[This article was contributed by the SQL Azure team.]

This post was put together by one of our incredible support engineers, Abi Iyer, to help you to troubleshoot some of the common connectivity error messages that you would see while connecting to SQL Azure as listed below:

• A transport-level error has occurred when receiving results from the server. (Provider: TCP Provider, error: 0 – An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host.)
• System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException: Timeout expired.  The timeout period elapsed prior to completion of the operation or the server is not responding. The statement has been terminated.
• An error has occurred while establishing a connection to the server. When connecting to SQL Server 2005, this failure may be caused by the fact that under the default settings SQL Server does not allow remote connections
• Error: Microsoft SQL Native Client: Unable to complete login process due to delay in opening server connection.
• A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond.

Section 1: Verify Azure Firewall Settings and Service Availability

1. Login to your SQL Azure portal, Select your project and then switch to the Firewall setting tab. Verify that the SQL Azure firewall is configured to allow remote connections from the IP address(es) that you will be connecting from:

When a computer attempts to connect to your SQL Azure server from the Internet, the SQL Azure firewall checks the originating IP address of the request against the full set of firewall settings. If the IP address of the request is not within one of the ranges specified the connection attempt is blocked and does not reach the SQL Azure server. Blocking by the SQL Azure firewall is usually self evident because the service returns a specific error message similar to the one below:

 

C:>SQLCMD –U<user>@<server> -P<password> -S<server>.database.windows.net

Cannot open server ‘ljvt54v9zo’ requested by the login. Client with IP address ‘131.107.0.111’ is not allowed to access the server. To enable access, use the SQL Azure Portal or run sp_set_firewall_rule on the master database to create a firewall rule for this IP address or address range. It may take up to five minutes for this change to take effect.

Reference: SQL Azure Firewall – https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee621782.aspx

 

2. On the Databases tab of your portal, select the database that you are trying to access and click the Test Connectivity button. This will prompt for your username and password to use when connecting.

Note: If the Microsoft Services firewall isn’t enabled you must enable it and wait up to 5 minutes for the firewall setting to take effect. If you get a failure sooner than 5 minutes then it isn’t a valid test of whether the service is available.

a. If the connection succeeds the backend SQL Azure services are available and your server and database is online. Proceed to Section 2.

b. If the connection fails, note the Location listed for your server and check the SQL Azure service status for this location in the Azure Services Dashboard. In the event of a known outage you will be able to find more information there. If the dashboard does not reflect an outage you may call Microsoft at 1-800- 642-7676 to report the issue and obtain assistance.

Reference: How and when to contact Microsoft Customer Service and Support – https://support.microsoft.com/kb/295539

 

Section 2: Verify that you can reach our Virtual IP

1. Open a command prompt window and use the PING command to confirm that name resolution successfully translates your logical server name to an IP address. The “Request timed out” message shown below is expected because SQL Azure will never respond to ping requests.

C:>ping <myserver>.database.windows.net

Pinging data.sn1-1.database.windows.net [65.55.74.144] with 32 bytes of data:

Request timed out.

Request timed out.

Request timed out.

Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 65.55.74.144:

Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss)

a. If the server name resolves to an IP address, note the value and proceed with step 2.

b. If this step fails, contact your network administrator or Internet service provider for assistance with fixing your name resolution problem.

 

2. From your command prompt window, try to telnet to port 1433 using the IP address returned in the prior step. This will test whether there are any firewalls/routers blocking traffic to port 1433.

C:>telnet 65.55.74.144 1433

Connecting To 65.55.74.144…

a. If Telnet is successful, the window will change to a completely blank screen. Exit and proceed to the next step.

b. If it is not successful, capture the output and move to step 4.

 

Reference: Telnet Troubleshooting Guide – https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753360(WS.10).aspx

 

3. From your command prompt window, repeat the test trying to telnet to the DNS name instead of the IP address.

C:>telnet <myserver>.database.windows.net 1433

Note: If Telnet is not part of your default windows installation, you may enable it from Add/Remove Windows Components.

 

4. Use the tracert utility and capture the output showing the intermediate steps taken while trying to reach the server. This information will be useful if a network engineer is needed to troubleshoot the issue.

C:>tracert 65.55.74.144

Tracing route to 65.55.74.144 over a maximum of 30 hops

1 2 ms 1 ms 1 ms 192.168.0.1

2 6 ms 5 ms 5 ms 10.33.34.50

3 5 ms 4 ms 5 ms 4-1-753.DLLSTX-LCR-07.verizon-gni.net [130.81.107.26]

4 8 ms 5 ms 5 ms so-6-2-0-0.DFW01-BB-RTR1.verizon-gni.net [130.81.28.208]

5 44 ms 43 ms 44 ms so-11-0-0-0.LCC1-RES-BB-RTR1-RE1.verizon-gni.net [130.81.17.40]

6 49 ms 44 ms 44 ms so-6-0-0-0.ASH-PEER-RTR1-re1.verizon-gni.net [130.81.10.90]

Reference: How to Use TRACERT to Troubleshoot TCP/IP Problems in Windows – https://support.microsoft.com/kb/314868

 

Section 3: Not Reaching the Virtual IP:

If you encountered difficulties in Section 2 then you are not reaching the VIP and are instead being blocked between your client and the VIP. The below steps may be helpful, but at this point a network investigation by your ISP or network engineer is required

Many firewall products allow individual users and domain administrators to block or restrict outbound access on a specific port and or destination IP address. Therefore it is necessary to check the outbound rules that are defined on the local machine as well as any routers or proxies that are in the network path. Rules must allow outbound access on port 1433 to destination IP address range 65.55.*.*. Most firewalls also allow the specification of DNS names to allow. Network products that might block access include:

 

1. Windows Firewall on the local machine

Frequently Asked Questions – https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb736261(VS.85).aspx

Windows Firewall with Advanced Security Getting Started Guide – https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc748991(WS.10).aspx

Firewall rules can also be configured as part of domain policies and hence please work with your domain policies to check if there are any such rules that can block the connection.

 

2. Other Firewall products

 

3. Proxy and Routers and other components in your network: Proxies can act as firewall as well and hence please work with your network admin to make sure port 1433 is open for outbound access.

Note that both software (including windows firewall) and hardware must be checked.

Please confirm the external IP address as this may be required to apply the correct firewall rule. You may use this website to find your IP Address

The AddFirewallRule dialog box under SQL Azure Firewall Setting Tab in the portal will also list your IP address.

 

4. If possible try connecting to SQL Azure from a machine outside your firewall that is directly connected to your ISP.

Please repeat all the steps under Section 1. This test would eliminate firewall and other policies that could potentially be blocking the access inside your network. This test will help identify if the traffic is being blocked within your network or outside your network.

 

5. Generate a Network Trace using Microsoft Network Monitor tool

Reference: How to capture network traffic with Network Monitor – https://support.microsoft.com/kb/148942

Review the trace by adding a filter TCP.port==1433 which would show conversations on TCP port 1433. If you do not see an ACK back from the server, it is highly likely that the connection is blocked on your network or over the internet.

A network snippet from a connection that was not successful:

 

                             11:12:27.007      25                          {TCP:7, IPv4:6}   111.11.11.111    data.sn1-1.database.windows.net               TCP        TCP:Flags=……S., SrcPort=49411, DstPort=1433, PayloadLen=0, Seq=2375502765, Ack=0, Win=8192 ( Negotiating scale factor 0x8 ) = 8192

                              11:12:30.007      26                          {TCP:7, IPv4:6}   111.11.11.111    data.sn1-1.database.windows.net               TCP        TCP:[SynReTransmit #25]Flags=……S., SrcPort=49411, DstPort=1433, PayloadLen=0, Seq=2375502765, Ack=0, Win=8192 ( Negotiating scale factor 0x8 ) = 8192

                              11:12:36.007      29                          {TCP:7, IPv4:6}   111.11.11.111    data.sn1-1.database.windows.net               TCP        TCP:[SynReTransmit #25]Flags=……S., SrcPort=49411, DstPort=1433, PayloadLen=0, Seq=2375502765, Ack=0, Win=8192 ( Negotiating scale factor 0x8 ) = 8192

                              11:12:48.014      40                          {TCP:12, IPv4:6} 111.11.11.111    data.sn1-1.database.windows.net               TCP        TCP:Flags=……S., SrcPort=49412, DstPort=Microsoft-DS(445), PayloadLen=0, Seq=3206081271, Ack=0, Win=8192 ( Negotiating scale factor 0x8 ) = 8192

                              11:12:49.015      41                          {TCP:13, IPv4:6} 111.11.11.111    data.sn1-1.database.windows.net               TCP        TCP:Flags=……S., SrcPort=49413, DstPort=Microsoft-DS(445), PayloadLen=0, Seq=1361088072, Ack=0, Win=8192 ( Negotiating scale factor 0x8 ) = 8192

                              11:12:49.019      42                          {IPv4:6} 111.11.11.111    data.sn1-1.database.windows.net               ICMP     ICMP:Echo Request Message, From 111.11.11.111 To 65.55.74.144

                              11:12:50.769      45                          {IPv4:6} 111.11.11.111    data.sn1-1.database.windows.net               ICMP     ICMP:Echo Request Message, From 111.11.11.111 To 65.55.74.144

                              11:12:51.014      46                          {TCP:12, IPv4:6} 111.11.11.111    data.sn1-1.database.windows.net               TCP        TCP:[SynReTransmit #40]Flags=……S., SrcPort=49412, DstPort=Microsoft-DS(445), PayloadLen=0, Seq=3206081271, Ack=0, Win=8192 ( Negotiating scale factor 0x8 ) = 8192

                              11:12:52.015      47                          {TCP:13, IPv4:6} 111.11.11.111    data.sn1-1.database.windows.net               TCP        TCP:[SynReTransmit #41]Flags=……S., SrcPort=49413, DstPort=Microsoft-DS(445), PayloadLen=0, Seq=1361088072, Ack=0, Win=8192 ( Negotiating scale factor 0x8 ) = 8192

                              11:12:52.771      48                          {TCP:14, IPv4:6} 111.11.11.111    data.sn1-1.database.windows.net               TCP        TCP:Flags=……S., SrcPort=49414, DstPort=NETBIOS Session Service(139), PayloadLen=0, Seq=265110652, Ack=0, Win=8192 ( Negotiating scale factor 0x8 ) = 8192

                              11:12:55.771      49                          {TCP:14, IPv4:6} 111.11.11.111    data.sn1-1.database.windows.net               TCP        TCP:[SynReTransmit #48]Flags=……S., SrcPort=49414, DstPort=NETBIOS Session Service(139), PayloadLen=0, Seq=265110652, Ack=0, Win=8192 ( Negotiating scale factor 0x8 ) = 8192

                              11:12:57.021      52                          {TCP:12, IPv4:6} 111.11.11.111    data.sn1-1.database.windows.net               TCP        TCP:[SynReTransmit #40]Flags=……S., SrcPort=49412, DstPort=Microsoft-DS(445), PayloadLen=0, Seq=3206081271, Ack=0, Win=8192 ( Negotiating scale factor 0x8 ) = 8192

                              11:12:58.016      53                          {TCP:13, IPv4:6} 111.11.11.111    data.sn1-1.database.windows.net               TCP        TCP:[SynReTransmit #41]Flags=……S., SrcPort=49413, DstPort=Microsoft-DS(445), PayloadLen=0, Seq=1361088072, Ack=0, Win=8192 ( Negotiating scale factor 0x8 ) = 8192

                              11:13:01.771      56                          {TCP:14, IPv4:6} 111.11.11.111    data.sn1-1.database.windows.net               TCP        TCP:[SynReTransmit #48]Flags=……S., SrcPort=49414, DstPort=NETBIOS Session Service(139), PayloadLen=0, Seq=265110652, Ack=0, Win=8192 ( Negotiating scale factor 0x8 ) = 8192

 

Here we can see that the client is trying to establish a connection to SQL Azure and keeps retransmitting three times and fails. This trace indicates that the connection did not even reach our VIP and hence the connection is likely blocked in the client’s network or over the Internet.

 

Snippet of trace from a successful connection:

                              14:50:01.512      847        SQLCMD.EXE      {TCP:428, IPv4:427}         99.99.999.99               157.54.118.18    TCP        TCP:Flags=……S., SrcPort=13415, DstPort=1433, PayloadLen=0, Seq=4009972475, Ack=0, Win=8192 ( Negotiating scale factor 0x2 ) = 8192

                              14:50:01.515      848        SQLCMD.EXE      {TCP:428, IPv4:427}         157.54.118.18               99.99.999.99    TCP        TCP:Flags=…A..S., SrcPort=1433, DstPort=13415, PayloadLen=0, Seq=2117383693, Ack=4009972476, Win=8192 ( Scale factor not supported ) = 8192

                              14:50:01.516      849        SQLCMD.EXE      {TCP:428, IPv4:427}         99.99.999.99               157.54.118.18    TCP        TCP:Flags=…A…., SrcPort=13415, DstPort=1433, PayloadLen=0, Seq=4009972476, Ack=2117383694, Win=17040 (scale factor 0x0) = 17040

 

The above snippet represents a successful three-way handshake.

 

6. SQL Azure Denial of Service (DOS) Guard:

SQL Azure utilizes techniques to prevent denial of service attacks. If your connection is getting reset by our service due to a potential DOS attack you would be able to see a three way handshake established and then a RESET in your network trace.

 

Section 4: Accessing Resources

1. Provide complete output (Screenshot) from the following SQLCMD :

SQLCMD -S bd1mgcqz5f.database.windows.net -U <userid>@bd1mgcqz5f -P <password> -q "select 1"

2. Connect using SSMS

Please use SQL Server 2008 R2 to connect to SQL Azure since it has lot of features enabled for SQL Azure.