VS2010: Could not read result repository, Named Pipes etc

I've just come across a problem with load testing on Visual Studio 2010 (which probably amounts to a RTFM issue, but who does that anyway?)

When installing the load test controller I specified the machine name as '.'. Nothing in the setup told me this would be a problem, but it was. When I then ran my tests I received the following error from Visual Studio...

For the benefit of search engines the full text is repeated below...

Could not read result repository: Could not access the load test results repository: 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).

Will display the runtime result instead of the repository result.

I checked everything. SQL Server was installed correctly, all network protocols were enabled, I could access the server remotely, but still the error persisted. After some head scratching Rob suggested I change the server name from ‘.’ to the actual name of the server…

Sure enough that did the trick. I can now read the results. Interestingly enough my previous runs were written to the database correctly, it’s just that I couldn’t read them from Visual Studio without making the above change. I’ll chalk that up to experience, good to know the problem though. I would have appreciated it if the wizard had told me that ‘.’ would cause problems down the line mind you.