Troubleshooting Network Discovery Process

[COBS Tech Support]

If client applications are unable to locate the the SAP ADS SQL database though the default discovery process, it may be necessary to point the client software to the location of the server. This will occur in situations where access is across a network connection and is not required when the client and server software are operating on the same server.

Begin by creating an ADS.INI file and place this file in the same folder location as your client software. For example: Z:\CAPITAL

The meaning of each setting and what will need to be adjusted will be explained below.

Code: Select all

[SETTINGS]
USE_TCP_IP=1
[MYSERVER]
LAN_IP=192.168.110.20
LAN_PORT=6262

ADS SQL Server uses port 6262 to communicate by default. Although this setting may be changed using the ADS_CFG.EXE tool also.

USE_TCP_IP=1

Will direct the client to use TCP as the default protocol instead of UDP. It's worth trying this in case the issue is with UDP, so TCP may work instead.

[MYSERVER]

This needs to be changed to the actual name of the server, ie.., SERVER1 or whatever the actual computer name is. (The name is found under Control Panel, System.)

LAN_IP=192.168.110.20

needs to be changed to the IP address of the server on the network.

Now launch the client application software and determine if the connection was successful. If not, begin by ensuring that this port is unblocked. Use a tool such as NMAP (you can google and download this as it's free) and then do something like this:

NMAP -P 6262 <IP_ADDRESS_OF_PC>

You need to check both the client's port and the server's port is open so you will need to do the above twice with each IP address in turn. The tool should report "open" and not something else such as "filtered".

If it's not open you need to find out why and unblock it. For example:

Client firewall?
Server firewall?
Both?
Anti-virus with its own firewall?
Router firewall?

Assuming the port is OK, locate where the application binaries are stored (EXE and DLL files), and ensure that ADS.INI has been placed in that folder as mentioned above. HOWEVER, before you do this, you need to check that its settings are correctly adjusted for your site, otherwise you may also upset clients that are currently working.

If there is an issue with the "discovery process" due to additional port blocking, then the above changes should resolve the problem as the discovery process will be bypassed. The SQL server connection should be established without the need to search for it.