FIX: A SQL Server installation fails when Windows computer name is mixed or lowercase

Connection attempts over the shared memory network library fail on a server where GetComputerName returns a lower or mixed case server name.

When the shared memory connection attempt fails, the SQL Server network library attempts to connect over an alternate protocol.

When you install any edition of Microsoft SQL Server 2000 or Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine (MSDE 2000) on a computer whose name is all lowercase or mixed case, setup may fail, and you receive one of the following messages:

For MSDE 2000: For SQL Server 2000: SQL Server 2005 failover clusters

When you install SQL Server 2005 failover clusters that have two or more nodes whose name contains all lowercase characters or mixed case characters, the following error message may be logged in the Summary.txt file:

GetComputerName is used to obtain the local computer name. The client network library component (DBMSLPCn.dll) converts the name to all upper case. The server network library component (SSMSLPCn.dll) leaves the name as returned.

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.

If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, submit a request to Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix.

Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site: Note The "Hotfix download available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language. The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:
For additional information about how to download Microsoft Support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help to prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.

Note If this is a new installation of SQL Server, you do not have a C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL\Binn folder where you can copy this file.To apply this hotfix, copy the contents of the SQL Server installation CD to your hard drive, and then replace the existing version of the file on your hard disk drive with the new hotfixed version of the file. After you do this, install the hotfix from the hard disk drive.

Note Due to file dependencies, the most recent hotfix or feature that contains the preceding files may also contain additional files.

To work around this problem, change the computer name to all uppercase characters. For SQL Server 2005 failover clusters, change the node name to uppercase characters.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

The failure is prohibitive to a SQL Server 2000 setup. A SQL Server 2000 setup prevents external connections by only allowing the shared network library connections.

If a shared memory connection can not be established, the setup fails when it attempts to configure the SQL Server server.

For SQL Server 2000:

The Sqlstp.log file contains an error message similar to: In the same Sqlstp.log file you can verify the naming failure by locating the following at the top of the log file: For MSDE 2000:

Run the following command so the installation does not roll back upon failure: You must run this code so that the Cnfgsvr.out file can be collected. Using the /L*v switch enables verbose logging for MSDE 2000 Setup.

After the MSDE 2000 installation fails, when you review the contents of the Cnfgsvr.out file, you see an error message similar to the following: The naming failure can be located from the server parameter. The Msdesetup.log file has an entry similar to the following: