• Does WhatsUp Gold support using Windows Authentication for its connection to SQL?
• Does the account WhatsUp Gold uses for SQL connectivity have to be SQL Authentication only or can we use a Windows Domain Account?
• During the installation at the time when Windows Account dialogue appears the user is shown: domain\user (logged in server) this is grayed out so unable to modify user and after we typed in password a pop-up box for Password authentication failed is shown although password is correct.

WhatsUp Gold does support Windows Authentication for SQL during both fresh installs and upgrades, but only under specific conditions and with important side effects.

During installation, if you choose ‘Advanced Installation’ and the option to select an existing SQL instance (local or remote), when you get to the SQL Server Information screen, ‘Use Windows Authentication’ will be an option. If this option is enabled, the Login Name and Password are not required. However, the user logged in at the time of installation must be a system administrator on the specified SQL Server to proceed without generating an error.

See Also: WhatsUp Gold Installation Guide, section Advanced installation: Install WhatsUp Gold using an existing SQL Server instance

1. When the option appears in the installer

The “Use Windows Authentication” option is only shown when:

• You choose Advanced installation, and
• You select Use an existing SQL Server instance (local or remote)

If you instead let the installer deploy SQL Express automatically, Windows Authentication is not available, and the installer will require the SQL ‘sa’ password for that instance.

2. What actually happens when Windows Authentication is selected

If Windows authentication is chosen during install or upgrade:

• The currently logged‑in Windows user running the installer:
  • Is added as a SQL Server login (if not already present)
  • Becomes the owner of all WhatsUp Gold databases
• The following components are reconfigured to run as that same Windows account:
  • IIS Application Pool: NmConsole
  • Ipswitch Service Control Manager service
• The installer will prompt for that Windows account’s password
  • This password is stored in:
    • IIS App Pool identity configuration
    • Windows service “Log on as” configuration

All of this is enforced automatically by the installer. 

3. Account requirements (this is where most failures happen)

The Windows account used must:

• Be a local administrator on:
  • The WhatsUp Gold server
  • The SQL Server (if remote)
• Have sufficient SQL permissions to:
  • Create or upgrade databases
  • Own the WhatsUp Gold databases
• Be the same account used to:
  • Log into the WUG server
  • Access the SQL Server (if separate)

Progress Support cannot assist with configuring SQL for Windows Authentication. That must already be correctly set on the SQL side before running the installer.