ROBOTILL HELP

Connection Test

Please note: There are at least two computers involved in a connection test. 

  1. The main PC (or server) where the database is installed - in these instructions we will call it the Server PC.
  2. The additional PC that you want to connect to the Server - in these instructions we will call it the Client PC.

Some of these steps must be performed on the Server PC and some must be performed on the Client PC. Please make sure you follow each part of the instructions on the correct PC.

Step 1: Install Telnet

Follow these instructions on the Client PC. If telnet is already insastalled on the client PC, you can skip this step and continue with step 2.

1) In your Windows search bar type 'control' and open your Control Panel.
2) Open “Programs“.
3) Select the “Turn Windows features on or off ” option.
4) Check the “Telnet Client” box.

Install Telnet

5) Click “OK“. A box will appear that says “Windows features” and “Searching for required files“. When complete, the Telnet client should be installed in Windows.

Step 2: Test the connection

Follow these instructions on the Client PC.

1) In your Windows search bar type 'cmd' and press enter. The command prompt will open.
2) Type: telnet [server_name] 1433
where [server_name] is the name of your Server PC. 1433 is the default port used by SQL Server.

You should either see a blank screen or something garbled representing some binary data. This means the connection test succeeded and your network is working. You can skip the rest of the steps and return to the page that directed you to the network test (click back on your browser).

If you get a message like the one below, it means there is a problem with the connection. Go to step 3.

Telnet test

Step 3: Check the SQL Port in Windows Firewall

If the test above failed, the first thing to check would be the Windows Firewall on the Server PC.  Follow these instructions on your Server PC.

  1. In your Windows search bar, type 'Windows Firewall' and open your firewall.
  2. Click on 'Advanced Settings'.
  3. Click on 'Inbound Rules'.
  4. Click on the column heading 'Name'  so that the rules are sorted by name.
  5. Go down the list and find 'SQL Port'. Either the database setup wizard should have added this port, or you would have added the port if you followed the instructions on installing SQL Server directly.
  6. Right click on 'SQL Port' and click on the ports tab to make sure what the port number is.

If the port number is not 1433 (the default), or you had to add the SQL port as it was not there, then do the test from the client PC again in step 2. If the port number was different, use the correct port number in the telnet test.

Step 4: Check SQL server service

On your server PC, check that SQL server service is running (you can do this by simply opening any ROBOTILL app on the server PC - it you don't get an error, it is running).

You should also check that TCP/IP is enabled for the service. If you had to enable TCP/IP, do the test in step 2 again.

Step 5: Network Problem

If you got to this point, it means that the Client PC cannot connect to the Server PC. There is a problem with your network, or there is an additional firewall or another problem blocking the connection. 

As ROBOTILL does not do hardware and network support, you will have to try and find the problem or contact your local computer support company to assist you.

Note that it does not help if you try any of the other instructions in our online help as all the instructions regarding the connection of an additional PC is based on the assumption that both computers can connect over a network. 

© ROBOTILL (PTY) LTD - www.robotill.com