Unable to add server in Performance dash board 1.3

[bharathVelakaturi]

Which component is your question about?

Full Dashboard

Performance Monitor Version

1.3

Is your question about how it works, or the results?

How the tool works

What's your question?

Hi There. I'm unable to add the server in Performance Dashboard 1.3. Before that i installed peformance monitor installer successfully Getting below error when i try to add the server in performance dashboard.

Failed to connect RDSDSD\ERR
Please check:
Server name/Address correct
Server is accessible from this machine
Firewall allows SQL Server connections
SQL Server service is running.

Whereas I'm able to add the same server in performance installer lite with out any issues.

Both performance installer lite and performance installer are configured in same server. you think that is not letting the servers to add sucessfully

Additional Context

SQL Server 2019 developer edition.
Microsoft Windows server 2019 standard.

[erikdarlingdata]

Thanks for reporting this! A few questions that will help troubleshoot:

1. Connection details: When you add the server in Dashboard, are you using the exact same server name (RDSDSD\ERR)? Is that a named instance?
2. Authentication: Are you using Windows Authentication or SQL Authentication? Same credentials in both Dashboard and Lite?
3. Dashboard database: Did the Installer create the PerformanceMonitor database successfully? Can you connect to it via SSMS?
4. SQL Server port: Is the SQL Server Browser service running? Named instances require it for dynamic port resolution. You can also try connecting with the explicit port: RDSDSD\ERR,<port>
5. Error timing: Does the error appear immediately, or after a delay (like a timeout)?

The key difference between Lite and Dashboard is that Lite connects directly to your SQL Server's DMVs, while Dashboard needs the PerformanceMonitor database that the Installer sets up. If the Installer ran against a different instance or the database wasn't created, Dashboard won't be able to connect.

Can you confirm the Installer completed without errors and that you can see the PerformanceMonitor database on that instance?

[bharathVelakaturi]

Thank you Erik for your response.

Yes. I'm giving the named instance name when adding it to Dashboard and i tried both(windows and SQL) authentication methods to login. Whereas lite i was able to connect using both. And, yes installer was able to create the database successfully with out any issues, I'm trying with 1433 for my dev servers, the error appears after sometime.

Thanks
Bharath.

[erikdarlingdata]

Thanks for the follow-up, Bharath!

A couple things that might help narrow this down:

1. Port 1433 + named instance: Since you're using a named instance (RDSDSD\ERR), port 1433 is typically reserved for the default instance. Named instances use dynamic ports unless you've explicitly configured a static port. You can check the port in SQL Server Configuration Manager under SQL Server Network Configuration > Protocols for ERR > TCP/IP > IP Addresses > IPAll > TCP Dynamic Ports. If there's a dynamic port listed (e.g., 51432), try connecting with RDSDSD\ERR,<port> in Dashboard.

2. The PerformanceMonitor database: The key difference between Lite and Dashboard is that Dashboard connects to the PerformanceMonitor database (created by the Installer), while Lite connects directly to master. Can you confirm in SSMS that the PerformanceMonitor database exists on RDSDSD\ERR and that your login has access to it?

3. Encryption setting: What encryption mode are you using in the Dashboard Add Server dialog? If it's set to "Mandatory" (the default) and the named instance doesn't have a trusted certificate, try switching to "Optional" and checking "Trust server certificate." Lite might have been configured with different encryption settings.

My best guess is either the port issue (#1) or the encryption setting (#3), since those are the most common causes when Lite connects fine but Dashboard doesn't.

[erikdarlingdata]

Correction on my previous comment — a database that was successfully created by the Installer isn't going to be in a partial state. If CREATE DATABASE worked, it's there.

Looking at the code more carefully, the important difference is:

• Installer connects to master on RDSDSD\ERR — this worked
• Lite connects to master — this also worked
• Dashboard connects to the PerformanceMonitor database — this times out

But a different InitialCatalog wouldn't cause a timeout — it would connect to the instance and then return a quick error if the database didn't exist or had permission issues. A timeout means the TCP connection itself isn't being established.

So a couple more questions:

1. Are you running Dashboard on the same machine as SQL Server, or from a different workstation? If the Installer and Lite ran locally on the SQL Server box, named pipes would work automatically. Dashboard from a remote machine would need TCP and proper port resolution for the named instance.
2. What encryption and trust certificate settings did you use in the Dashboard Add Server dialog? All three tools default to Mandatory encryption — if the Installer was run with --encrypt=optional or --trust-cert, that could explain why it connected and Dashboard doesn't.

[bharathVelakaturi]

Hi Erik,

Thank you for the quick response.

I’m still encountering the same error. My setup uses a named instance with the default port. I did not face any issues when connecting from Lite.

Currently, I’m running all three components (Performance Monitor Lite, Performance Installer, and Dashboard) on the same instance for testing purposes. However, I plan to implement this on a dedicated monitoring instance in the future for the SQL Servers I manage.

I’m using --encrypt=optional when attempting to add the server in both Lite and the Performance Installer.

Please let me know if I’m missing anything.

Thanks
Bharath.

[erikdarlingdata]

Hi Bharath,

Thanks for the follow-up. A few things I want to clarify from your response:

1. "Default port": Named instances don't use port 1433 by default — that's the default instance's port. A named instance (RDSDSD\ERR) gets a dynamic port assigned by SQL Server. Can you check the actual port in SQL Server Configuration Manager > SQL Server Network Configuration > Protocols for ERR > TCP/IP > IP Addresses > IPAll? There will be either a "TCP Dynamic Ports" or "TCP Port" value.

2. Dashboard encryption settings: You mentioned --encrypt=optional for Lite and the Installer, but what settings did you use in the Dashboard "Add Server" dialog? Dashboard has its own Encryption dropdown and "Trust server certificate" checkbox. These are set per-server in the Dashboard UI and are separate from how the Installer was configured.

3. Quick test: Can you try adding the server in Dashboard using the explicit port? Format: RDSDSD\ERR,<port> (with the actual port number from step 1), encryption set to "Optional", and "Trust server certificate" checked.

Since all three are running on the same box and Lite works fine, this is almost certainly a connection string difference between how Lite and Dashboard are configured.

[erikdarlingdata]

One more thing — can you open SSMS, connect to RDSDSD\ERR, and confirm you can open and query the PerformanceMonitor database with the same credentials you're using in Dashboard? Just a simple SELECT 1 would confirm there's no permissions issue.

[bharathVelakaturi]

Erik,

I configured the SQL Server authentication account on the instance where the Performance Monitor database is hosted. I then tried adding the named instance using ,1433, and it worked fine.

If I want to monitor additional servers, do I need to have the Performance Dashboard database on those remote servers as well?

My understanding is that this is a single database that can monitor multiple servers, provided I have a valid SQL/Windows account with the necessary connectivity and permissions. Please let me know if that’s correct.

Thanks
Bharath.

[erikdarlingdata]

Glad the explicit port fixed it!

On your question — no, it's one PerformanceMonitor database per server you want to monitor. The Installer needs to run against each server individually. It creates the database, deploys the community scripts, and sets up SQL Agent jobs that collect data locally on that server.

Dashboard then connects to each server's PerformanceMonitor database to read the collected data. You add each server in the Dashboard UI and it queries them independently.

This is covered in the README if you want more detail on the setup.