INF: How to Debug Direct Connections to SQL Srv over IPX/SPX

• Microsoft SQL Server, versions 4.21 and 6.0

SUMMARY

A Novell NetWare IPX/SPX client normally connects to Microsoft SQL Server by first querying the NetWare Bindery for address resolution. However, if NetWare Binderies are not available for whatever reason, you can configure your IPX/SPX clients to connect to SQL Server directly by hardcoding the IPX address information in the connection string. This is documented in the SQL Server product manuals, both versions 4.2 and 6.0. Because this article only provides supplemental information related to this subject, it is recommended that you use this article in conjunction with the product documentation.

MORE INFORMATION

If you still can not make direct connections to SQL Server after following the instructions in the documentation (page 90-92 of the version 6.0 "Administrator's Companion," or page 108 of the version 4.21 "Configuration Guide"), here are some additional tips:

1. The Windows NT command "IPXROUTE CONFIG" returns more complete information about the IPX address and network number than the "NET CONFIG SERVER" as recommended in the manual.

2. The network number used in the SQL connection string should be in decimal. Because network numbers are typically in hexadecimal, you need to convert them into decimal in the connection string.

3. If the client is on the same segment as the SQL Server, you can use "0" as the network number. In NetWare networks, when a node sends IPX packets with "0" as the network number, other IPX nodes will interpret this "0" as the network number of the local network cable segment where the sending node resides, and accept these packets as local IPX packets because a routed IPX packet will never have "0" as the network number.

4. To verify whether one particular network number is correct, use this network number on the local server for the direct connection. If you can not even connect from the local server, you should verify that the direct connection works from the local server by using "0" as the network number. If the local direct SPX connection does not work even with "0" as the network number, it probably indicates that there are problems with the network adapter card or drivers on this local server that does not support loopback traffic. Further verify this by making direct SPX connections from other clients.

5. If the server has more than one NIC (Network Interface Card), you should configure the internal network number properly. See Knowledge Base article Q137787 for more information. If the "IPX internal network number" as returned by "IPXROUTE CONFIG" is not zero, you should use the following as the direct connection string:

         000000000001,33854,<IPX internal network number>
   

   where <IPX internal network number> is the number returned from "IPXROUTE CONFIG", which you should convert into decimal.

6. If you have verified the IPX address and network number but still can not make direct connections from a Windows client (16-bit), please see Knowledge Base article Q128618.

7. If you can make the connection via IPX/SPX using the service name (that is, the SQL Server name), but the direct connection fails, you can check your direct connection string against the information in the NetWare bindery. For information about how to check the bindery objects, please see Knowledge Base article Q112713.