By default SQL Server listens on TCP port number 1433, and for named instances TCP port is dynamically configured. There are several options available to get the listening port for SQL Server Instance.

Here are a few methods which we can use to get this information.

Method 1: SQL Server Configuration Manager

Method 2: Windows Event Viewer

Method 3: SQL Server Error Logs

Method 4: sys.dm_exec_connections DMV

Method 5: Reading registry using xp_instance_regread

Let's see how you can use each of these methods in detail:

Method 1: SQL Server Configuration Manager:

Step 1. Click Start > All Programs > Microsoft SQL Server 2012 > Configuration Tools > SQL Server Configuration Manager

Step 2. Go to SQL Server Configuration Manager > SQL Server Network Configuration > Protocols for <Instance Name>

Step 3. Right Click on TCP/IP and select Properties

Step 4. In TCP/IP Properties dialog box, go to IP Addresses tab and scroll down to IPAll group.

If SQL Server if configured to run on a static port it will be available in TCP Port textbox, and if it is configured on dynamic port then current port will be available in TCP Dynamic Ports textbox. Here my instance is listening on port number 61499.

Method 2: Windows Event Viewer:

When SQL Server is started it logs an event message as 'Server is listening on [ 'any' <ipv4> <port number>' in windows event logs. Here <port number> will be actual port number on which SQL Server is listening.

To view this using Event Viewer:

Step 1. Click Start > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer.

Note: If Administrative Tools are not available on Start menu, go to Start > Control Panel > System and Maintenance > Administrative Tools > View event logs

Step 2. Navigate to Event Viewer > Windows Logs > Application

Step 3. Since huge amount of event are logged, you need to use filtering to locate the required logs. Right click on Application and select Filter Current Log...

Step 4. You can filter the events by Event ID and Event source. The event we are interested in has Event ID of 26022, and it's source is SQL Server Instance. You need to filter by both Event ID and SQL Server Instance if you have multiple instances installed, for a single instance you can filter by Event ID only. Click on OK to apply the filter.

Step 5. Once the filter is applied, Locate message 'Server is listening on [ 'any' <ipv4> …'. As we can see from below screenshot that SQL Server Instance is running on TCP Port 61499.

Method 3: SQL Server Error Logs:

When SQL Server is started it also logs an message to SQL Server Error Logs. You can search for port number in SQL Server Error Logs by opening SQL Server Error Log in notepad or via T-SQL using extended stored procedure xp_ReadErrorLog as below:

EXEC xp_ReadErrorLog 0, 1, N'Server is listening on', N'any', NULL, NULL, 'DESC'

GO

Result Set:

LogDate                  ProcessInfo Text

2013-03-21 13:34:40.610  spid18s     Server is listening on [ 'any' <ipv4> 61499].

2013-03-21 13:34:40.610  spid18s     Server is listening on [ 'any' <ipv6> 61499].

(2 row(s) affected)

As we can see from the output that SQL Server Instance is listening on 61499.

Note: This method does not work if SQL Server Error Logs have been cycled. See sp_Cycle_ErrorLog for more information.

Method 4: sys.dm_exec_connections DMV:

DMVs return server state that can be used to monitor SQL Server Instance. We can use sys.dm_exec_connections DMV to identify the port number SQL Server Instance is listening on using below T-SQL code:

SELECT local_tcp_port

FROM   sys.dm_exec_connections

WHERE  session_id = @@SPID

GO

Result Set:

local_tcp_port

61499

(1 row(s) affected)

As we can see from the output… same as above

Method 5: Reading registry using xp_instance_regread:

Port number can also be retrieved from Windows Registry database.

We can use extended stored procedure xp_instance_regread to get port number information using below T-SQL code:

DECLARE       @portNumber   NVARCHAR(10)

EXEC   xp_instance_regread

@rootkey    = 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE',

@key        =

'Software\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQLServer\SuperSocketNetLib\Tcp\IpAll',

@value_name = 'TcpDynamicPorts',

@value      = @portNumber OUTPUT

SELECT [Port Number] = @portNumber

GO

Result Set:

Port Number

61499

(1 row(s) affected)

As we can see … same as above  

Note: The above code will only work if SQL Server is configured to use dynamic port number. If SQL Server is configured on a static port, we need to use @value_name = 'TcpPort' as opposed to @value_name = 'TcpDynamicPorts'.

Hope This Helps!

Vishal

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Filed under: Management Views and Functions, SQL Configuration, SQLServer, SQLServer 2005, SQLServer 2008, SQLServer 2008 R2, SQLServer 2012, Undocumented Functions