SQL Server “.” Alias Not Working

Question

I\'ve added an alias of \".\" which should point to my local (named) instance, \".\\SQL2008\". But when I try to connect to \".\", it times out.

Am I missing something o

Answer 1

you need to run "cliconfg" and setup the alias on your local machine as well. If you have SSMS installed, create the alias in SQL Config Mgr, as this take precedance over the ones set in cliconfg. Remember, SSMS uses 32bit connection to SQL Server, even if is 64bit. If you don't set them locally, how does your PC know where to go for the alias. You could create DNS entries as an alternative.