BCM 2007 remote server connection problem

[turk54]

Well we finally have taken the next step and have gotten BCM 2007. We used
the Database Admin tool to create the database on the server, and have shared
it so users can access. Domain users seem to be connecting OK.
Unfortunately, I am having problems connecting to the remote server over a
VPN connection. I can establish a VPN connection with no problem, but can
not connect to the BCM database. I once saw in the discussions that there
might some issues with Windows login usernames and passwords matching server
usernames and passwords, but I'm not sure if that is the problem or not. Our
remote non-domain users typically have Windows login usernames such as "John
Doe", but have server usernames and email ids such as "jdoe". We were
getting error messages, that said Cannot find the remote user account name
John Doe. So we created additional usernames on the server matching the
Windows login names such as "John Doe", Which now gives us a different error
message saying that either John Doe has not been granted access to the remote
computer or that the password on the server does not match the Windows login.
We have tried redoing all of that, but we still don't get access to the
remote BCM database. Our network guy is stymied and we are looking for any
asstance you could provide. Thanks in advance.

 

[sholson]

Well we finally have taken the next step and have gotten BCM 2007. We used
the Database Admin tool to create the database on the server, and have shared
it so users can access. Domain users seem to be connecting OK.
Unfortunately, I am having problems connecting to the remote server over a
VPN connection. I can establish a VPN connection with no problem, but can
not connect to the BCM database. I once saw in the discussions that there
might some issues with Windows login usernames and passwords matching server
usernames and passwords, but I'm not sure if that is the problem or not. Our
remote non-domain users typically have Windows login usernames such as "John
Doe", but have server usernames and email ids such as "jdoe". We were
getting error messages, that said Cannot find the remote user account name
John Doe. So we created additional usernames on the server matching the
Windows login names such as "John Doe", Which now gives us a different error
message saying that either John Doe has not been granted access to the remote
computer or that the password on the server does not match the Windows login.
We have tried redoing all of that, but we still don't get access to the
remote BCM database. Our network guy is stymied and we are looking for any
asstance you could provide. Thanks in advance.

'm not expert, but I followed this guide:
http://blogs.msdn.com/sql_protocols/archive/2006/09/30/778521.aspx
and also this:
http://blogs.msdn.com/bcm/archive/2007/04/25/how-to-share-a-business-...
I have been able to successfully connect remotely through vpn to the
shared db in my office. In order to do all this, I had many questions
to our tech support company.Goodluck
Scott H

 

[turk54]

'm not expert, but I followed this guide:
http://blogs.msdn.com/sql_protocols/archive/2006/09/30/778521.aspx
and also this:
http://blogs.msdn.com/bcm/archive/2007/04/25/how-to-share-a-business-...
I have been able to successfully connect remotely through vpn to the
shared db in my office. In order to do all this, I had many questions
to our tech support company.Goodluck
Scott H

Thanks for your feedback. I think that my connectivity issues to our remote
BCM database are similar or tied in with the issues raised by a couple of
others previously listed here. We have remote users using there home
computers to access our SBS 2003 R2 server via VPN. They have no problems
accessing their email hosted on the Exchange Server nor do they have problems
accessing shared directories, SharePoint services, or other things on the
server. The only thing that they can not access or connect to is the remote
BCM 2007 database. None of the remote users have have domains established,
and are all on separate workgroups, usually the default MSHOME workgroup.
All remote users have Windows XP Pro SP2. Most of our remote users have
Windows login names of their first & last names (John Doe), and not the same
as their server username which is usually first name initial & last name
(jdoe). We even created usernames on the server to match their Windows login
full names (John Doe), but they still can not connect to the BCM database,
but can connect via VPN with the new full name username. On the remote BCM
database, we have authorized both types of user names access to the database
(jdoe & John Doe). When they attempt to connect to the remote BCM 2007
database, they get a lengthy error message saying that either John Doe has
not been granted access to the remote computer or that the password on the
server does not match the Windows login. We know that the passwords are
correct, because we have changed those and have to enter the newly changed
password to get the VPN connection to work. Somewhere along the way, SQL
Server is not authenticating. The only exception to all of this is that we
have one remote user who has his Windows login the same as his server login,
that is to say jdoe. He can access everything, including the BCM 2007
database with no problems! I should point out that all users can ping the
server, and all users can issue a sqlcmd -S server\instance command with no
problems from the cmd prompt. Someone previously asked about SQL server
authentications, but I haven't seen a response to that question as of yet.
What is the authentication process between the remote BCM 2007 database and
the BCM client? It appears that there is some sort of Windows login
authentication which is contrary to all of the other authentications that the
server uses and allows for VPN users. How does the Windows login name come
into play? Do we have to force all of our users to establish new logins on
their computers to match their server name, and then subsequently have to
move all of their documents, etc. to the new account? Please HELP!!!!

 

[Luther]

Thanks for your feedback. I think that my connectivity issues to our remote
BCM database are similar or tied in with the issues raised by a couple of
others previously listed here. We have remote users using there home
computers to access our SBS 2003 R2 server via VPN. They have no problems
accessing their email hosted on the Exchange Server nor do they have problems
accessing shared directories, SharePoint services, or other things on the
server. The only thing that they can not access or connect to is the remote
BCM 2007 database. None of the remote users have have domains established,
and are all on separate workgroups, usually the default MSHOME workgroup.
All remote users have Windows XP Pro SP2. Most of our remote users have
Windows login names of their first & last names (John Doe), and not the same
as their server username which is usually first name initial & last name
(jdoe). We even created usernames on the server to match their Windows login
full names (John Doe), but they still can not connect to the BCM database,
but can connect via VPN with the new full name username. On the remote BCM
database, we have authorized both types of user names access to the database
(jdoe & John Doe). When they attempt to connect to the remote BCM 2007
database, they get a lengthy error message saying that either John Doe has
not been granted access to the remote computer or that the password on the
server does not match the Windows login. We know that the passwords are
correct, because we have changed those and have to enter the newly changed
password to get the VPN connection to work. Somewhere along the way, SQL
Server is not authenticating. The only exception to all of this is that we
have one remote user who has his Windows login the same as his server login,
that is to say jdoe. He can access everything, including the BCM 2007
database with no problems! I should point out that all users can ping the
server, and all users can issue a sqlcmd -S server\instance command with no
problems from the cmd prompt. Someone previously asked about SQL server
authentications, but I haven't seen a response to that question as of yet.
What is the authentication process between the remote BCM 2007 database and
the BCM client? It appears that there is some sort of Windows login
authentication which is contrary to all of the other authentications that the
server uses and allows for VPN users. How does the Windows login name come
into play? Do we have to force all of our users to establish new logins on
their computers to match their server name, and then subsequently have to
move all of their documents, etc. to the new account? Please HELP!!!!- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

BCM doesn't do any authentication of its own, it defers that to
Windows and Sql Server.

In workgroup networks, without a domain server to authenticate users,
a user must have the same login and password to be considered the same
user--on both client they are logged on to with their desktop session
and at the other machine they are trying to access (for printers,
folder shares, or BCM databases).

If the users can connect to the server with sqlcmd, the next question
is: can they connect to the BCM database with sqlcmd?

 

[turk54]

BCM doesn't do any authentication of its own, it defers that to
Windows and Sql Server.

In workgroup networks, without a domain server to authenticate users,
a user must have the same login and password to be considered the same
user--on both client they are logged on to with their desktop session
and at the other machine they are trying to access (for printers,
folder shares, or BCM databases).

If the users can connect to the server with sqlcmd, the next question
is: can they connect to the BCM database with sqlcmd?

Thanks for your quick reply. Yes, all users can issue a sqlcmd -S
servername\mssmlbiz command and not recieive any errors as long as they have
a VPN connection established. However, if they try to connect to the remote
database with BCM, they get the error message that I previously posted. I
thought that the VPN connection would allow for all authentications,
including SQL. Like I said, once each user has established a VPN connection,
they can access all other areas on the server, including Exchange, SharePoint
services, etc. What is unique about SQL?

 

[turk54]

Thanks for your quick reply. Yes, all users can issue a sqlcmd -S
servername\mssmlbiz command and not recieive any errors as long as they have
a VPN connection established. However, if they try to connect to the remote
database with BCM, they get the error message that I previously posted. I
thought that the VPN connection would allow for all authentications,
including SQL. Like I said, once each user has established a VPN connection,
they can access all other areas on the server, including Exchange, SharePoint
services, etc. What is unique about SQL?

Just another quick note. I found this in some documentation about how to
access BCM 2007 databse with Access 2007, and it says:

Depending upon whether you are on a domain or workgroup, select one of the
following authentication methods, and then click Next.
Windows - Select this method if your computer is a member of a domain.
SQL authentication - Select this option if your computer is a member of a
workgroup.

Is there something on the SQL Server side to allow different authentications
that we need to set up or to for SQL authentication?

 

[Luther]

Just another quick note. I found this in some documentation about how to
access BCM 2007 databse with Access 2007, and it says:

Depending upon whether you are on a domain or workgroup, select one of the
following authentication methods, and then click Next.
Windows - Select this method if your computer is a member of a domain.
SQL authentication - Select this option if your computer is a member of a
workgroup.

Is there something on the SQL Server side to allow different authentications
that we need to set up or to for SQL authentication?



- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Where did you find this document?

BCM always uses Windows authentication, both in domains and
workgroups. Sql auth is a historical artifact, considered inherently
unsafe (passwords sent over the wire), and may disapeer in a future
release of Sql. BCM has only used Windows auth for db connections,
since BCM v1.

I guess I wasn't clear in my previous email. The questions with sqlcmd
is not "can the user access the server (mssmlbiz)", although that is
useful to know, but can they access their database with sqlcmd. BCM
connects directly to the database, and permissions for connecting to
the server and the BCM database are different.

 

[turk54]

Where did you find this document?

BCM always uses Windows authentication, both in domains and
workgroups. Sql auth is a historical artifact, considered inherently
unsafe (passwords sent over the wire), and may disapeer in a future
release of Sql. BCM has only used Windows auth for db connections,
since BCM v1.

I guess I wasn't clear in my previous email. The questions with sqlcmd
is not "can the user access the server (mssmlbiz)", although that is
useful to know, but can they access their database with sqlcmd. BCM
connects directly to the database, and permissions for connecting to
the server and the BCM database are different.

Luther,

Thanks once again for your reply. The document I quoted from is:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb267994.aspx

which I found while trolling around for any inkling of what is going on with
our connectivity issue.

To address your last question, can the user's access the database, I have
tried the following:

sqlcmd -S servername\mssmlbiz -d recruiting

to access the recruiting database and we get no errors on the cmd prompt.
However, I can not access via BCM. In BCM, I go to the Database Tools, and
select Create or Select Databse, and from there check the radio button for
select existing databse and enter the servername. At that point (after about
a 5 sec. wait) I get the error I described previously. It never connects to
show me the option of which database to select, so I never get any further.
Again, this is with the Windows logon of John Doe. With the Windows logon of
jdoe it works just fine.

 

[Luther]

Luther,

Thanks once again for your reply. The document I quoted from is:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb267994.aspx

which I found while trolling around for any inkling of what is going on with
our connectivity issue.

To address your last question, can the user's access the database, I have
tried the following:

sqlcmd -S servername\mssmlbiz -d recruiting

to access the recruiting database and we get no errors on the cmd prompt.
However, I can not access via BCM. In BCM, I go to the Database Tools, and
select Create or Select Databse, and from there check the radio button for
select existing databse and enter the servername. At that point (after about
a 5 sec. wait) I get the error I described previously. It never connects to
show me the option of which database to select, so I never get any further.
Again, this is with the Windows logon of John Doe. With the Windows logon of
jdoe it works just fine.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thanks for the URL. I've sent it along to the relevant authorities.

How is the user connected when sqlcmd reaches the database, jdoe or
John Doe? I expect jdoe.

I'm suspicious of a user with a login "John Doe". I'd always
understood that space was not allowed in Windows login names. Perhaps
allowing spaces is new with Vista, but sql server won't accept it.

 

[turk54]

Thanks for the URL. I've sent it along to the relevant authorities.

How is the user connected when sqlcmd reaches the database, jdoe or
John Doe? I expect jdoe.

I'm suspicious of a user with a login "John Doe". I'd always
understood that space was not allowed in Windows login names. Perhaps
allowing spaces is new with Vista, but sql server won't accept it.

Luther,

I wanted to thank you for all of your assistance, and to also close out this
thread with what we have done to resolve these issues. We just bit the
bullet and created new user logon on each PC matching the username and
password on the server and copied the profile and all other files over the
the newly created user logon. We then started everything up and presto
change-o everything seems to connect just fine. It was just too time
consuming trying to force that square peg into that round hole! Thanks again
for your assistance.