Setting up a connection to SQL Server

To make a connection to a Microsoft SQL Server database, you must have a supported SQL Server Native Client installed on the client computer. See Microsoft's documentation to determine which version SQL Server Native Client you should install to connect to the version of SQL Server you are using.

You can download the SQL Server Native Client from the Esri Customer Care portal or from the Microsoft Download Center. Follow Microsoft's instructions to install the SQL Server Native Client on your client machine.

Steps:

1. Install SQL Server Native Client on the ArcGIS client computer.

   If you are installing the SQL Server native client on a 64-bit operating system, use the 64-bit SQL Server native client executable. This executable installs both the 32- and 64-bit client, which allows it to work with both 32- and 64-bit applications. If you run the 32-bit SQL Server native client on a 64-bit operating system, it will fail.

2. Add a connection to SQL Server by doing one of the following:
   • To test a connection to an enterprise SQL Server database, add a database connection from the Catalog tree in ArcCatalog or the Catalog window in ArcMap. Instructions for this can be found in Database connections in ArcGIS for Desktop.
   • To test a connection to a SQL Server Express instance used as a database server, add the database server to the Catalog tree in ArcCatalog or the Catalog window in ArcMap. Instructions for this can be found in Adding a database server to ArcGIS for Desktop.

You should be able to connect to SQL Server. If you encounter any problems, check the sdedc_SQL_Server.log file in the %TEMP% directory for extended error messages.