How to enable remote connections to MS SQL server on a Plesk server?

Question

How to enable remote connections to MS SQL server?

Answer

1. Connect to the server via RDP.

2. Press the Start button, go to Microsoft SQL Server XXXX (where XXXX is the MSSQL version) and click the SQL Server XXX Configuration Manager.

3. Open the SQL Server Configuration Manager (Local) > SQL Server Network Configuration menu and click the Protocols for MSSQLSERVERXXXX (where XXXX is the MSSQL version).

4. Make sure that the TCP/IP protocol has the Enabled status:

   

5. Double-click the TCP/IP protocol, go to the IP Addresses tab, and scroll down to the IPAll section.

6. Specify 1433 in the TCP Port field (or another port if 1433 is used by another MS SQL Server) and press the OK button:

   Note: the specified port, e.g, 1433, must be opened in the firewall.
   
   If you use Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio to connect to SQL server with a custom port, you should use coma with the port for connection address like 203.0.113.2,1433.

   

7. Go to SQL Server Configuration Manager (Local) > SQL Server Services, right-click the SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER) service and press the Restart button to apply made changes:

   

8. Log in to Plesk.

9. Go to Tools & Settings > Database Servers > MSSQLSERVER > Settings and click OK to reset cached connection settings.