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SQL Server Troubleshooting

SQLServer Enterprise Manager could not configure 'server' as the Distributor for 'server'

Symptom:

When trying to create a publication (for replication) the following error is produced:

SQLServer Enterprise Manager could not configure 'server' as the Distributor for 'server'

Error 18482: Could not connect to server 'SSSS' because 'SSSS' is not defined as a remote server.

Where ‘server’ is the name of the local server (which is also acting as the distributor) and ‘SSSS’ is a different name.

Cause:

This error has been observed on a server that had been renamed after the original installation of SQL Server, and where the SQL Server configuration function ‘@@SERVERNAME’ still returned the original name of the server. This can be confirmed by:

select @@SERVERNAME
go

This should return the name of the server. If it does not then follow the procedure below to correct it.

Remedy:

To resolve the problem the server name needs to be updated. Use the following:

sp_addserver real-server-name, LOCAL

if this gives an error complaining that the name already exists then use the following sequence:

sp_dropserver real-server-name
go
sp_addserver real-server-name, LOCAL
go

If instead the error reported is 'There is already a local server.' then use the following sequence:

sp_dropserver old-server-name
go
sp_addserver real-server-name, LOCAL
go

Stop and restart SQL Server.

Other Possible Remedies

Phillip Ushijima has told me that he had an issue with pushing a subscription with the error messages indicated. His solution was to edit the SQL Server registration properties in the Enterprise Manager MMC to match the name returned by @@servername.

Whilst he is not sure whether it was significant, he had previously added an alias into the client configuration on the distributor/publisher with a matching name (although this was unsuccessful in resolving the error on its own).

These notes are believed to be correct for SQL Server 7 and may apply to other versions as well.