The network path was not found

Question

I'm running my code and getting this error. But what does it mean?

The network path was not found Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details: System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception: The network path was not found

Source Error:

An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below.

Stack Trace:

[Win32Exception (0x80004005): The network path was not found]

[SqlException (0x80131904): A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. The server was not found or was not accessible. Verify that the instance name is correct and that SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. (provider: Named Pipes Provider, error: 40 - Could not open a connection to SQL Server)]

Answer 1

This is probably related to your database connection string or something like that.

I just solved this exception right now. What was happening is that I was using a connection string intended to be used when debugging in a different machine (the server).

I commented the wrong connection string in Web.config and uncommented the right one. Now I'm back in business... this is something I forget to look at after sometime not working in a given solution. ;)

Answer 2

You will also get this exact error if attempting to access your remote/prod db from localhost and you've forgotten that this particular hosting company requires VPN logon in order to access the db (do i feel silly).