MSSQL Server 2005 reported account locked out for user 'sa'

Greetings,

I receive an error message in event log when i try to connect to the Database Server using ODBC on a client machine. The database server is running on Windows 2003 Server Standard Edition and the client machine is Windows XP Professional. Following is the error message from the event log:

2147467259 - [Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver][SQL Server]Login failed for user 'sa' because the account is currently locked out. The system administrator can unlock it.

What causes the error to occur and how to resolve it?Appreciate for your assistence.

Thanks and regards,

Viknes

That error message means that the number of unsuccessful attempts to connect as the ‘sa’ account on your server and triggered the lockout policy on SQL Server 2005 for this account.

I would recommend verifying the logs and trying to find out the reason why the account was locked out. It is possible that one of your applications is using an outdated password and it needs to be fixed, but it may also be possible it was an automated attack trying to guess the SA password.

The following links will hopefully help you to resolve your problem, but if you have any further question or if the documentation is not clear enough, please let us know:

· Password Policy (http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms161959.aspx)

· Alter Login (TSQL) (http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms189828.aspx)

· Changing password programmatically (http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms131024.aspx)

-Raul Garcia

SDE/T

SQL Server Engine

|||Also remember that SQL Server accounts can now use Windows Security policies on whiche SQL Server is running(Password complexity, password expiration, etc.) This only works for Windows Server 2003