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SkanUSAutomation's avatar
SkanUSAutomation
Occasional Reader
Nov 14, 2025

Error Locating Server/Instance Specified - Tried everything I can find

Hello SQL experts,

I am sort of at my wits end at this point and was hoping someone from the community could help me, I have referenced several discussions on this community and still have not found a solution that worked for my situation.

I am trying to set up a automatic backup solution for a SQL Express Server so I can't use the SQL Agent to schedule a backup. Below is a batch script for sqlcmd I am trying to use to create the backup and as soon as I have it working, I plan on scheduling it as a task that will be executed weekly. I have also included the SQL query that works just fine when run from inside SSMS and creates the backup as expected. 

Batch file script:

Echo off
REM ================================================================
REM BackupDatabase.bat
REM ================================================================

REM --- Configuration ---
SET SERVER_NAME=.\FTVIEWX64_SRSS
SET USER_NAME=xxxxxx
SET PASSWORD=xxxxxx
SET SQL_SCRIPT=C:\Users\Public\Documents\xxxx_BackupDatabase.sql

REM --- display timestamp ---
echo [%date% %time%] Starting database backup...

REM --- Run SQLCMD ---
sqlcmd -S %SERVER_NAME% -U %USER_NAME% -P %PASSWORD% -i "%SQL_SCRIPT%"

IF %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 0 (
    echo [%date% %time%] Backup completed successfully.
) ELSE (
    echo [%date% %time%] Backup FAILED! Error code: %ERRORLEVEL%
)

pause

 

SQL Query being used:

-- BackupDatabase.sql
DECLARE @BackupFileName NVARCHAR(255);
SET @BackupFileName = N'D:\SQLdbBackup\XXXX_' 
                      + CONVERT(VARCHAR(8), GETDATE(), 112) 
                      + N'.bak';

BACKUP DATABASE XXXX
TO DISK = @BackupFileName
WITH NOFORMAT, NOINIT,
     NAME = N'Full Backup of XXXX',
     SKIP, NOREWIND, NOUNLOAD, STATS = 10;
GO

When I run the batch file I get this in the sqlcmd window as an error code:

 

The necessary services all seem to be running fine as you can see below:

 

The sqlcmd version is as follows:

SQL server version is as follows:

Connections for the server are configured as follows:

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated so I can resolve the issue and get regular backups scheduled for this server.


Thanks and Kind Regards,

Dan

 

1 Reply

  • Hi Dan, your code looks okay for me by flying over. The SQL Server Browser is running. 

    So the error is because sqlcmd can’t find the instance or can’t authenticate it.  

    The instance name has a typo. The Instance name is SSRS at the end and you have SRSS _> this should fix it. 

    If not check:

    You are using SQL Auth may only Windows Auth is allowed? 

    Check if network/firewall blocks port 1433. 

    Best

    Basti

     

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