Named Pipes Provider, error: 40 on workgroup workstations

Question

I am having issues with a vendor supplied application. It generates an error when run from workstations that are not part of an Active Directory domain. The error is “provider: Named Pipes Provider, error: 40 –
Could not open a connection to SQL Server)”. It runs as expected when ran from a workstation that is a member of the domain. Obviously adding the workstation to the domain is a solution. However, because of concern of what might break this is not our preferred
solution.
The database is SQL Server 2008 on a 2008R2 system that is a member server of a domain. The systems that are having the error are workgroup systems running Windows 7. Except for the final step, I have pretty much
eliminated the other possibilities in Steps to troubleshoot SQL connectivity issues.
That, and the fact that the application successfully runs from a workstation that is a member of the domain lead me to believe it is an account/authentication issue on the workstation.
From what I have determined SQL authentication is required in this scenario and I have confirmed that the database server is configured for Windows and SQL Server authentication. I have also examined
the configuration file the application uses. It contains the user name and password for the account. Are these credentials not used to establish a connection?
The only thing I can think of, which I haven’t tested because 1) it is a production system and 2) it is a vendor supplied application, is the application needs to be run under a local workstation
account with the same credentials as the SQL Server account.
Could this be the case or is there something else I should be look at?
Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Thanks for your response. I had posted a reply earlier but for some reason it doesn't appear to have uploaded.
The server name in the connection string is ntsrv12.xxx.yyy.edu. I am able to ping that name and ntsrv12 as well from workstations where the application fails.
I have some information from some additional testing I have done. Using my workstation, which is a domain member, I can successfully run the application when logged on with my domain user account.
However, if I logon with a local account the application fails with the error described above.
I have also been able to match Audit Failures in the SQL Server event log with failed attempts to run the application. There is a two error sequence that appears several times for 15 seconds until the application times out and displays the error message.
I have listed the errors below but certainly the application appears to see the server. Any ideas on what to check next?
Thank you.
The first error in the sequence is this:
Log Name:      Security
Source:        Microsoft-Windows-Security-Auditing
Date:         
5/6/2014 1:50:05 PM
Event ID:      4776
Task Category: Credential Validation
Level:         Information
Keywords:      Audit Failure
User:         
N/A
Computer:      Ntsrv12.xxx.yyy.edu
Description:
The computer attempted to validate the credentials for an account.
Authentication Package:              
MICROSOFT_AUTHENTICATION_PACKAGE_V1_0
Logon Account: <MyLocalAccount>
Source Workstation:      
<LocalSystemName>
Error Code:        
0xc0000064
This error is followed by this one:
Log Name:      Security
Source:        Microsoft-Windows-Security-Auditing
Date:         
5/6/2014 1:50:05 PM
Event ID:      4625
Task Category: Logon
Level:         Information
Keywords:      Audit Failure
User:         
N/A
Computer:      Ntsrv12.xxx.yyy.edu
Description:
An account failed to log on.
Subject:
Security ID:                        
NULL SID
Account Name:                
Account Domain:                            
Logon ID:                            
0x0
Logon Type:                                      
3
Account For Which Logon Failed:
Security ID:                        
NULL SID
Account Name:                
<MyLocalAccount>
Account Domain:                            
<LocalSystemName>
Failure Information:
Failure Reason:                
Unknown user name or bad password.
Status:                                 
0xc000006d
Sub Status:                        
0xc0000064
Process Information:
Caller Process ID:            
0x0
Caller Process Name:     -
Network Information:
Workstation Name:        <LocalSystemName>
Source Network Address:           
10.1.36.70
Source Port:                      
50145
Detailed Authentication Information:
Logon Process:                 
NtLmSsp
Authentication Package:              
NTLM
Transited Services:         
Package Name (NTLM only):      
Key Length:                       
0
This event is generated when a logon request fails. It is generated on the computer where access was attempted.
The Subject fields indicate the account on the local system which requested the logon. This is most commonly a service such as the Server service, or a local process such as Winlogon.exe or Services.exe.
The Logon Type field indicates the kind of logon that was requested. The most common types are 2 (interactive) and 3 (network).
The Process Information fields indicate which account and process on the system requested the logon.
The Network Information fields indicate where a remote logon request originated. Workstation name is not always available and may be left blank in some cases.
The authentication information fields provide detailed information about this specific logon request.
- Transited services indicate which intermediate services have participated in this logon request.
- Package name indicates which sub-protocol was used among the NTLM protocols.
- Key length indicates the length of the generated session key. This will be 0 if no session key was requested.