Thursday, March 20, 2014

What is Windows Internal Database(MICROSOFT##SSEE)

What is Windows Internal Database(MICROSOFT##SSEE)

If you are running a Windows 2008/2008R2 server, you may come across a service called the Windows Internal Database (Sometimes referred to as “SQL Server Embedded Edition”, or see a reference to a database called MICROSOFT##SSEE and be wondering what it actually is, and how can you connect to it. This article describes both.

Windows Internal Database is a relational data store used by the following applications and services.

•Active Directory Rights Management Services (AD RMS)

•Windows Server Update Services

•Windows System Resource Manager

These applications and services share a single instance of the data store.

The Windows Internal Database is a varient of Microsoft SQL Server Express 2005, and is included with Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2. It is also included in Windows Sharepoint 3.0 and Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) 3.0/3.2, where a full version of Microsoft SQL Server may not be available. Other services can also use this database engine if needed, such as Active Directory Rights Managements Services, and Windows System Resource Manager. Once the Windows Internal Database has been installed, it can’t be uninstalled via the “add/remove features” wizard (it appears greyed out, so you can’t de-select it).

The tool used to connect to the Windows Internal Database is the same as used for the full version (and express editions) of Microsoft SQL Server, which is the SQL Server Management Studio (or SQL Server Management Studio Express). The main thing to note with the Windows Internal Database, is the fact that you cant make remote connections to the database. It is designed so that only the computer that has it installed, can access the databases. As such, the only connection method you can use to connect to a Windows Internal Database, is to use the Named Pipes protocol. When connecting to a Windows Internal Database, you must used the fairly obscure named pipes syntax, which will be listed below, as the server/instance name in SQL Server Management Studio.

The server/instance name to connect to is:
\\.\pipe\MSSQL$MICROSOFT##SSEE\sql\query

You must also use “Windows Authentication” as the authentication method to connect to this database.

If you get Login failure error with below error message "Error: 18456, Severity: 14, State: 11."

Please run the SQL Server Management Studio application by first right clicking the shortcut, and selecting “Run as Administrator”. Even if your account has admin rights on the server, it still may be necessary to perform this step.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Could not start Service Broker for database id

Could not start Service Broker for database id: 27. A problem is preventing SQL Server from starting Service Broker. Check the SQL Server error log for additional messages.


I ran into this issue and was happy to find this solution. Thought of sharing this fix and also for my future reference purpose.

When I checked in the error log, below message was logged.

Starting up database 'master4IDR'.
The database 'master4IDR' is marked RESTORING and is in a state that does not allow recovery to be run.
Starting up database 'master4IDR'.
CHECKDB for database 'master4IDR' finished without errors on 2014-03-10 22:07:42.393 (local time). This is an 22:52:21.10 Backup Database was restored: Database: master4IDR, creation date(time): 2014/03/08(23:03:49), first LSN: 78191:16:37, last LSN: 78191:40:1, number of dump devices: 1, device information: (FILE=1, TYPE=VIRTUAL_DEVICE: {'RESTORE_restore_'}). Informational message. No user action required.
Could not start Service Broker for database id: 27. A problem is preventing SQL Server from starting Service Broker. Check the SQL Server error log for additional messages.


The windows and application logs do not give me any for information. I have checked the database instance and found that Database ID 27 does not exist in the sys.databases table.

Solution/Fix: To avoid this alert, I have set the "Enable Disaster Recovery File Updates" parameter to 0 in the regedit at the below location.

MY Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Symantec\Backup Exec For Windows\Backup Exec\Engine\SQL Server

For futher details, please refer to the below links.

1) http://www.symantec.com/connect/forums/backup-exec-2010-r3-idr-sql-backup-will-not-uninstall
2) http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH49015

Monday, March 3, 2014

The report server installation is not initialized

The report server installation is not initialized. (rsReportServerNotActivated)


when users were trying to access SSRS reports via the browser they got the following error :
"The report server installation is not initialized. (rsReportServerNotActivated)

Error: The report server installation is not initialized. (rsReportServerNotActivated)

Solution:

Checked the Scale-out Deployment tab in the Reporting services configuration manager where it displayed the status as not joined.

Restored the encryption keys with the previously generated backup key and now clicked on on scale out deployment which showed the status as joined.

After this change, users were able to browse the SSRS service.

The attempt to connect to the report server failed. Check your connection information and that the report server is a compatible version

The attempt to connect to the report server failed. Check your connection information and that the report server is a compatible version.


I ran into this issue and was happy to find this solution. Thought of sharing this fix and also for my future reference purpose.

Error: The attempt to connect to the report server failed. Check your connection information and that the reportserver is a compatible version.

Solution:
Found the below error message in the SSRS log file located at C:\MSSQL\MSRS10_50.MSSQLSERVER\Reporting Services\LogFiles.

e ERROR: RsHttpRuntime::VerifyAuthMode(): caught exception System.Configuration.ConfigurationErrorsException: The value of the property 'mode' cannot be parsed. The error is: The enumeration value must be one of the following: None, Windows, Passport, Forms. (C:\MSSQL\MSRS10_50.MSSQLSERVER\Reporting Services\ReportServer\web.config line 9)

I changed the authentication option to Windows (Previously it was none) in web.config file (located at C:\MSSQL\MSRS10_50.MSSQLSERVER\Reporting Services\ReportServer)and restarted the SSRS service which fixed the issue.

authentication mode="Windows"

Now users are able to browse the SSRS service.