Fixed: BizTalk 2013 BAM tools configuration problem
The Problem
When configuring BizTalk Server 2013 RTM on a multi-computer environment you might face multiple issues that are new and did not exist in previous versions of BizTalk server. One of these issues that I faced was when the BizTalk Server and the database server are two separate servers. I was trying to configure only BAM tools and without the configuration of the BAM alerts. Of course you already know that the BAM alerts in BizTalk 2013 is using a new model of Database mail instead of SQL server 2005 notification services (finally) but it seems this caused some problems. In this scenario the configuration failed and when you open the log you see this error.
[Info] BAMTools Determining version of Microsoft SQL Server installed on server.
[Error] BAMTools Error configuring
Error determining version of Microsoft SQL Server installed on server. (Microsoft.BizTalk.Bam.CfgExtHelper.Utility)
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) (.Net SqlClient Data Provider)
The system cannot find the file specified ()
The Solution
This is a known and reported issue in BizTalk server 2013 and there are two workarounds for this issue:
1- Install SQL Server 2005 Notification services on the BizTalk server machine. (again L) I personally do not like this option as you are installing something you are not using.
2- Configure the SQL server 2012 database mail and configure both the BAM tools and BAM alerts at the same time. This is a good option if you are going to use BAM alerts but if you are not going to use it then you are configuring a feature that you will not be using.
The official and recommended solution for this is to install the already available Hot Fix for this issue. This hot fix would be automatically installed on the BizTalk server if it has internet access, but like my case where the servers does not have internet access I had to manually download and install it. Please find the download for this hot fix here.