A connection was successfully established with the server, but then an error occurred during the login process.

When you try to connect to a SQL Server database from a client application, under certain circumstances, you might get the below error message: A connection was successfully established with the server, but then an error occurred during the login process. (provider: Named Pipes Provider, error: 0 – No process is on the other end of the pipe.)

If you get this error message, don’t worry. It is quite descriptive and even more, the solution to this issue is quite simple.

Read on, in order to learn how you can resolve the issue.

How to Resolve the Issue

There are 2 things you can try in order to overcome this problem. Therefore, there are two checks you need to perform, in order to take corrective actions.

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First Check:

The first check involves ensuring that the maximum number of concurrent connections is set to 0. In order to check this, in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), right-click on instance, connections and check the value for the maximum number of concurrent connections option. If it is set to 0, it means unlimited.

Second Check:

The second check, involves ensuring that in your connection string, in the client application, along with the rest of the settings, the database name is correct:

string connString="Server=[SERVER_NAME]; Database=[DATABASE_NAME]; User ID = [USER_NAME]; Password=[PASSWORD]";

For example, in the case where you specified a database that does not exist, even though the connection to the SQL Server instance will be established, the provider will not be able to find the database thus resulting to the above error message.

I hope you found this tip useful and you managed to resolve the issue.

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Reference: SQLNetHub.com (https://www.sqlnethub.com)

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Artemakis Artemiou

Artemakis Artemiou is a Senior SQL Server Architect, Author, a 9 Times Microsoft Data Platform MVP (2009-2018) and a Udemy Instructor. He has over 15 years of experience in the IT industry in various roles. Artemakis is the founder of SQLNetHub and TechHowTos.com. Artemakis is the creator of the well-known software tools Snippets Generator and DBA Security Advisor. Also, he is the author of many eBooks on SQL Server. Artemakis currently serves as the President of the Cyprus .NET User Group (CDNUG) and the International .NET Association Country Leader for Cyprus (INETA). Moreover, Artemakis teaches on Udemy, you can check his courses here.