my Default Connection in web.config. I also tried setting that connection sting in the constructor for both DataContexts however none of this seems to help the original problem. Any other suggestions for fixing? Thanks. — Alec Menconi, Jun 26 '15 at 01:29

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 26 '15 at 19:44

I know this is an old tread, but I will like to share my solution.

My problem was that I could run the application on the local machine with connection to SQL on Azure. And the login validation was done on the Azure SQL.

When running the app on Azure it was not possible to login, but the pages with anonymous access connects to the database proberly.

In the Azure Mangement the connection string for DefaultConnection is not changed when a project is published. I think this connection i created first time the project is publish to Azure. After setting the default connection string to the same as in web.config everything is working smootly.

This was exactly my issue, after I cloned an app service. In the new app service, go to Configuration -> Application Settings -> Connection Strings, then change the Default Connection to the connection string from web.config. — VBStarr, Jan 27 '21 at 19:33

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 21 '17 at 20:27

The way I resolved this issue was to FTP into the site and downloaded and viewed the connection string in web.config.

It was not what I expected it to be. I then deleted it and fixed the issue and then republished the site.

I again FTP'ed into the site and now it did have the correct connection string.

In my case, the issue was that I was using a web.release.config file, but it was incorrectly configured so it was not actually being used.

score 0 · Answer 4 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:54

I had the same problem recently but in my case the cause was different. I had configured the Microsoft ASP.NET Universal Providers to connect to my SQL Azure database. Later on, while I was using the ASP.NET Configuration Tool to enable roles, this is what my configuration looked like.

<membership defaultProvider="DefaultMembershipProvider">
  <providers>
    <add name="DefaultMembershipProvider" type="System.Web.Providers.DefaultMembershipProvider" connectionStringName="hidden" enablePasswordRetrieval="false" enablePasswordReset="true" requiresQuestionAndAnswer="false" requiresUniqueEmail="false" maxInvalidPasswordAttempts="5" minRequiredPasswordLength="0" minRequiredNonalphanumericCharacters="0" passwordAttemptWindow="10" applicationName="/" />
  </providers>
</membership>
<roleManager enabled="true" />

The roleManager section was added by the configuration tool. That tool was written, however, in the days of lore when there was no such thing as Universal Providers.

See what's missing? Yeah, the roleManager section doesn't have any connection string defined. On my local machine everything worked fine, however, because this missing connection string results in a local MDF being created where the app can now store the roles, but in Azure, this doesn't work. I solved it by specifying the connection string in the same manner like this:

<membership defaultProvider="DefaultMembershipProvider">
  <providers>
    <add name="DefaultMembershipProvider" type="System.Web.Providers.DefaultMembershipProvider" connectionStringName="hidden" enablePasswordRetrieval="false" enablePasswordReset="true" requiresQuestionAndAnswer="false" requiresUniqueEmail="false" maxInvalidPasswordAttempts="5" minRequiredPasswordLength="0" minRequiredNonalphanumericCharacters="0" passwordAttemptWindow="10" applicationName="/" />
  </providers>
</membership>
<roleManager enabled="true" defaultProvider="DefaultRoleProvider">
  <providers>
    <add name="DefaultRoleProvider" type="System.Web.Providers.DefaultRoleProvider" connectionStringName="hidden" applicationName="/" />
  </providers>
</roleManager>

Solved the problem. I did have to reconfigure all my roles, because they were sitting somewhere in a local file.

Azure website fails to connect to SQL Azure Database

4 Answers4