Could Not Connect to Server

Hello,I downloaded the 30-day trial version, but am having trouble setting it up. On an initial launch I am asked to set a database, but I get the following error (after choosing the first option : Microsoft SQL Server Express) : " * There was an error trying to connect to the Database Server: Could not connect to server." Any suggestions as to what I should do? Best,
George

Hi George,

Sitefinity is a content management system - a .NET web application which requires a database server to store all data into. Do you have a DB server on your local computer? If not, what you could do is download SQL Express server from Microsoft.com for free or simply set up a hosted trial, where we will host the application for you.

If you choose the first option, our documentation could help with the task.

Please let me know if you need further help!

Regards,
Grisha 'Greg' Karanikolov
Telerik

Hello,

I don't think you read his question.  I am having the same problem:

1) I downloaded a trial version of Sitefinity and created a project locally.

2) I published the web project to a development server.

3) When I attempted to access the server URL, and began the Project Startup process, after submitting my license key, it prompted me for a database.

4) I CHOSE SQL EXPRESS.  Which means that Sitefinity created the database.

5) The startup failed with the following error:

There was an error trying to connect to the Database Server:
Could not connect to server.

Hi Benjamin,

This issue seems not to be related to Sitefinity itself as the error you are seeing basically says that Sitefinity cannot connect to your database server, which could be caused by variety of reason.

1. For example the database server could be behind firewall (e.g. if it resides on another machine).

2. Based on our experience this issue may also occur if there is no SQL Server installed on your machine where you try to create the Sitefinity project.

3. The other possible reason for the issue is if the default SQL user on the machine doesn't have rights to create new databases on the MS SQL server or SQLEXPRESS.

In order to resolve this issue, please make sure that you have installed a supported version of SQL or SQLExpress on your machine and grant the process running Sitefinity or Sitefinity Project Manager Create database permissions.

Please refer to the following article for more details about the Sitefinity prerequisites:
http://docs.sitefinity.com/system-requirements

4. In addition to that this issue may also occur if the SQL Server instance is not started / running, or in other words, Sitefinity cannot find your SQL instance to create the database. Can you please make sure that the SQL Server instance is started / running on your side?

You may also refer to the following article from our documentation for more details about configuring a Sitefinity project (please refer to step 2 for more details about setting up the database and the requirements):

http://docs.sitefinity.com/configure-and-start-a-project

Regards,
Sabrie Nedzhip
Telerik