How to determine if the authentication type is Kerberos
This article provides a query to help you determine the type of authentication that's used when you connect to Microsoft SQL Server. Make sure that you run the query on a client computer, not on the SQL Server that you're testing. Otherwise the query returns auth_scheme
as NTLM even if Kerberos is configured correctly. This occurs because of a per-service SID security hardening feature that was added in Windows 2008. This feature forces all local connections to use NTLM regardless of whether Kerberos is available.
SELECT auth_scheme FROM sys.dm_exec_connections WHERE session_id=@@SPID
Use SQL Server Management Studio
Run the following query in SQL Server Management Studio:
SELECT c.session_id, c.net_transport, c.encrypt_option,
c.auth_scheme, s.host_name, @@SERVERNAME as "remote_name",
s.program_name, s.client_interface_name, s.login_name,
s.nt_domain, s.nt_user_name, s.original_login_name,
c.connect_time, s.login_time
FROM sys.dm_exec_connections AS c
JOIN sys.dm_exec_sessions AS s ON c.session_id = s.session_id
WHERE c.session_id=@@SPID
Use the command line
Run the following query at a command prompt:
C:\Temp>sqlcmd -S SQLProd01 -E -Q "select auth_scheme from sys.dm_exec_connections where session_id=@@SPID"
auth_scheme
----------------------------------------
NTLM
(1 rows affected)
Alternative method
If either of the previous options aren't available, consider using the following alternative procedure:
Copy the following script into a text editor, such as Notepad, and save it as getAuthScheme.vbs:
' Auth scheme VB script. ' Run on a client machine, not the server. ' If you run locally, you will always get NTLM even if Kerberos is properly enabled. ' ' USAGE: CSCRIPT getAuthScheme.vbs tcp:SQLProd01.contoso.com,1433 ' explicitly specify DNS suffix, protocol, and port # ('tcp' must be lower case) ' USAGE: CSCRIPT getAuthScheme.vbs SQLProd01 ' let the driver figure out the DNS suffix, protocol, and port # ' Dim cn, rs, s s = WScript.Arguments.Item(0) ' get the server name from the command-line Set cn = createobject("adodb.connection") ' ' Various connection strings depending on the driver/Provider installed on your machine ' SQLOLEDB is selected as it is on all windows machines, but may have limitations, such as lack of TLS 1.2 support ' Choose a newer provider or driver if you have it installed. ' cn.open "Provider=SQLOLEDB;Data Source=" & s & ";Initial Catalog=master;Integrated Security=SSPI" ' On all Windows machines 'cn.open "Provider=SQLNCLI11;Data Source=" & s & ";Initial Catalog=master;Integrated Security=SSPI" ' Newer 'cn.open "Provider=MSOLEDBSQL;Data Source=" & s & ";Initial Catalog=master;Integrated Security=SSPI" ' Latest, good for SQL 2012 and newer 'cn.open "Driver={ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server};Server=" & s & ";Database=master;Trusted_Connection=Yes" ' Latest ' ' Run the query and display the results ' set rs = cn.Execute("select auth_scheme from sys.dm_exec_connections where session_id=@@SPID") WScript.Echo "Auth scheme: " & rs(0) rs.close cn.close
Run the getAuthScheme.vbs PowerShell script at a command prompt:
C:\Temp>cscript getAuthScheme.vbs SQLProd01
You should see the following output:
Microsoft (R) Windows Script Host Version 5.812 Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Auth scheme: NTLM
Use PowerShell
You can use PowerShell to test the SqlClient .NET provider to try to isolate the issue from your application:
Copy the following script into a text editor, such as Notepad, and save it as get-SqlAuthScheme.ps1.
Run the following script at a command prompt:
#------------------------------- # # get-SqlAuthScheme.ps1 # # PowerShell script to test a System.Data.SqlClient database connection # # USAGE: .\get-SqlAuthScheme tcp:SQLProd01.contoso.com,1433 ' explicitly specify DNS suffix, protocol, and port # ('tcp' must be lower case) # USAGE: .\get-SqlAuthScheme SQLProd01 ' let the driver figure out the DNS suffix, protocol, and port # # #------------------------------- param ([string]$server = "localhost") Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted-Scope CurrentUser $connstr = "Server=$server;Database=master;Integrated Security=SSPI" [System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection] $conn = New-Object System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection $conn.ConnectionString = $connstr [System.DateTime] $start = Get-Date $conn.Open() [System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand] $cmd = New-Object System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand $cmd.CommandText = "select auth_scheme from sys.dm_exec_connections where session_id=@@spid" $cmd.Connection = $conn $dr = $cmd.ExecuteReader() $result = $dr.Read() $auth_scheme = $dr.GetString(0) $conn.Close() $conn.Dispose() [System.DateTime] $end = Get-Date [System.Timespan] $span = ($end - $start) "End time: " + $end.ToString("M/d/yyyy HH:mm:ss.fff") "Elapsed time was " + $span.Milliseconds + " ms." "Auth scheme for " + $server + ": " + $auth_scheme
You should see the following output:
C:\temp> .\get-sqlauthscheme sqlprod01
End time: 10/26/2020 18:00:24.753
Elapsed time was 0 ms.
Auth scheme for sqlprod01: NTLM