The Mad Virtualizer at Microsoft

Beginning with 4.5 Service Pack 2, the Microsoft App-V server now provides support for SQL Server mirroring. This allows for datastore redundancy via mirror failover in an enterprise environment. It also allows you to switch from native OS ADO over the SQL native client 10.0.

Information on how to configure this can be found here:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff660790(printer).aspx

However, many have noticed that in spite of following these instructions, they were still having issues with the App-V server connecting to the failover instance.

When this failure occurs, you will see this in the server’s SFT-SERVER.LOG file:

[2011-4-07 16:33:29.212] APPVSERVER 2600 4100 SW_SQLDataConnection::PopulateConnectionString – – – – 5 65535 “Constructed ODBC connection string: DRIVER={SQL Server};DATABASE={APPVIRT};Network={DBMSSOCN};Server={APPVSQLM2,1433};”
[2011-4-07 16:33:29.259] APPVSERVER 2600 4100 SW_SQLDataConnection::MapError – – – – 5 65535 “Got unknown error code: 4060.”
[2011-4-07 16:33:29.259] APPVSERVER 2600 4100 SW_SQLDataConnection::HandleError – – – – 5 65535 “Error 0xfdc, State: 42000, Text: [Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver][SQL Server]Cannot open database “APPVIRT” requested by the login. The login failed.”
[2011-4-07 16:33:29.259] APPVSERVER 2600 4100 SW_SQLDataConnection::Open – – – – 5 65535 “Failed to load requested driver.”
[2011-4-07 16:33:29.259] APPVSERVER 2600 4100 SW_SQLDataConnection::Open – – – – 5 65535 “Unable to open ODBC data source.”
[2011-4-07 16:33:29.259] APPVSERVER 2600 4100 SW_DataConnectionPool::Open – – – – 5 65535 “Failed to open connection.”
[2011-4-07 16:33:29.259] APPVSERVER 2600 4100 SW_DataConnectionPool::Close – – – – 5 65535 “Close () called on closed object.”
[2011-4-07 16:33:29.259] APPVSERVER 2600 4100 SW_DataAccess::Initialize – – – – 5 65535 “Failed to open configuration pool.”
[2011-4-07 16:33:29.259] APPVSERVER 2600 4100 SW_SystemDispatcher::init – – – – 1 44901 “System dispatcher initialization error [-1].

You will also see the following in the SQL ERRLOG file:

2010-12-29 13:55:27.18 Logon       Error: 18456, Severity: 14, State: 38.
2010-12-29 13:55:27.18 Logon       Login failed for user ‘domain\machineaccount$’. Reason: Failed to open the explicitly specified database. [CLIENT: x.x.x.x]

Microsoft had a small but serious DOC bug that took me doing an iDNA trace to find. Truth be told, I over-troubleshot it as a simple Process Monitor would have revealed it.  The SQL Failover registry keys defined here:http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff660790.aspxwere previously listed as:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Softgrid\4.5\Server\SQLFailOverServerName

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Softgrid\4.5\Server\SQLFailOverServerPort

and we are told to create them in Steps 7 and 8.

Problem is the value SQLFailOverServerName should be SQLFailoverServerName.  That one lower case letter was preventing auto failover from occurring.

Change the registry value to SQLFailoverServerName. Since this happened, the document has been modified. The alternate languages versions of the document are also in the process of being corrected.