SQL Server Network Configuration node missing from Configuration Manager after install

Question

I have a server running Windows 2012 R2 Datacenter 64-bit. I was using SQL 2016 RC3 with no issues and I want to replace it with the RTM build we have from MSDN.

After uninstalling RC3 and then installing RTM, I was unable to connect remotely to the server. Upon inspection, I see within Configuration Manager that there is no node for "SQL Server Network Configuration". The 32-bit versions are listed, and TCP/IP is enabled. How do I get this missing node installed?

I have started the SQL Browser service and attempted to repair the 2016 installation. Nothing seems to revive this missing component.

I find interesting that there are pieces of the RC3 and RTM installs left behind that I can't uninstall. I'm not sure if this is relevant. I followed Microsoft instructions on uninstalling SQL Server so I feel like I've done everything right.

Answer 1

After many uninstall/reinstall attempts, I tried simply deleting the C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server folder after an uninstall. When I reinstalled SQL afterwards, the protocols were installed and everything was good. Remote connections began to succeed.

I read somewhere that Microsoft allows for information to remain even after an uninstall. Apparently these vestigial files and folders confuse a subsequent install enough to believe the client networking libraries are already present and so they are not installed.

Answer 2

Posting this up in case anyone else sees this and runs into the same perceived issue as I had. We have SQL Server 2016 SP1 x64 installed and SSMS 2017 installed. When I open SQL Server 2017 Configuration manager, I can't see all of the items (just as you couldn't). However, when I open SQL Server 2016 Configuration Manager I can see all of the items as expected.

Some more details are here: http://internationaldatascience.com/sql-server-2016-configuration-manager-missing-ssms-17-2-cannot-connect-to-wmi-provider/

Here's the relevant info incase that blog goes down:

However, “SQL Server Network Configuration” was missing! The “SQL Server Network Configuration (32bit)” section was there, but blank as usual. Searching the web wasn’t turning up much, so I started poking around on the local machine to find the old tool. Looking on a machine that had 2016 but not the problem, I could see that the command in the Shortcut on the Start Menu for SQL Server Configuration Manager is actually a call to open a Microsoft Management Console (MMC):

C:\Windows\SysWOW64\mmc.exe /32

C:\Windows\SysWOW64\SQLServerManager13.msc I copied the “SQL Server 2016 Configuration Manager” shortcut file in the folder

“C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Microsoft SQL Server 2016\Configuration Tools” from the donor machine to the one I was having the problem with.