Hi Folks,

I'm tring to get  my Login Controls to work on a remote machine on my LAN. The remote machine running:
XP Pro with IIS 5.1
SQL Server Express
,Net FX 2.0

The site is the Default site of IIS.

The login controls work great on my development machine. When I deploy to the server machine, I can't log in.

I have an Access database in the App_Data folder that I can access just fine, no problem. But the Login won't work. Tried everything I could come up on this. There are many posts across the web about this and I tried pretty much everything those guys tried and more.

I get this error:
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. (provider: SQL Network Interfaces, error: 26 - Error Locating Server/Instance Specified)

What can I do to get the login to work?
Thanks much!

Also, does the remote XP Pro machine have norton, mcafee, microsoft or some other firewall software on it? also let us see your web.config to see your connection string settings. thanks

 look at this too

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/914277

rojay, thanks for jumpin in!

I have no connectionstrings hard coded in the web.config file.

No firewall or AV programs, Brebones installation. XP firewall not running.

I started on fresh install of everything from formatted hard drive. All XPSP2 updates.

I played with settings in SQL Server protocols, surface configuration, changed connection string

properties, Made new pages with only two users for loggin in. Made adjustments in IIS. I didn't

screw up anything (hopefully) - always put it back.

Modified connection string in machine.config.

String shown in ASPNETDB properties in Visual Web Developer:
Data Source=.\SQLEXPRESS;AttachDbFilename=C:\Site\App_Data\ASPNETDB.MDF;Integrated Security=True;User Instance=True

web.config file:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<configuration xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/.NetConfiguration/v2.0">
 <appSettings/>
 <connectionStrings/>
 <system.web>  
    <roleManager enabled="true"/>
  <compilation debug="false" strict="false" explicit="true"/>
  <pages>
   <namespaces>
    <clear/>
    <add namespace="System"/>
    <add namespace="System.Collections"/>
    <add namespace="System.Collections.Specialized"/>
    <add namespace="System.Configuration"/>
    <add namespace="System.Text"/>
    <add namespace="System.Text.RegularExpressions"/>
    <add namespace="System.Web"/>
    <add namespace="System.Web.Caching"/>
    <add namespace="System.Web.SessionState"/>
    <add namespace="System.Web.Security"/>
    <add namespace="System.Web.Profile"/>
    <add namespace="System.Web.UI"/>
    <add namespace="System.Web.UI.WebControls"/>
    <add namespace="System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts"/>
    <add namespace="System.Web.UI.HtmlControls"/>
   </namespaces>
  </pages>
  <authentication mode="Forms"/> <!--also tried mode="Windows"-->  
 </system.web>
</configuration>

I'll post the string from the server .Net FX/machine.config file when I get to the machine.

Here's the connection string from .NetFX/machine.config:

good scottgu article.  he is genius 

http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2006/04/22/Always-set-the-_2200_applicationName_2200_-property-when-configuring-ASP.NET-2.0-Membership-and-other-Providers.aspx

also have you tried this.

http://blah.winsmarts.com/2006/05/19/aspnetdb--production-deployment--practical-tips.aspx

I would suggest installing sql server management studio express and attaching the database from it on the production box

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/sql/download/ 

have you seen this thread? http://forums.asp.net/1405521/ShowThread.aspx

i would also leave the connectionstring to your web.config and not let machine.config handle it.

<connectionStrings>
  <remove name="LocalSqlServer"/>
  <add name="LocalSqlServer" connectionString="Data Source=.\SQLExpress;Integrated Security=True;AttachDBFilename=|DataDirectory|aspnetdb.mdf;"/>
</connectionStrings>

Many Thanks rojay,

I'd like to do this which you suggest "I would suggest installing sql server management studio express and attaching the database from it on the production box"

I have the management studio installed. Don't know how to use it to attach the db but I'll try to figure it out.

hypercode:

I figured out how to attach with SMS but get an error that says the database is being used by another process. So, I guess I have to try something else.

mayb you r using two .net tools at the same time. i got this error sometimes when im using sql server express 2005 and vwd.

 anyway, u have to configure ur database and create the tables used for membership. i was having the same problems that u have.

here are the links that helped me:

http://forums.asp.net/thread/899888.aspx

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/879kf95c(VS.80).aspx

http://www.aquesthosting.com/HowTo/Sql2005/SQLError26.aspx

cya!

Thanks much for your interest and help. 

I got it fixed.

I got rid of all the connection string, membership, and provider business in web.config and gave write permissions to "MyServerName\ASPNET" on the App_Data folder.

I did this by rightClicking the App_Date folder>Properties>Security on the server.

I then added a new user/group to the list, "MyServerName\ASPNET", and gave write permission to MyServerName\ASPNET in the checkboxes. Evidently, Windows was preventing access to the folder when the login control accessed it.

Now it works great.....