Connecting to an MS SQL Instance using NodeJS (Fixing ConnectionError: Port for SQLServer not found in ServerName & Failed to connect to localhost:undefined in 15000ms)

After few debates and discussions on new technologies in the market and how to adapt to them, during the weekend I thought of exploring NodeJS and it applications. Since I spent most of my time designing data-centric applications at office, as the first step I thought of connecting to MS SQL Server using NodeJS. As a newbie to NodeJS, I went through the official documentation and managed to achieve it. However, during the course, I faced many difficulties and by referring to many of the articles, I was managed to resolve all these hurdles. So I thought of including these problems which I faced and how to overcome them. So it would be a great help to anyone who’s exploring or trying to achieve this more easily.

For this, I will be using SQL Server 2014 on an Instance (.\SQL2K14).

1. First you need to download and install NodeJS. (https://nodejs.org/en/)
2. Install MSSQL package for Node, using the following syntax: (Use windows command prompt)

   npm install mssql

3. Create a file named ‘connecttosql.js’ and include the following code:

   //We require mssql package for this sample
   var sqlcon = require('mssql');
   function GetSQLData(queryCallback){        //A callback function is taken as an argument. Once the operation is completed we will be calling this
      
       //SQL Configuration
       var config = {
           user:'###'            //SQL User Id. Please provide a valid user
           ,password:'######'    //SQL Password. Please provide a valid password
           ,server:'localhost\\SQL2K14'   
           /*
               Since my SQL is an instance I am using 'localhost\\Instance'.
               If you have SQL installed on the default instance, it should be server:'localhost'
           */
           ,database: 'master'        //You can use any database here
       }
       var connection = new sqlcon.Connection(config,function(err){
           //In case of an error print the error to the console. You can have your customer error handling
           if (err) console.log(err);
          
           //Query Database
           var dbQuery = new sqlcon.Request(connection);
           //Purposely we are delaying the results
           dbQuery.query("WAITFOR DELAY '00:00:05';SELECT * FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES",function(err,resultset){
               //In case of an error print the error to the console. You can have your customer error handling
               if (err) console.log(err);
              
               //Passing the resultset to the callback function
               queryCallback(resultset);
           })
       });
   }
   function callback (resultset){
       console.dir('Results returned and printed from the call back function');
       console.dir(resultset);
      
       //Exit the application
       console.dir('Exiting the Application');
       process.exit(0);
   }
   //Calling the function
   console.dir('Calling GetSQLData');
   GetSQLData(callback);
   /*
       Once we call this function even there's a delay to return the results
       you will see the next line printing 'Waiting for callback function to get invoked...'
   */
   console.dir('Waiting for callback function to get invoked...');

I have provided the relevant information as comments. Before running the program please make sure the following configurations on the SQL server is already done:

1. Enable TCP/IP Protocols in SQL Server Configuration Manager for both server and client

   

   Or else when running it will result an error shown below:

   { [ConnectionError: Port for SQL2K14 not found in ServerName;[YourPCName];InstanceName;SQL2K14;IsClustered;No;Version;12.0.2000.8;np;\\[YourPCName]\pipe\M
   SSQL$SQL2K14\sql\query;;]
     name: 'ConnectionError',
     message: 'Port for SQL2K14 not found in ServerName;[YourPCName];InstanceName;SQL2K14;IsClustered;No;Version;12.0.2000.8;np;\\\\[YourPCName]\\pipe\\MSSQL
   $SQL2K14\\sql\\query;;',
     code: 'EINSTLOOKUP' }
   { [ConnectionError: Connection is closed.]
     name: 'ConnectionError',
     message: 'Connection is closed.',
     code: 'ECONNCLOSED' }

2. In SQL Server Configuration Manager under SQL Server Services make sure that ‘SQL Server Browser’ service is running.

   

Or else when running the script it will result an error shown below:

{ [ConnectionError: Failed to connect to localhost:undefined in 15000ms]
  name: 'ConnectionError',
  message: 'Failed to connect to localhost:undefined in 15000ms',
  code: 'ETIMEOUT' }
{ [ConnectionError: Connection is closed.]
  name: 'ConnectionError',
  message: 'Connection is closed.',
  code: 'ECONNCLOSED' }

if the aforementioned issues are already addressed execute the above file using the following syntax in a Windows Command Window:

node connecttosql.js

You should get a similar result which is shown below:

'Calling GetSQLData'
'Waiting for callback function to get invoked...'
'Results returned and printed from the call back function'
[ { TABLE_CATALOG: 'master',
    TABLE_SCHEMA: 'dbo',
    TABLE_NAME: 'spt_fallback_db',
    TABLE_TYPE: 'BASE TABLE' },
  { TABLE_CATALOG: 'master',
    TABLE_SCHEMA: 'dbo',
    TABLE_NAME: 'spt_fallback_dev',
    TABLE_TYPE: 'BASE TABLE' },
  { TABLE_CATALOG: 'master',
    TABLE_SCHEMA: 'dbo',
    TABLE_NAME: 'spt_fallback_usg',
    TABLE_TYPE: 'BASE TABLE' },
  { TABLE_CATALOG: 'master',
    TABLE_SCHEMA: 'dbo',
    TABLE_NAME: 'spt_values',
    TABLE_TYPE: 'VIEW' },
  { TABLE_CATALOG: 'master',
    TABLE_SCHEMA: 'dbo',
    TABLE_NAME: 'spt_monitor',
    TABLE_TYPE: 'BASE TABLE' },
  { TABLE_CATALOG: 'master',
    TABLE_SCHEMA: 'dbo',
    TABLE_NAME: 'MSreplication_options',
    TABLE_TYPE: 'BASE TABLE' } ]
'Exiting the Application'

I hope this will help anyone who’s using node to connect to SQL and facing the aforementioned issues.