Reputation: 105
I'm new to using SQL Server, and I have been using it at my university by connecting to the university's network. I want to be able to use SQL Server locally and have installed it on my computer.
When I am faced with the "Connect to Server" box I'm not sure what to do. I'm not sure what I should have as my server name etc. I think I have two instances installed on my computer already but I just don't know how to connect.
Even if it requires starting from scratch, creating a new instance, whatever, I would really appreciate it if someone could guide me through the steps so that I can get practising on SQL Server. I've spent hours trying to sort this out and I'm just not sure what to do. Thanks :)
Upvotes: 1
Views: 4763
Reputation: 755531
You need to go to Start > All Programs > Microsoft SQL Server xxx > Configuration Tools > SQL Server xxxx Configuration Manager
(replace xxxx
with your SQL Server version number).
You should see a screen something like this:
Look for the SQL Server
services - I have two on my machine here.
The name in the brackets after the SQL Server
tells you the instance name:
if it's MSSQLSERVER
(like my second line there) - it's the default, unnamed instance - you connect to it using .
, (local)
, or machine-name
as your server / instance name
if it's something else, that is your instance name - you connect to it using .\instance-name
, (local)\instance-name
, or machine-name\instance-name
as your server / instance name
So in my case, to connect to the first instance, I'd use
.\SQLEXPRESS
(local)\SQLEXPRESS
MyPC\SQLEXPRESS
as server/instance name, while the second instance can be reached by using
.
(local)
MyPC
and that's all there really is to this!
Upvotes: 1
Reputation: 8562
It depends on if you installed a named instance or not. If you haven't .
or your machine name will work. If you have setup a named instance, .\<instance_name>
should work.
In your comment you said the instance name is SQLEXPRESS, so .\SQLEXPRESS
should work for you.
Upvotes: 0
Reputation: 19185
If you have SQL Server set up to take requests over the network (even although it is only your own machine) you can use localhost
, or the name of your machine. If not then you can use a dot .
If you have named the instance you'd use the format
.\name
or
localhost\name
Upvotes: 0