Regarding domain name for mirroring

Hi guys, may I know whether the domain name needed to be same for the principal server and mirror server in order to get a connection between both the servers and setting up mirroring section successful? Is it possible to use different domain name for both servers for setting up the mirroring section. Can someone share his/her idea or experience like how to setting up the mirroring section and the configuration for the windows before setting up. Thx and hope can get any assistance here.

Best regards,

Hans

Yes, Database Miroring can be setup across two different domains.Please look at the Books Online at http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms177412.aspx for details.

Regarding Collation for mirroring & Error 1418

Can I know is it possible that if the database servers' collation in both principal and mirror server might unable to get the mirroring? Because one of database collation is Latin1_General_CI_AS while another server (mirror) is SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS. I did several type of troubleshooting but still unable to solve the Error 1418. All the ports are stated as started, able to use telnet to connect to the server's port but still unable to get a connection for the database mirroring. I do really need help on it. Thx for the assistance and kindness.

Best Regards,

Hans

Hello Hans,

Database mirroring is the copy of your data syncronous or assyncronous, when you do the copy of data between database with collation different occurs the error: Cannot resolve the collation conflict.

I believe your error is the same.

Try build the database mirroring with the same Collation on Source and destination.

For start the database mirroring you need restore the database in destination with the NORECOVERY option.

Good Luck!

Regards,

|||

Hello Fernandes,

Thanx for the reply and your information. I guess I forgot to give an useful information regarding this issue. Actually the database collation that I mention is wrong , suppose to be the server's collation (inside server properties). Both servers' collation are different which are Latin1_General_CI_AS and SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS. However, the database (AdventureWorks) that used for mirroring is the same collation for principal and mirror. Is there any conflict as well ? I did try on using NORECOVERY when I restored it into the mirror server. All the steps I just follow which stated in BOL. Can we discuss through msn messenger anyway? Hope to hear from you soon again. Thx again and have a nice day.

From,

Hans

|||

Hello Hans,

Server's collation different not problem, because database mirroring work inside the database.

Both SQL Server running with same domain account?

Do you restore your database in mirror with the NORECOVERY option?

Can we discuss through msn messenger anyway?

Ok, send invite for me: lobo-fernandes@.hotmail.com

But I live in Rio de Janeiro - Brazil.

Where do you live? What your timezone?

Regards,

|||

Oic, means Collation will not causing the problem then. Domain account? Is it 'Log on as ' Local Systemn, Local Service and Network Service?

Yup , the database that i restored in mirror database is usinfg the NORECOVERY option. Ok , let's discuss through msn then. I already added u into my msn list. I am from Malaysia (Asia) , GMT+8. Hope able to meet up with u thru msn then. See ya and have a nice day. :)

From,

Hans

re-establishing mirror

When witness and mirror were down, mirroring was removed at primary. Now when I try to re-establish mirroring I get the following error

Msg 1456, Level 16, State 3, Line 1
The ALTER DATABASE command could not be sent to the remote server instance 'TCP://witness:5022'. The database mirroring configuration was not changed. Verify that the server is connected, and try again.

On the witness server the following sql

select * from sys.database_mirroring_witnesses

returns 1 row with the previous mirroring information.

How do I remove old information from witness server? Thanks.

If the witness server contacts the former principal, it should discover that mirroring was turned off and remove the metadata from master.

What version of SQL are you using? Build number?

Thanks,

Mark

|||

Witness came up but it did not remove the metadata. I am using SQL server 2005 sp1. Build number is 9.0.2047. Thanks

Is there any way I can manually remove the information from witness or force the primary server to use witness and overwrite wintness information? Thanks.

|||

Thanks for the info.

"Is there any way I can manually remove the information from witness or force the primary server to use witness and overwrite wintness information? Thanks."

1. There is no way to manually remove the witness information.

2. The principal server should be able to over write the witness information.

My guess is that there is a communication problem between the two servers. Did you change the port # for mirroring? Look in the errorlog. It should have more information about what went wrong. My guess is that you are setting up mirroring again and somehow changed the network configuration.

Thanks,

Mark

|||

Witness is showing the following error:

Database mirroring connection error 4 'An error occurred while receiving data: '64(The specified network name is no longer available.)'.' for 'TCP://primary:5022'.

Primary server has the following error in the error log:

Database mirroring connection error 4 'An error occurred while receiving data: '1236(The network connection was aborted by the local system.)'.' for 'TCP://witness:5024'.

Server combination have been changed after the initial breakdown of database mirroring. So initial primary server is no longer the new primary server. So you are right about network settings being changed. What can I do so that I can reestablish the mirroring? Thanks.

|||

So, the only way that the witness can drop its mirroring information is to connect to one of the original servers and be told that the database is not there or the mirroring session is different. Now you can't change any of the connection parameters on the witness.

Setup a server just like on of the partners in the original scenario, which means have a sql server instance running on a server with the same name as one of the earlier partners AND have a mirroring endpoint up and running on the original port with the original settings.

The witness is using the orginal connection properties to log into the partner servers once a second. Once it gets to a sql server instance on the original ports, the witness will be told that database for which it wants to be a witness for doesn't exist or it isn't mirrored. At that point the witness will stop trying to be a witness.

As far as setting up the new witness, are you sure that the servers can connect to each other?

Thanks,

Mark

|||

I can't set up the original server. I don't have another computer to name as the original computer name and I can't change the name of the existing servers.

Current primary and witness can see each other. I created linked servers and verified queries.

When I am going through the wizard setting up mirroring on the primary server, security configuration is working fine. When I press start mirroring button, I am getting the error. Please let me know if you want to verify connection any other way or have any other ideas to set up mirroring. Thanks.

|||

So, if you can telnet into the endpoints from each server, then the endpoints on setup properly.

Is it still failing with the same error number? I believe that the witness server should be able to be a new witness server for this new database because the mirroring GUID will be different from the previous one.

But, to get rid of the original metadata for the first witness config, you need to have that server talk to sql on the original port and name.

Thanks,

Mark

|||If I can't get rid of original metadata, I can live with that. However I can't use the witness server because it is failing with the same error. Database name is same from the original one. I can try with a new database name to see if database name is the problem. I need to make this work with the original database name. The only other thing I can think of is reinstall mirror server. Thanks.|||I used a different database. Witness server did not work. Finally I completely uninstalled witness server and reinstalled wintness server. Re-established mirroring using the new mirror server. Now mirroring is working fine. So when things go wrong witness server will have certain stuff which will be only cleaned up if it can see the original servers. If it can't see the original servers then we can not only clean up witness server, that server will not be able to participate as witness server again. This could be an isolated situation, in Microsoft labs as Mark indicated, witness server works on unique guids, so one mirror combination should not effect others. In my case some thing went wrong. In rare cases like this it would be nicer if I can clean up the witness server rather than reinstall. Thanks very much Mark for all your help. On a different thread I asked about changing synchronous to asynchronous when witness and mirror are down. I would like to read your comments on that kind of thinking. Thanks again.|||

OK, so I'm sorry you had so much trouble with mirroring. The witness should have been able to be used as is with the metadata intact.

Since the information for the witness is stored in master. If you had a copy of master from before, you could have restored it and see what happens.

Since the database isn't on the witness server, there really isn't a good way to turn off the witness on the witness. We'll think about that.

Thanks,

Mark

|||I did not think about that. That's a good suggestion. Thanks Mark.|||I am having this very issue using certificate-based authentication. Am I correct in understanding that the current resolution, in absence of a backup of Master, is to uninstall and reinstall SQL Server 2005 SP1 on the witness server?|||

FYI, as it turned out in my case, I had been trying to use the IP address to configure the Witness (This worked for Principal and Mirror). E.g.:

ALTER DATABASE [AdventureWorks]
SET WITNESS = N'TCP://10.0.0.5:10001';
GO

That T-SQL statement, run on Principal, produced this error:

Msg 1456, Level 16, State 3, Line 1
The ALTER DATABASE command could not be sent to the remote server instance 'TCP://10.0.0.5:10001'. The database mirroring configuration was not changed. Verify that the server is connected, and try again.

The Windows Event Log said:
Database mirroring connection error 4 'An error occurred while receiving data: '64(The specified network name is no longer available.)'.' for 'TCP://10.0.0.5:10001'.

The solution to my problems was when I put entries for Principal, Mirror, and Witness in each machine's C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts file.

Now it works.

|||

Hi,

I think i am having the same mirroring issues as you had.....in my case, server1 is the principal, server2 is the mirror and server2\witness is the witness..

i am getting the Msg 1456 error when i go through the mirroring wizard

in event log, i am getting the same error as you had...

can you please explain a little bit more on how to add entries in the hosts file?

thanks

re-establishing mirror

When witness and mirror were down, mirroring was removed at primary. Now when I try to re-establish mirroring I get the following error

Msg 1456, Level 16, State 3, Line 1
The ALTER DATABASE command could not be sent to the remote server instance 'TCP://witness:5022'. The database mirroring configuration was not changed. Verify that the server is connected, and try again.

On the witness server the following sql

select * from sys.database_mirroring_witnesses

returns 1 row with the previous mirroring information.

How do I remove old information from witness server? Thanks.

If the witness server contacts the former principal, it should discover that mirroring was turned off and remove the metadata from master.

What version of SQL are you using? Build number?

Thanks,

Mark

|||

Witness came up but it did not remove the metadata. I am using SQL server 2005 sp1. Build number is 9.0.2047. Thanks

Is there any way I can manually remove the information from witness or force the primary server to use witness and overwrite wintness information? Thanks.

|||

Thanks for the info.

"Is there any way I can manually remove the information from witness or force the primary server to use witness and overwrite wintness information? Thanks."

1. There is no way to manually remove the witness information.

2. The principal server should be able to over write the witness information.

My guess is that there is a communication problem between the two servers. Did you change the port # for mirroring? Look in the errorlog. It should have more information about what went wrong. My guess is that you are setting up mirroring again and somehow changed the network configuration.

Thanks,

Mark

|||

Witness is showing the following error:

Database mirroring connection error 4 'An error occurred while receiving data: '64(The specified network name is no longer available.)'.' for 'TCP://primary:5022'.

Primary server has the following error in the error log:

Database mirroring connection error 4 'An error occurred while receiving data: '1236(The network connection was aborted by the local system.)'.' for 'TCP://witness:5024'.

Server combination have been changed after the initial breakdown of database mirroring. So initial primary server is no longer the new primary server. So you are right about network settings being changed. What can I do so that I can reestablish the mirroring? Thanks.

|||

So, the only way that the witness can drop its mirroring information is to connect to one of the original servers and be told that the database is not there or the mirroring session is different. Now you can't change any of the connection parameters on the witness.

Setup a server just like on of the partners in the original scenario, which means have a sql server instance running on a server with the same name as one of the earlier partners AND have a mirroring endpoint up and running on the original port with the original settings.

The witness is using the orginal connection properties to log into the partner servers once a second. Once it gets to a sql server instance on the original ports, the witness will be told that database for which it wants to be a witness for doesn't exist or it isn't mirrored. At that point the witness will stop trying to be a witness.

As far as setting up the new witness, are you sure that the servers can connect to each other?

Thanks,

Mark

|||

I can't set up the original server. I don't have another computer to name as the original computer name and I can't change the name of the existing servers.

Current primary and witness can see each other. I created linked servers and verified queries.

When I am going through the wizard setting up mirroring on the primary server, security configuration is working fine. When I press start mirroring button, I am getting the error. Please let me know if you want to verify connection any other way or have any other ideas to set up mirroring. Thanks.

|||

So, if you can telnet into the endpoints from each server, then the endpoints on setup properly.

Is it still failing with the same error number? I believe that the witness server should be able to be a new witness server for this new database because the mirroring GUID will be different from the previous one.

But, to get rid of the original metadata for the first witness config, you need to have that server talk to sql on the original port and name.

Thanks,

Mark

|||If I can't get rid of original metadata, I can live with that. However I can't use the witness server because it is failing with the same error. Database name is same from the original one. I can try with a new database name to see if database name is the problem. I need to make this work with the original database name. The only other thing I can think of is reinstall mirror server. Thanks.|||I used a different database. Witness server did not work. Finally I completely uninstalled witness server and reinstalled wintness server. Re-established mirroring using the new mirror server. Now mirroring is working fine. So when things go wrong witness server will have certain stuff which will be only cleaned up if it can see the original servers. If it can't see the original servers then we can not only clean up witness server, that server will not be able to participate as witness server again. This could be an isolated situation, in Microsoft labs as Mark indicated, witness server works on unique guids, so one mirror combination should not effect others. In my case some thing went wrong. In rare cases like this it would be nicer if I can clean up the witness server rather than reinstall. Thanks very much Mark for all your help. On a different thread I asked about changing synchronous to asynchronous when witness and mirror are down. I would like to read your comments on that kind of thinking. Thanks again.|||

OK, so I'm sorry you had so much trouble with mirroring. The witness should have been able to be used as is with the metadata intact.

Since the information for the witness is stored in master. If you had a copy of master from before, you could have restored it and see what happens.

Since the database isn't on the witness server, there really isn't a good way to turn off the witness on the witness. We'll think about that.

Thanks,

Mark

|||I did not think about that. That's a good suggestion. Thanks Mark.|||I am having this very issue using certificate-based authentication. Am I correct in understanding that the current resolution, in absence of a backup of Master, is to uninstall and reinstall SQL Server 2005 SP1 on the witness server?|||

FYI, as it turned out in my case, I had been trying to use the IP address to configure the Witness (This worked for Principal and Mirror). E.g.:

ALTER DATABASE [AdventureWorks]
SET WITNESS = N'TCP://10.0.0.5:10001';
GO

That T-SQL statement, run on Principal, produced this error:

Msg 1456, Level 16, State 3, Line 1
The ALTER DATABASE command could not be sent to the remote server instance 'TCP://10.0.0.5:10001'. The database mirroring configuration was not changed. Verify that the server is connected, and try again.

The Windows Event Log said:
Database mirroring connection error 4 'An error occurred while receiving data: '64(The specified network name is no longer available.)'.' for 'TCP://10.0.0.5:10001'.

The solution to my problems was when I put entries for Principal, Mirror, and Witness in each machine's C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts file.

Now it works.

|||

Hi,

I think i am having the same mirroring issues as you had.....in my case, server1 is the principal, server2 is the mirror and server2\witness is the witness..

i am getting the Msg 1456 error when i go through the mirroring wizard

in event log, i am getting the same error as you had...

can you please explain a little bit more on how to add entries in the hosts file?

thanks

re-establishing mirror

When witness and mirror were down, mirroring was removed at primary. Now when I try to re-establish mirroring I get the following error

Msg 1456, Level 16, State 3, Line 1
The ALTER DATABASE command could not be sent to the remote server instance 'TCP://witness:5022'. The database mirroring configuration was not changed. Verify that the server is connected, and try again.

On the witness server the following sql

select * from sys.database_mirroring_witnesses

returns 1 row with the previous mirroring information.

How do I remove old information from witness server? Thanks.

If the witness server contacts the former principal, it should discover that mirroring was turned off and remove the metadata from master.

What version of SQL are you using? Build number?

Thanks,

Mark

|||

Witness came up but it did not remove the metadata. I am using SQL server 2005 sp1. Build number is 9.0.2047. Thanks

Is there any way I can manually remove the information from witness or force the primary server to use witness and overwrite wintness information? Thanks.

|||

Thanks for the info.

"Is there any way I can manually remove the information from witness or force the primary server to use witness and overwrite wintness information? Thanks."

1. There is no way to manually remove the witness information.

2. The principal server should be able to over write the witness information.

My guess is that there is a communication problem between the two servers. Did you change the port # for mirroring? Look in the errorlog. It should have more information about what went wrong. My guess is that you are setting up mirroring again and somehow changed the network configuration.

Thanks,

Mark

|||

Witness is showing the following error:

Database mirroring connection error 4 'An error occurred while receiving data: '64(The specified network name is no longer available.)'.' for 'TCP://primary:5022'.

Primary server has the following error in the error log:

Database mirroring connection error 4 'An error occurred while receiving data: '1236(The network connection was aborted by the local system.)'.' for 'TCP://witness:5024'.

Server combination have been changed after the initial breakdown of database mirroring. So initial primary server is no longer the new primary server. So you are right about network settings being changed. What can I do so that I can reestablish the mirroring? Thanks.

|||

So, the only way that the witness can drop its mirroring information is to connect to one of the original servers and be told that the database is not there or the mirroring session is different. Now you can't change any of the connection parameters on the witness.

Setup a server just like on of the partners in the original scenario, which means have a sql server instance running on a server with the same name as one of the earlier partners AND have a mirroring endpoint up and running on the original port with the original settings.

The witness is using the orginal connection properties to log into the partner servers once a second. Once it gets to a sql server instance on the original ports, the witness will be told that database for which it wants to be a witness for doesn't exist or it isn't mirrored. At that point the witness will stop trying to be a witness.

As far as setting up the new witness, are you sure that the servers can connect to each other?

Thanks,

Mark

|||

I can't set up the original server. I don't have another computer to name as the original computer name and I can't change the name of the existing servers.

Current primary and witness can see each other. I created linked servers and verified queries.

When I am going through the wizard setting up mirroring on the primary server, security configuration is working fine. When I press start mirroring button, I am getting the error. Please let me know if you want to verify connection any other way or have any other ideas to set up mirroring. Thanks.

|||

So, if you can telnet into the endpoints from each server, then the endpoints on setup properly.

Is it still failing with the same error number? I believe that the witness server should be able to be a new witness server for this new database because the mirroring GUID will be different from the previous one.

But, to get rid of the original metadata for the first witness config, you need to have that server talk to sql on the original port and name.

Thanks,

Mark

|||If I can't get rid of original metadata, I can live with that. However I can't use the witness server because it is failing with the same error. Database name is same from the original one. I can try with a new database name to see if database name is the problem. I need to make this work with the original database name. The only other thing I can think of is reinstall mirror server. Thanks.|||I used a different database. Witness server did not work. Finally I completely uninstalled witness server and reinstalled wintness server. Re-established mirroring using the new mirror server. Now mirroring is working fine. So when things go wrong witness server will have certain stuff which will be only cleaned up if it can see the original servers. If it can't see the original servers then we can not only clean up witness server, that server will not be able to participate as witness server again. This could be an isolated situation, in Microsoft labs as Mark indicated, witness server works on unique guids, so one mirror combination should not effect others. In my case some thing went wrong. In rare cases like this it would be nicer if I can clean up the witness server rather than reinstall. Thanks very much Mark for all your help. On a different thread I asked about changing synchronous to asynchronous when witness and mirror are down. I would like to read your comments on that kind of thinking. Thanks again.|||

OK, so I'm sorry you had so much trouble with mirroring. The witness should have been able to be used as is with the metadata intact.

Since the information for the witness is stored in master. If you had a copy of master from before, you could have restored it and see what happens.

Since the database isn't on the witness server, there really isn't a good way to turn off the witness on the witness. We'll think about that.

Thanks,

Mark

|||I did not think about that. That's a good suggestion. Thanks Mark.|||I am having this very issue using certificate-based authentication. Am I correct in understanding that the current resolution, in absence of a backup of Master, is to uninstall and reinstall SQL Server 2005 SP1 on the witness server?|||

FYI, as it turned out in my case, I had been trying to use the IP address to configure the Witness (This worked for Principal and Mirror). E.g.:

ALTER DATABASE [AdventureWorks]
SET WITNESS = N'TCP://10.0.0.5:10001';
GO

That T-SQL statement, run on Principal, produced this error:

Msg 1456, Level 16, State 3, Line 1
The ALTER DATABASE command could not be sent to the remote server instance 'TCP://10.0.0.5:10001'. The database mirroring configuration was not changed. Verify that the server is connected, and try again.

The Windows Event Log said:
Database mirroring connection error 4 'An error occurred while receiving data: '64(The specified network name is no longer available.)'.' for 'TCP://10.0.0.5:10001'.

The solution to my problems was when I put entries for Principal, Mirror, and Witness in each machine's C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts file.

Now it works.

|||

Hi,

I think i am having the same mirroring issues as you had.....in my case, server1 is the principal, server2 is the mirror and server2\witness is the witness..

i am getting the Msg 1456 error when i go through the mirroring wizard

in event log, i am getting the same error as you had...

can you please explain a little bit more on how to add entries in the hosts file?

thanks

re-establishing mirror

When witness and mirror were down, mirroring was removed at primary. Now when I try to re-establish mirroring I get the following error

Msg 1456, Level 16, State 3, Line 1
The ALTER DATABASE command could not be sent to the remote server instance 'TCP://witness:5022'. The database mirroring configuration was not changed. Verify that the server is connected, and try again.

On the witness server the following sql

select * from sys.database_mirroring_witnesses

returns 1 row with the previous mirroring information.

How do I remove old information from witness server? Thanks.

If the witness server contacts the former principal, it should discover that mirroring was turned off and remove the metadata from master.

What version of SQL are you using? Build number?

Thanks,

Mark

|||

Witness came up but it did not remove the metadata. I am using SQL server 2005 sp1. Build number is 9.0.2047. Thanks

Is there any way I can manually remove the information from witness or force the primary server to use witness and overwrite wintness information? Thanks.

|||

Thanks for the info.

"Is there any way I can manually remove the information from witness or force the primary server to use witness and overwrite wintness information? Thanks."

1. There is no way to manually remove the witness information.

2. The principal server should be able to over write the witness information.

My guess is that there is a communication problem between the two servers. Did you change the port # for mirroring? Look in the errorlog. It should have more information about what went wrong. My guess is that you are setting up mirroring again and somehow changed the network configuration.

Thanks,

Mark

|||

Witness is showing the following error:

Database mirroring connection error 4 'An error occurred while receiving data: '64(The specified network name is no longer available.)'.' for 'TCP://primary:5022'.

Primary server has the following error in the error log:

Database mirroring connection error 4 'An error occurred while receiving data: '1236(The network connection was aborted by the local system.)'.' for 'TCP://witness:5024'.

Server combination have been changed after the initial breakdown of database mirroring. So initial primary server is no longer the new primary server. So you are right about network settings being changed. What can I do so that I can reestablish the mirroring? Thanks.

|||

So, the only way that the witness can drop its mirroring information is to connect to one of the original servers and be told that the database is not there or the mirroring session is different. Now you can't change any of the connection parameters on the witness.

Setup a server just like on of the partners in the original scenario, which means have a sql server instance running on a server with the same name as one of the earlier partners AND have a mirroring endpoint up and running on the original port with the original settings.

The witness is using the orginal connection properties to log into the partner servers once a second. Once it gets to a sql server instance on the original ports, the witness will be told that database for which it wants to be a witness for doesn't exist or it isn't mirrored. At that point the witness will stop trying to be a witness.

As far as setting up the new witness, are you sure that the servers can connect to each other?

Thanks,

Mark

|||

I can't set up the original server. I don't have another computer to name as the original computer name and I can't change the name of the existing servers.

Current primary and witness can see each other. I created linked servers and verified queries.

When I am going through the wizard setting up mirroring on the primary server, security configuration is working fine. When I press start mirroring button, I am getting the error. Please let me know if you want to verify connection any other way or have any other ideas to set up mirroring. Thanks.

|||

So, if you can telnet into the endpoints from each server, then the endpoints on setup properly.

Is it still failing with the same error number? I believe that the witness server should be able to be a new witness server for this new database because the mirroring GUID will be different from the previous one.

But, to get rid of the original metadata for the first witness config, you need to have that server talk to sql on the original port and name.

Thanks,

Mark

|||If I can't get rid of original metadata, I can live with that. However I can't use the witness server because it is failing with the same error. Database name is same from the original one. I can try with a new database name to see if database name is the problem. I need to make this work with the original database name. The only other thing I can think of is reinstall mirror server. Thanks.|||I used a different database. Witness server did not work. Finally I completely uninstalled witness server and reinstalled wintness server. Re-established mirroring using the new mirror server. Now mirroring is working fine. So when things go wrong witness server will have certain stuff which will be only cleaned up if it can see the original servers. If it can't see the original servers then we can not only clean up witness server, that server will not be able to participate as witness server again. This could be an isolated situation, in Microsoft labs as Mark indicated, witness server works on unique guids, so one mirror combination should not effect others. In my case some thing went wrong. In rare cases like this it would be nicer if I can clean up the witness server rather than reinstall. Thanks very much Mark for all your help. On a different thread I asked about changing synchronous to asynchronous when witness and mirror are down. I would like to read your comments on that kind of thinking. Thanks again.|||

OK, so I'm sorry you had so much trouble with mirroring. The witness should have been able to be used as is with the metadata intact.

Since the information for the witness is stored in master. If you had a copy of master from before, you could have restored it and see what happens.

Since the database isn't on the witness server, there really isn't a good way to turn off the witness on the witness. We'll think about that.

Thanks,

Mark

|||I did not think about that. That's a good suggestion. Thanks Mark.|||I am having this very issue using certificate-based authentication. Am I correct in understanding that the current resolution, in absence of a backup of Master, is to uninstall and reinstall SQL Server 2005 SP1 on the witness server?|||

FYI, as it turned out in my case, I had been trying to use the IP address to configure the Witness (This worked for Principal and Mirror). E.g.:

ALTER DATABASE [AdventureWorks]
SET WITNESS = N'TCP://10.0.0.5:10001';
GO

That T-SQL statement, run on Principal, produced this error:

Msg 1456, Level 16, State 3, Line 1
The ALTER DATABASE command could not be sent to the remote server instance 'TCP://10.0.0.5:10001'. The database mirroring configuration was not changed. Verify that the server is connected, and try again.

The Windows Event Log said:
Database mirroring connection error 4 'An error occurred while receiving data: '64(The specified network name is no longer available.)'.' for 'TCP://10.0.0.5:10001'.

The solution to my problems was when I put entries for Principal, Mirror, and Witness in each machine's C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts file.

Now it works.

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Hi,

I think i am having the same mirroring issues as you had.....in my case, server1 is the principal, server2 is the mirror and server2\witness is the witness..

i am getting the Msg 1456 error when i go through the mirroring wizard

in event log, i am getting the same error as you had...

can you please explain a little bit more on how to add entries in the hosts file?

thanks