Welcome to MSDN Blogs Sign in | Join | Help

SQL Protocols

Topics from the Microsoft SQL Server Protocols team - Netlibs, TDS, SQL Browser, etc...
“Cannot Generate SSPI Context” error message, more comments for SQL Server

Users sometime see the “Cannot Generate SSPI Context” error message. A very good source for troubleshooting the error is http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;811889. You can also find good information at Using Kerberos with SQL Server.

Here, I talk about one extreme situation: SQL server was running under Local System and was shutdown accidentally. The user then decides to run SQL server under a different account, e.g local account, domain account etc., for whatever reasons. Then he/she hit this “Cannot Generate SSPI Context” error when the client tries to connect the server. Keep in mind this only happens when TCP is enabled for the SQL server and is used by the client to connect the server.

What happened here is: When SQL server ran under Local System, it had successfully registered the Service Principle Name (SPN) for the service. The SPN is kept in the Active Directory and should be de-registered when the server is shutdown. Due to the accidental shutdown, SQL server failed to de-register the SPN. When the client connects to the server using TCP, it can find the SPN in the Active Directory and Kerberos will be used to perform the security delegation. However, the new account is not the correct container of the SPN, and Kerberos will fail.  

When this happens, some people may choose to reinstall SQL Server or even the whole OS. They may be frustrated by the fact that the problem is still there if local or domain account is again chosen as the service account. The SPN in the Active Directory won’t go away even if you reinstall the OS.

Setspn.exe can be used to register/de-register SPNs. One can register the same SPN for the same container more than one time. The registration beyond the first registration may not do anything. One de-registration will remove the SPN from Active Directory totally. Because of this, the easiest first step to troubleshoot “Cannot Generate SSPI Context” is to run SQL server under Local System account and gracefully shut it down. You can then change your service account to whatever you want. SPN will not be registered and clients will fallback to use NTLM.

Also note that, if you made any change related to SPN or service account on the server, the cached information on the clients may need a couple of minutes to go away. You may see some inconsistent information during this period. Just wait several minutes in this case.

 

Xinwei Hong, SQL Server Protocols

Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

Posted: Saturday, October 15, 2005 1:37 AM by SQL Protocols

Comments

Brian Kelley said:

I've been dealing with Kerberos delegation setup with respect to
Microsoft's CRM 3.0 product and while...
# April 5, 2006 3:52 PM

SQL Protocols said:

The “Cannot generate SSPI context” issue is described by http://support.microsoft.com/?id=811889 in general....
# May 9, 2006 7:15 PM

udit b halla said:

I had an accidental shut down of my system.
(my sql server and client are on the same machine).
Due to which i m unable to connect to the sql server.
it is showing me the "cannot generate sspi context" message.
please help.

thanks
# May 27, 2006 3:39 PM

Matt Neerincx [MSFT] said:

Key things I would do is download the setspn tool from link above.  Insure your SQL Server service is started.  Next try to delete all the SPNs you see for this instance of SQL using the setspn tool (read KB article 811889 to determine how to do this).  If you cannot delete the SPNs, then the SPNs are assigned to some domain user account and you need a domain administrator to delete it.  Delete all SPNs for the SQL Server instance, then stop and restart SQL.  Next, use the setspn tool to see if the SPN is re-created.  If the SPN is recreated, then everything should work fine at this point.  If the SPN is not created at this point, you will need to contact the domain admin and have him or her create the SPN under the account that the SQL Server service is running under.



# May 28, 2006 1:06 PM

Mahesh Manik said:

I have a saparate test machine to test the new
updation for my programmes.Therefore i have the client and server on the same machine and it was working fine till yesterday.Suddenly i got the above message "Cannot generate SSPI Context" error message when i expanded my local server.
# June 7, 2006 9:37 AM

SQL Protocols said:

Hi, Mahesh

   Can you describe more specifically about your problem?

Try the solution that Matt Neerincx suggested above.

Thanks!
Ming.
# June 7, 2006 10:44 PM

elf said:

Hy,

i have the same problem and in my case the probelm was the antivirus (Trend Micro - OfficeScan). I desable the antivirus firewall and it works perfectly.

PS.

Sorry for my english.

# November 20, 2006 5:37 AM

SQL Protocols said:

In this post, I focus on how NTLM and Kerberos are applied when connecting to SQL Server 2005 and try

# December 3, 2006 3:59 AM

SQL Protocols said:

Incorrect DNS can lead to various network connectivity issues. In this post, I explain how it affects

# January 2, 2007 3:18 AM

jamshad said:

how come i resolve thiz Problem in SQL 2000 ON XP MACHINES......

Error message......0x80004005.

Description..........Can't  generate SSPI CONTEX......

# January 10, 2007 1:46 AM

RichardB said:

Got the same message with my local server when logging in with my windows account(admin on the machine). I finally simply logged in as "sa", then exited cleanly. It did it. Everything is fine now.

# March 9, 2007 3:45 PM

Billy said:

//Create Procedure for searching data's

create proc batchShip_Search(@bId int,@dtFrom datetime,@dtTo datetime)

as begin

if(@bId=' ' and @dtFrom=' ' and @dtTo!=' ') begin

select bId,custName,dt from batchShip1 where dt<=@dtTo order by dt  end

else

if(@bId=' ' and @dtFrom!=' ' and @dtTo=' ') begin

select bId,custName,dt from batchShip1 where dt>=@dtFrom order by dt end

else

if(@bId=' ' and @dtFrom!=' ' and @dtTo!=' ') begin

select bId,custName,dt from batchShip1 where dt>=@dtFrom and dt<=@dtTo order by dt end

else

if(@bId!=' ' and @dtFrom=' ' and @dtTo=' ') begin

select bId,custName,dt from batchShip1 where bId=@bId order by bId end

else

if(@bId!=' ' and @dtFrom=' ' and @dtTo!=' ') begin

select bId,custName,dt from batchShip1 where bId=@bId and dt<=@dtTo order by bId end

else

if(@bId!=' ' and @dtFrom!=' ' and @dtTo=' ') begin

select bId,custName,dt from batchShip1 where bId=@bId and dt>=@dtFrom order by dt end

else

if(@bId!=' ' and @dtFrom!=' ' and @dtTo!=' ') begin

select bId,custName,dt from batchShip1 where bId=@bId and dt>=@dtFrom and dt<=@dtTo order by dt end

end

//Given data's which is searching

batchShip_Search '1','2007-12-01','2007-12-30'

# April 13, 2007 1:32 AM

taz_ues@hotmail.com said:

hi i have the same problem but i did everithing that read in google, other idea thanks

# April 30, 2007 7:50 PM

atul said:

I had an accidental shut down of my system.

(my sql server and client are on the same machine).

Due to which i m unable to connect to the sql server.

it is showing me the "cannot generate sspi context" message.

please help.

# May 22, 2007 4:38 AM

SQL Protocols said:

Can you check my another post? Your issue could be DNS related.

http://blogs.msdn.com/sql_protocols/archive/2007/01/02/cannot-generate-sspi-context-error-message-poisoned-dns.aspx

# May 22, 2007 1:25 PM

Zohaib said:

Sql works fine on other windows enviroment but it sometimes gives the error on only WinXp machines on my Network. Kindly  

# August 1, 2007 4:55 AM

Xinwei Hong said:

Please post a question on our forum: http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowForum.aspx?ForumID=87&SiteID=1

Use the guideline at:

http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=362498&SiteID=1

Then, we can find out what's the root cause.

# August 1, 2007 12:23 PM

Chris said:

I've been trying to debug this error for days now on my test servers. I have IIS on a webserver, then SQL Server 2005 on a second server. They are not part of a domain and are stand alone servers as these is usual for a web application. Both servers are 2k3.

I have duplicate users on both servers. The servers are directly connected to each other with no AD running. Currently I am testing with them directly connected, but will be placing a firewall between them on the production set up.

Now, if both servers are part of the same domain, this works fine, but who wants a web server in your domain?

As it is extremely unsecure to house a sql server on your web server and not firewall off the sql server, one would think that this type of set up would have been made a little more simple to accomplish.

I'm basically beyond frustrated with this.

I am no longer sure where to start over at. I'd reformat and reinstall both servers if I'd think that that would help, but I don't because it's never worked. LOL

# January 14, 2008 2:57 PM

SQL Protocols said:

Can you please check my other blog and try the step? http://blogs.msdn.com/sql_protocols/archive/2007/05/12/connecting-to-sql-server-from-a-workgroup-using-windows-authentication.aspx

If you have firewall between two machines, you have to open port for NP(SMB, file sharing) and TCP (tcp port, for SQL Auth).

# January 14, 2008 7:13 PM

Jeremie said:

Thanks for the post. It's just to bad this wasn't on the Microsoft posting I found first.

# April 1, 2008 10:08 AM

PJ said:

I dont want to beat a dead horse with this issue, but I just cant seem to find the answer....

Environment:

Server 2003 SP2 R2 - simple Office 2007 setup with SQL server 2005

Clients - Winxp SP2

When I logon to windows from a client pc - all is well can connect to SQL on the server. 10 to 15 minutes later the connection is dropped, and I get the "Cannot generate SSPI context" (Outlook) or "SQL server does not exist, service has stopped, or Access denied" (Accounting)

I have ensured that SQL service is running and set to auto on server and client pc's

net config server /AUTODISCONNECT:-1

on server and pc's

No firewall's

TCP and namepipes enabled on all

Any help would be appreciated.....

PS. - by default Office 2007 business Contact Manager seems to install the SQL server 2005 on all client pc's .... is that a problem ?

Thanks !

# May 8, 2008 11:25 PM

cannot generate sspi context said:

PingBack from http://kimora.freemusiconlineindia.info/cannotgeneratesspicontext.html

# May 20, 2008 9:34 AM

Karim said:

I was about to reinstall SQL Server on my server.

This article saved us hours of extra work.

Thanks

Here are the steps I took for our server (SQL server 2005 x64 bit SP2; OS:  Windows 2003 x64 bit)

1. Shut down sqlserver service.

2. Switch the sqlserver service logon account to ’Local System’

3. Start up sql server service

4. Checked connection to sql server from my workstation  (worked)

5. Shutdown sqlserver service

6. set SQLserver and sqlagent services to manual

7. Switch the sqlserver service logon account to ‘domain/loginid’   (DO NOT START THE SERVICE)

8. Rebooted the server

9. Started SQL service manually

10. Checked connection to sql server from my workstation  (worked)

11. Switched SQL Server and SQL Agent services to automatic.

# June 5, 2008 2:47 PM

madhuri said:

hi all,

I got the same problem "Cannot Generate SSPI Context" when  I was trying to run the application. This problem araised when the managment studio was newly installed in my system . so I tried to connect our server to the new management studio and now it is working fine :).

Thank you

madhuri

# July 15, 2008 2:23 AM

SSPI Error | keyongtech said:

PingBack from http://www.keyongtech.com/2860107-sspi-error

# January 22, 2009 1:18 AM
Leave a Comment

(required) 

(required) 

(optional)

(required) 

  
Enter Code Here: Required

Comment Notification

If you would like to receive an email when updates are made to this post, please register here

Subscribe to this post's comments using RSS

Page view tracker