How do I connect to LocalDB in VS2017 Pro

Question

I installed SQL Server Express 2017 LocalDB, rebooted my computer, launched VS with one of my projects, selected TOOLS | Connect to Database
My choices are:
Microsoft SQL Server which always fails with:
a network-specific or instance-specific error occurred...
and
Microsoft SQL Server database file
but I do not know the name of the file

Answer 1

Hi,

You can get a list of all instances of LocalDb from the command prompt with the SqlLocalDb.exe program, which is in your PATH by default:

sqllocaldb info  

SqlLocalDB.exe is a simple tool that enables the user to easily manage LocalDB instances from the command line.

You can try to use SSMS to connect to localdb instance in (LocalDB)\LocalDBApp1 format.

The easiest way to use LocalDB is to connect to the automatic instance owned by the current user by using the connection string Server=(localdb)\MSSQLLocalDB;Integrated Security=true. To connect to a specific database by using the file name, connect using a connection string similar to Server=(LocalDB)\MSSQLLocalDB;Integrated Security=true;AttachDbFileName=D:\Data\MyDB1.mdf
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/database-engine/configure-windows/sql-server-express-localdb?view=sql-server-ver15#connect-to-the-automatic-instance

Answer 2

Try (localdb)\MSSQLSERVER.

If that does not help, open a command-line window and run sqllocaldb list to see which localdb instances you have. You may have to start them.

sqllocaldb -? gives you available commands.