No One Can Login SQL Server Instance Even Though Its Services Are Running

Question

I have an issue. Today, our developers had reported to me a problem that they couldn't reach SQL Server database server several hours ago. I have checked the services and i saw that they were in running state but it was not reachable remotely. And of course, i have checked the TCP/IP connection settings. They are enabled and settings are correct. What can cause such an issue? Have you ever experienced like this situation before? The error code that i get when i try to connect to server is :

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 configured to allow remote connections. (provider: SQL Network Interfaces, error: 26 - Error Locating Server/Instance Specified) (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: -1)

This server is development server. There are 5 different SQL Server instances. And, no one can reach them. By the way, i can connect to the instances on the cmd screen. Can you help me?

The instance is running on a Windows Server Core machine, and I can connect to the instance locally from the server itself.

Answer 1

That seems to be a firewall issue.

Open the Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security applet from a client machine on the same network, connect to the server, and see if you can enable the SQL Server or or TCP port. By default the port is 1433, but it might be some other port. You can use SQL Server Configuration Manager to determine which port the server is running on.

You might need to enable Remote Management of the Server Core machine. Connect to it via RDP, open a command-prompt, and run sconfig. There is an option to enable remote management from there.