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1 Overview
2 Connecting Remotely

Overview

Some customers may need to access their Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) databases remotely for maintenance or bulk operations. This is available for a limited number of Shared Windows based servers and all dedicated Virtual Private Servers (VPS’s).

Access is restricted to Australian and New Zealand based locations only. If you need access outside of this, you will require your own VPS.

Connecting Remotely

A limited number of our Windows shared hosting servers allow remote connections to MSSQL via the default port of 1433. You can connect by using your domain name and the default MSSQL port of 1433 in the format your application or database manager supports:
accessing mssql databases remotely

If you are using SQL Server Management Studio you can connect with the below, replacing our example text with your own:

Server TypeDatabase Engine
Server Name <Your Domain Name Here>
AuthenticationSQL Server Authentication
Login<Your Database Username>
Password<Your Database Password>
In the server name field, you can also use the server hostname.

To prevent issues accessing an MSSQL database remotely, please ensure you’re using an up to date version of the SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/ssms/download-sql-server-management-studio-ssms

If you receive an error in regards to “The certificate chain was issued by an authority that is not trusted“, this is because at present Plesk does not install a verified certificate within the SQL Server configuration. To bypass this, you must explicitly tell SSMS to trust the server certificate. When connecting, click Options, then tick Trust server certificate:

accessing mssql databases remotely

For .NET applications that access remotely, please update your connection string to replace “.\MSSQLSERVER2019” with <Your Domain Name Here>,1433 per the example below:

Data Source=<Your Domain Name Here>,1433;Initial Catalog=<Your Database Name>; TrustServerCertificate=True; User ID=<Your Database Username>; Password=<Your Database Password>;

If your connection is timing out connecting, it may be that your service is proxied via a 3rd party such as Cloudflare. In this instance, connecting using your domain name will not work. Please contact the Conetix team for the server name to use in order to connect.

If you have any questions regarding remote connection issues, please contact our support team.

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