When connecting to Sage Taxation, Sage Corporation Tax or Sage Practice Solution, the following message may appear:

To resolve this, you should add SQL to the firewall on the PC where the message appears. The easiest way to allow SQL Server access through a firewall is to add the port numbers detailed to the firewall on the server PC.

As your firewall forms an essential part of your computer or network's security, it's also responsible for safeguarding not only your Sage data, but also the data of any other systems you may use in your practice, so if you're uncertain, it may be best to speak to your local IT before proceeding as we won't be able to configure your firewall for you.

If you are unable to add exceptions to a third-party firewall, or if the local group policy prevents you from adding exceptions to the Windows firewall, please consult your local IT support and advise that they need to arrange for the following exceptions to be added to the firewall on your SQL server.

Configure the Windows firewall

Even if the Windows firewall is turned off on the server, it can still block connections for certain services

To add these exceptions, please run through the following:-

1. On your SQL server select Start and type 'cmd' into the search box.
2. After a moment, cmd.exe will appear in the list.
3. Right-click on cmd.exe and select 'Run as administrator'.
4. If you are prompted with a User Account Prompt stating "Do you want to allow the following program to make changes to your computer?" please select yes to this prompt.
5. Highlight the commands contained below, right click and select copy.
6. In the command prompt window, right-click and select paste, then press the enter key on the last line.

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Sage Taxation 1433" dir=in action=allow protocol=TCP localport=1433

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Sage Taxation 1433" dir=out action=allow protocol=TCP localport=1433

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Sage Taxation 1434" dir=in action=allow protocol=UDP localport=1434

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Sage Taxation 1434" dir=out action=allow protocol=UDP localport=1434

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Sage Taxation 31415" dir=in action=allow protocol=UDP localport=31415

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Sage Taxation 31415" dir=out action=allow protocol=UDP localport=31415

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Sage Taxation 31415" dir=in action=allow protocol=TCP localport=31415

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Sage Taxation 31415" dir=out action=allow protocol=TCP localport=31415

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Sage Taxation 31416" dir=in action=allow protocol=UDP localport=31416

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Sage Taxation 31416" dir=out action=allow protocol=UDP localport=31416

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Sage Taxation 31416" dir=in action=allow protocol=TCP localport=31416

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Sage Taxation 31416" dir=out action=allow protocol=TCP localport=31416

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="File sharing 137-139" dir=out action=allow protocol=TCP localport=137-139

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="File sharing 137-139" dir=in action=allow protocol=TCP localport=137-139

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="File sharing 445" dir=out action=allow protocol=TCP localport=445

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="File sharing 445" dir=in action=allow protocol=TCP localport=445

This will only configure the Windows firewall, it won't affect any third-party firewalls you may have installed.

Configure third-party firewalls

The above section covers only the built-in Windows firewall and won't configure any other manufacturer's firewalls so you may need to arrange for them to be configured manually with the following list of exceptions.

Port exceptions:

Only required if you use Sage Practice Solution

SQL Server ports apply to both inbound and outbound connections

Program exceptions:

This applies to both inbound and outbound connections and the path may vary depending on the version of SQL you're using and the instance name (SAGESPS in the examples below)

If you're adding program exceptions, you will need to add at least two, one for SQL browser and one for the SQL server executable

If you've installed SQL to a different location (e.g. another hard drive) you'll need to amend these paths accordingly.

When using SPS add the following folder exceptions into the firewall and antivirus