Why doesn't SQL Server allow me to enable the mixed authentication mode so I can use the sa user to assign roles to the other users?

Question

I am trying to install TFS on the server but it requires to have the user SYSADMIN role which can only be assigned using the sa user login.

I am using SQL Server 2014 Express. To enable the sa user, I tried enabling the mixed mode authentication but I get this error:

The EXECUTE permission was denied on the object 'xp_instance_regwrite', database 'mssqlsystemresource', schema 'sys'. (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 229)

How do I fix that?

Update:

The problem is that I am Windows User and logging in with windows authentication. So using that user I am not able to assign any roles to myself or other user.

Answer 1

You can use an existing installation of SQL Server for Azure DevOps Server/TFS. To do so, you need administrative credentials granted by the SQL Server administrator. You must be a member of the sysadmin server role in SQL Server to install and configure Azure DevOps Server/TFS. So you need to contact SQL Server administrator and grant your account appropriate permission to install Azure DevOps Server/TFS.

If you want to start a new installation of SQL Server, you could refer to the following link:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/server/install/sql-server/install-sql-server?view=azure-devops