Thursday, August 11, 2011

ADFS : Accessing the Windows Internal Database

 

ADFS either uses SQL Server or an WID to store all the configuration components. I’ve tried before to access the WID with no joy but then discovered that the reason why was because of the completely non-intuitive and obtuse server name which has to be:

\\.\pipe\MSSQL$MICROSOFT##SSEE\sql\query

Damn, why on earth didn’t I think of that?!

The easiest way to access it is via the free SQL Server Management Studio Express. Ignore all the talk of SQL Server 2005 Express Edition – it works for the WID.

When you connect, leave the “Server Type” as “Database Engine” and insert the above string as the “Server Name”.

Away you go – the two DB of interest are AdfsArtifactStore and ADFSConfiguration.

Enjoy!