Filetable is one of the new features shipped with SQL Server 2012. I have discussed its core functionality earlier in my articles. Today, I was trying to open one of the filetables using Explorer File Table Directory and it gave me given below error message.
Let me explain the error and its solution in detail.
Error Message: The File location cannot be opened. Either access is not enabled or you do not have permissions for the same.
Solution:
If you look at the error description, it seems that either your access to this filetable is not enabled by the administrator or you do not have the permission to access this filetable. And I am a bit surprised because I logged in as an administrator, what next then ?
Let me explain the solution step by step.
Step 1 :
Click on the Start >>All Programs >>Microsoft SQL Server 2012 >>Configuration Tools >> SQL Server Configuration Manager, as shown in the image below.
Step 2 :
Once you click on SQL Server configuration manager, it will open SQL Server configuration manager options. It has two panes. Now you need to select SQL Server Services from the left hand pane and select the SQL Server Instance, right click on it and select Properties as shown in the image below.
Step 3 :
Once you select the Properties, it will open SQL Server Properties dialogue box. Now you need to find FILESTREAM Tab and select it.
Once you select it, you will find given below options as shown in the image.
- Enable FILESTREAM for Transact-SQL access.
- Enable FILESTREAM for file I/O access.
- Allow remote clients to have streaming access to FILESTREAM data.
As you can see, the 2nd option (Enable FILESTREAM for file I/O access) has NOT been ENABLED and due to this reason, you cannot access filtable from SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). Just enable this option and click Apply as shown in the picture below.
Step 4 :
Once you are done with SQL Server Configuration Manager, open SQL Server Management Studio and go to the same filetable and open it using Explorer FileTable Directory. This time it will not give you this error.
The error will still be there if youre not an admin.
For your Users you need to grant “Control” permission on the Filetable to avoid this error. They might need SELECT permissons as well 🙂
Not really useful since the author does not distinguish between using SSMS locally or remotely. Most problems occur using SSMS remotely!