Configuring Microsoft SQL Express 2005

Microsoft SQL Express 2005 provides enterprise class database performance for free. However it does have some limitations when compared to the full version of SQL Server. But these limitations are not likely to adversely affect most PaperCut NG users. These limitations include:

This section described how to configure Microsoft SQL Express edition for use with PaperCut NG. It is assumed that SQL Server Express is already installed with the default configuration.

Once this configuration is complete, the database can be used with PaperCut NG by following the instructions in the section called “Upsizing to an External RDBMS”.

Enable TCP/IP connections

PaperCut NG uses TCP/IP to connect to the SQL Server database, but SQL Server Express does not enable TCP support by default. To enable TCP/IP:

  1. On the machine with SQL Express installed, open the SQL Server Configuration Manager.

  2. Expand the SQL Server 2005 Network Configuration node on the left.

  3. Select the Protocols for SQLEXPRESS node on the left.

  4. Right-click the TCP/IP item on the right and select Properties.

  5. On the General tab, change Enabled to Yes.

  6. On the IP Addresses tab, under the IPAll node clear the TCP Dynamic Ports field. Also enter the port to listen on in the TCP Port field. For example, 1450. Remember this port, because it needs to be used in the PaperCut NG connection string.

  7. On the OK button to save the changes.

  8. Restart the Microsoft SQL Server Express service using either the standard service control panel or the SQL Express tools.

Enable SQL Server authentication

PaperCut NG requires SQL Server authentication to be enabled on the instance of SQL Express. To do this:

  1. On the machine with SQL Express installed, open the SQL Server Management Studio Express tool.

  2. Right-click the instance of SQL Express to configure, and select Properties.

  3. Select the Security section on the left.

  4. Change the Server Authentication to SQL Server and Windows Authentication mode.

  5. Restart the Microsoft SQL Server Express service using either the standard service control panel or the SQL Express tools.

Create Database User

PaperCut NG requires a user to connect to the database. To create this user:

  1. On the machine with SQL Express installed, open the SQL Server Management Studio Express tool.

  2. Right-click the Security->Logins node, and select New Login ....

  3. Enter the username (e.g. papercut).

  4. Change the Server Authentication to SQL Server and Windows Authentication mode.

  5. Enter the user's password.

  6. Disable password expiration.

  7. On the OK button to create the user.

  8. After creating the PaperCut NG database assign this user db_owner permissions on the database, so that it can create the required database tables.

  9. To initialize the database, follow the instruction in the section called “Upsizing to an External RDBMS”.