php mssql extension on wamp

Question

I'm trying to get wamp php to communicate with an MsSQL DB but I can't seem to make it work. The current error message I get on the browser (Chrome) is:

Warning: mssql_connect() [function.mssql-connect]: Unable to connect to server: (...) Couldn't connect to SQL Server

1. ntwdblib.dll is the correct version (2000.80.194.0)

2. I can't use php_sqlsrv (the deployment server is linux only, sqlsrv is windows only), although from using sqlsrv I can conclude that the access info is correct (server, user, password)

3. I've downgraded back to wampserver 2.1e & php 5.3.1 (some people got it working like this)

4. there are no errors on the apache_error.log when I restart the wamp server

5. installing freetds on my machine hangs apache

6. remote machine successfully uses php_mssql.dll (linux server)

The code I'm using:

<?php
$dbhandle = mssql_connect($ip,$user,$pass) or die("Couldn't connect to SQL Server on $ip"); 
$selected = mssql_select_db($dbname,$dbhandle) or die("Couldn't open database at SQL server: $ip");
?>

I am now going to try a linux virtual machine, but surely even if that works it will be a pain (slow and feature-less).

My system: Windows 7, Wampserver 2.1e, PHP 5.3.1

What else can I try? :(

Answer 1

Assuming you've tried to get the driver/extension installed from here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=20098 and you've changed your php.ini in your *AMP stack's PHP folder..; and put the mssql extension in the php/ext folder...

after several hours of looking, this guide successfully got me connected to a MS SQL database. http://webcheatsheet.com/php/connect_mssql_database.php

edit: furthermore my connection class takes DB Uname PW and serverIP as constructor parameters, and the constructor calls function setCon(), so when the object is created the connection is too. then I can call queries on the connection object it in an OOP style

    function setCon(){
    $conn = mssql_connect($this->server, $this->UName, $this->pw);
    if ($conn){
        echo "Connection established @ $this->server.$this->DB (Connected to MS SQL DB)\n";
    }
    else{
        echo "Connection could not be established.";
        die( print_r( sqlsrv_errors(), true));
    }

and then later this is needed to access the connection created

function getCon(){
    return mssql_connect($this->server, $this->UName, $this->pw);
}

Answer 2

Actualy by default wampserver doesn't come with php_mssql.dll the extension is made on top of php_pdo_mssql or php_dblib. Tested on x64 wampserver 2 PHP 5.3.13

• Using php_pdo_mssql

  1. Install wampserver
  2. Activate php_pdo_mssql
  3. Activate php_mssql
  4. copy ntwdblib.dll to bin/php/php{version}/ext/ and bin/apache/{version}/bin
  5. restart all services

• Using php_dblib

  1. instead of php_pdo_mssql activate php_dblib.

Warning do not activate both php_pdo_mssql and php_dblib.

On different versions of php wampserver works different on 5.3.1 first solution worked for me but on 5.3.13 second.

Answer 3

Unable to connect to server: (...) Couldn't connect to SQL Server"

Did you install any driver module within PHP for MS-SQL ??

Besides a VM isn't necessarily slow and featureless - at least it works :)

MDB2 or PDO might be most suitable for abstracting the database I/O.

Q: Can you open a terminal to MS-SQL, e.g. Telnet??

(This would at least sort out any kind of connectivity issues).

You might need this module here: PECL odbtp >= 1.1.1 (open database transport protocol)

extension=php_mssql.dll

^ also, checkout phpinfo() once if this extension is even loaded.

http://www.php.net/manual/en/mssql.installation.php

Well - installing mySQL on Windows wouldn't be any problem (in case that would make sense).

Answer 4

Did you install MsSQL ? Because WAMP's M is MySQL not MSSQL.