Question

Which authentication method should I use to connect to the BarTender System Database?

Answer

The preferred authentication method is to make use of SQL Server Authentication.

If you plan to install BarTender on several computers, and each computer is going to be making use of different Windows credentials for working with BarTender and its companion applications, having a single account for communicating with the BarTender System Database is preferred, and therefore you should be choosing SQL Server Authentication. 

In order to make use of SQL Server Authentication you need a series of pre-requisites on your PC:

• SQL Server Management Studio needs to be installed.
• Change the security mode in SQL Server Management Studio:
  • In SQL Server Management Studio Object Explorer, right-click the server, and then click Properties.
  • On the Security page, under Server authentication, select mixed mode authentication mode, and then click OK.
  • In the SQL Server Management Studio dialog box, click OK to acknowledge the requirement to restart SQL Server.
  • In Object Explorer, right-click your server, and then click Restart. If SQL Server Agent Windows Service is running, it must also be restarted.
• If you select Mixed Mode Authentication during setup, you must provide and then confirm a strong password for the built-in SQL Server system administrator account named sa. The sa account connects by using SQL Server Authentication.

** When using SQL Server Authentication, logins are created in SQL Server that are not based on Windows user accounts. Both the user name and the password are created by using SQL Server and stored in SQL Server