Error with connecting a windows VM to mac localhost SQL database server

Question

I get the following error when trying to connect to my SQL Database:

System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException: 'A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. The server was not found or was not accessible. Verify that the instance name is correct and that SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. (provider: Named Pipes Provider, error: 40 - Could not open a connection to SQL Server)'

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This is my setup:

• I have a macbook m2 pro chip.
• I am running the SQL database on docker via azure data studio on my mac
• I am running Visual Studio on Parallels ( a windows virtual machine)

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Here is my code:

using Dapper;
using SQLlessions.Models;
using System.Data;
using System.Data.SqlClient;

namespace SQLlessions
{
    internal class Program
    {
        public static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            // 1 - connect to sql database

            string connectionString = "Server = localhost; Database = DotNetCourseDatabase; Trusted_Connection = false; TrustServerCertificate = true; User Id = **; Password = *******;";

            IDbConnection dbConnection = new SqlConnection(connectionString);
            
            // 2 - test the connection works

            string sqlCommand = "SELECT GETDATE()";

            DateTime rightNow = dbConnection.QuerySingle<DateTime>(sqlCommand);

            Console.WriteLine(rightNow);


        }
    }
}

I tried everything! I googled and tried everything but cant seem to connect to the SQL Database.

Answer 1

A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. The server was not found or was not accessible. Verify that the instance name is correct and that SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. (provider: Named Pipes Provider, error: 40 - Could not open a connection to SQL Server)

Enable remote connection to the SQL server as follows:

Right-click on the server, go to properties, go to connections, and enable Allow remote connection to the server as shown below:

When you run your code, you will be able to connect successfully to the SQL server as shown below:

Along with that, check the below options while connecting to the SQL server:

• Make sure outbound traffic over port 1433 is allowed by your network's firewall.
• Make sure you have provided the correct details of the SQL server.
• Make sure NP is enabled on the SQL instance.

For more information, you can refer to this MS document.