C# Web API works on local machine but not on server

Question

I used Visual Studio to create a Web API with Authentication (Individual User Accounts). I made no changes to the pre-configured project. I tested it to make sure everything worked using Postman on my local machine. I then published the project to a folder and cut and pasted the project on to a Windows 2008 R2 Server. IIS is configured correctly and I can get to the auto-generated webpage that shows API documentation.

When I send a Post to Register an Account I got "An error has occurred." After some googling, I was able to find a way to get a better error message.

{
"Message": "An error has occurred.",
"ExceptionMessage": "A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. The server was not found or was not accessible. Verify that the instance name is correct and that SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. (provider: SQL Network Interfaces, error: 50 - Local Database Runtime error occurred. Unexpected error occurred while trying to access the LocalDB instance registry configuration. See the Windows Application event log for error details.\r\n)",
"ExceptionType": "System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException",
"StackTrace": "   at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnectionTds..ctor(DbConnectionPoolIdentity identity, SqlConnectionString connectionOptions, SqlCredential credential, Object providerInfo, String newPassword, SecureString newSecurePassword, Boolean redirectedUserInstance, SqlConnectionString userConnectionOptions, SessionData reconnectSessionData, DbConnectionPool pool, String accessToken, Boolean applyTransientFaultHandling, SqlAuthenticationProviderManager sqlAuthProviderManager)\r\n   at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnectionFactory.CreateConnection(DbConnectionOptions options, DbConnectionPoolKey poolKey, Object poolGroupProviderInfo, DbConnectionPool pool, DbConnection owningConnection, DbConnectionOptions userOptions)\r\n   at System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionFactory.CreatePooledConnection(DbConnectionPool pool, DbConnection owningObject, DbConnectionOptions options, DbConnectionPoolKey poolKey, DbConnectionOptions userOptions)\r\n   at System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionPool.CreateObject(DbConnection owningObject, DbConnectionOptions userOptions, DbConnectionInternal oldConnection)\r\n   at System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionPool.UserCreateRequest(DbConnection owningObject, DbConnectionOptions userOptions, DbConnectionInternal oldConnection)\r\n   at System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionPool.TryGetConnection(DbConnection owningObject, UInt32 waitForMultipleObjectsTimeout, Boolean allowCreate, Boolean onlyOneCheckConnection, DbConnectionOptions userOptions, DbConnectionInternal& connection)\r\n   at System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionPool.TryGetConnection(DbConnection owningObject, TaskCompletionSource`1 retry, DbConnectionOptions userOptions, DbConnectionInternal& connection)\r\n   at System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionFactory.TryGetConnection(DbConnection owningConnection, TaskCompletionSource`1 retry, DbConnectionOptions userOptions, DbConnectionInternal oldConnection, DbConnectionInternal& connection)\r\n   at System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionInternal.TryOpenConnectionInternal(DbConnection outerConnection, DbConnectionFactory connectionFactory, TaskCompletionSource`1 retry, DbConnectionOptions userOptions)\r\n   at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection.TryOpenInner(TaskCompletionSource`1 retry)\r\n   at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection.TryOpen(TaskCompletionSource`1 retry)\r\n   at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection.Open()\r\n   at System.Data.Entity.Infrastructure.Interception.InternalDispatcher`1.Dispatch[TTarget,TInterceptionContext](TTarget target, Action`2 operation, TInterceptionContext interceptionContext, Action`3 executing, Action`3 executed)\r\n   at System.Data.Entity.Infrastructure.Interception.DbConnectionDispatcher.Open(DbConnection connection, DbInterceptionContext interceptionContext)\r\n   at System.Data.Entity.SqlServer.SqlProviderServices.<>c__DisplayClass33.<UsingConnection>b__32()\r\n   at System.Data.Entity.SqlServer.DefaultSqlExecutionStrategy.<>c__DisplayClass1.<Execute>b__0()\r\n   at System.Data.Entity.SqlServer.DefaultSqlExecutionStrategy.Execute[TResult](Func`1 operation)\r\n   at System.Data.Entity.SqlServer.SqlProviderServices.UsingMasterConnection(DbConnection sqlConnection, Action`1 act)\r\n   at System.Data.Entity.SqlServer.SqlProviderServices.CreateDatabaseFromScript(Nullable`1 commandTimeout, DbConnection sqlConnection, String createDatabaseScript)\r\n   at System.Data.Entity.SqlServer.SqlProviderServices.DbCreateDatabase(DbConnection connection, Nullable`1 commandTimeout, StoreItemCollection storeItemCollection)\r\n   at System.Data.Entity.Migrations.Utilities.DatabaseCreator.Create(DbConnection connection)\r\n   at System.Data.Entity.Migrations.DbMigrator.EnsureDatabaseExists(Action mustSucceedToKeepDatabase)\r\n   at System.Data.Entity.Migrations.DbMigrator.Update(String targetMigration)\r\n   at System.Data.Entity.Internal.DatabaseCreator.CreateDatabase(InternalContext internalContext, Func`3 createMigrator, ObjectContext objectContext)\r\n   at System.Data.Entity.Database.Create(DatabaseExistenceState existenceState)\r\n   at System.Data.Entity.CreateDatabaseIfNotExists`1.InitializeDatabase(TContext context)\r\n   at System.Data.Entity.Internal.InternalContext.PerformInitializationAction(Action action)\r\n   at System.Data.Entity.Internal.InternalContext.PerformDatabaseInitialization()\r\n   at System.Data.Entity.Internal.RetryAction`1.PerformAction(TInput input)\r\n   at System.Data.Entity.Internal.LazyInternalContext.InitializeDatabaseAction(Action`1 action)\r\n   at System.Data.Entity.Internal.InternalContext.GetEntitySetAndBaseTypeForType(Type entityType)\r\n   at System.Data.Entity.Internal.Linq.InternalSet`1.Initialize()\r\n   at System.Data.Entity.Internal.Linq.InternalSet`1.get_InternalContext()\r\n   at System.Data.Entity.Infrastructure.DbQuery`1.System.Linq.IQueryable.get_Provider()\r\n   at System.Data.Entity.QueryableExtensions.FirstOrDefaultAsync[TSource](IQueryable`1 source, Expression`1 predicate, CancellationToken cancellationToken)\r\n   at System.Data.Entity.QueryableExtensions.FirstOrDefaultAsync[TSource](IQueryable`1 source, Expression`1 predicate)\r\n   at Microsoft.AspNet.Identity.EntityFramework.UserStore`6.<GetUserAggregateAsync>d__67.MoveNext()\r\n--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---\r\n   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()\r\n   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)\r\n   at Microsoft.AspNet.Identity.TaskExtensions.CultureAwaiter`1.GetResult()\r\n   at Microsoft.AspNet.Identity.UserValidator`2.<ValidateUserName>d__14.MoveNext()\r\n--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---\r\n   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()\r\n   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)\r\n   at Microsoft.AspNet.Identity.UserValidator`2.<ValidateAsync>d__13.MoveNext()\r\n--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---\r\n   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()\r\n   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)\r\n   at Microsoft.AspNet.Identity.UserManager`2.<CreateAsync>d__73.MoveNext()\r\n--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---\r\n   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()\r\n   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)\r\n   at Microsoft.AspNet.Identity.UserManager`2.<CreateAsync>d__79.MoveNext()\r\n--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---\r\n   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()\r\n   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)\r\n   at SebastianMobileAPI.Controllers.AccountController.<Register>d__20.MoveNext() in C:\\Users\\sean\\source\\repos\\SebastianMobileAPI\\SebastianMobileAPI\\Controllers\\AccountController.cs:line 333\r\n--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---\r\n   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()\r\n   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)\r\n   at System.Threading.Tasks.TaskHelpersExtensions.<CastToObject>d__1`1.MoveNext()\r\n--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---\r\n   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()\r\n   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)\r\n   at System.Web.Http.Controllers.ApiControllerActionInvoker.<InvokeActionAsyncCore>d__1.MoveNext()\r\n--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---\r\n   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()\r\n   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)\r\n   at System.Web.Http.Controllers.ActionFilterResult.<ExecuteAsync>d__5.MoveNext()\r\n--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---\r\n   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()\r\n   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)\r\n   at System.Web.Http.Filters.AuthorizationFilterAttribute.<ExecuteAuthorizationFilterAsyncCore>d__3.MoveNext()\r\n--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---\r\n   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()\r\n   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)\r\n   at System.Web.Http.Controllers.AuthenticationFilterResult.<ExecuteAsync>d__5.MoveNext()\r\n--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---\r\n   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()\r\n   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)\r\n   at System.Web.Http.Dispatcher.HttpControllerDispatcher.<SendAsync>d__15.MoveNext()"
}

Judging by the error I can tell that it has something to do with SQL Server. I Installed a few different version on the server and I cant seem to get it to work. Im sure there is something Im missing but I cant find the information I need anywhere. Could someone point me in the right direction to fix this issue?

Thanks

Answer 1

It looks like your didn't open the port on your SQL server. You need to enable that on your SQL server firewall, the default one is 1433, but of course you can always check the exact port number in the SQL server configuration manager.

After that, you can test your SQL server connection in your Web Server using some powershell scripts.

$connectionString = 'Data Source={0};database={1};User ID={2};Password={3}' -f $ServerName,$DatabaseName,$userName,$password
$sqlConnection = New-Object System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection $connectionString
$sqlConnection.Open()
$sqlConnection.Close()