java.sql.SQLException: No suitable driver found for jdbc:microsoft:sqlserver

I'm getting this exception when I try to run this program. It's one of the Microsoft examples. I've added the sqljdbc4.jar to the classpath in netbeans for both compile and Run, via the project properties. I also tested that the class could be found by using an import statement below - no error during compile, so it must be finding the jar.

Could it be related to a dll or some sql dll that the sqldbc4.jar references?

This is the exact exception, and below is the exact code, except for password.

Exception:

run:
java.sql.SQLException: No suitable driver found for jdbc:microsoft:sqlserver://localhost:1433;databaseName=HealthCareDatabase
Error Trace in getConnection() : No suitable driver found for jdbc:microsoft:sqlserver://localhost:1433;databaseName=HealthCareDatabase
Error: No active Connection
	at java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(DriverManager.java:602)
	at java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(DriverManager.java:185)
	at javaapplication1.Connect.getConnection(Connect.java:35)
	at javaapplication1.Connect.displayDbProperties(Connect.java:50)
	at javaapplication1.JavaApplication1.main(JavaApplication1.java:23)
BUILD SUCCESSFUL (total time: 1 second)

Code:

 package javaapplication1;
import com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerDriver;

import java.*;

public class Connect {

    private java.sql.Connection con = null;
    private final String url = "jdbc:microsoft:sqlserver://";
    private final String serverName = "localhost";
    private final String portNumber = "1433";
    private final String databaseName = "HealthCareDatabase";
    private final String userName = "larry";
    private final String password = "xxxxxxx";
  
    // Constructor
    public Connect() {
    }

    private String getConnectionUrl() {
        return url + serverName + ":" + portNumber + ";databaseName=" + databaseName ;
    }

    private java.sql.Connection getConnection() {
        try {
            Class.forName("com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerDriver");
            con = java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(getConnectionUrl(), userName, password);
            if (con != null) {
                System.out.println("Connection Successful!");
            }
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
            System.out.println("Error Trace in getConnection() : " + e.getMessage());
        }
        return con;
    }

    public void displayDbProperties() {
        java.sql.DatabaseMetaData dm = null;
        java.sql.ResultSet rs = null;
        try {
            con = this.getConnection();
            if (con != null) {
                dm = con.getMetaData();
                System.out.println("Driver Information");
                System.out.println("\tDriver Name: " + dm.getDriverName());
                System.out.println("\tDriver Version: " + dm.getDriverVersion());
                System.out.println("\nDatabase Information ");
                System.out.println("\tDatabase Name: " + dm.getDatabaseProductName());
                System.out.println("\tDatabase Version: " + dm.getDatabaseProductVersion());
                System.out.println("Avalilable Catalogs ");
                rs = dm.getCatalogs();
                while (rs.next()) {
                    System.out.println("\tcatalog: " + rs.getString(1));
                }
                rs.close();
                rs = null;
                closeConnection();
            } else {
                System.out.println("Error: No active Connection");
            }
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
        dm = null;
    }

    private void closeConnection() {
        try {
            if (con != null) {
                con.close();
            }
            con = null;
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        Connect myDbTest = new Connect();
        myDbTest.displayDbProperties();
    }

}

Your URL should be jdbc:sqlserver://server:port;DatabaseName=dbname
and Class name should be like com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerDriver
Use MicrosoftSQL Server JDBC Driver 2.0

Following is a simple code to read from SQL database. Database names is "database1". Table name is "table1". It contain two columns "uname" and "pass". Dont forget to add "sqljdbc4.jar" to your project. [Download sqljdbc4.jar][1]

[1]: http://www.java2s.com/Code/Jar/s/Downloadsqljdbc420jar.htm "Download sqljdbc4.jar"

public class NewClass {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        Connection conn = null;
        String dbName = "database1";
        String serverip="192.168.100.100";
        String serverport="1433";
        String url = "jdbc:sqlserver://"+serverip+"\\SQLEXPRESS:"+serverport+";databaseName="+dbName+"";
        Statement stmt = null;
        ResultSet result = null;
        String driver = "com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerDriver";
        String databaseUserName = "admin";
        String databasePassword = "root";
        try {
            Class.forName(driver).newInstance();
            conn = DriverManager.getConnection(url, databaseUserName, databasePassword);
            stmt = conn.createStatement();
            result = null;
            String pa,us;
            result = stmt.executeQuery("select * from table1 ");
         
            while (result.next()) {
                us=result.getString("uname");
                pa = result.getString("pass");              
                System.out.println(us+"  "+pa);
            }

            conn.close();
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

For someone looking to solve same by using maven. Add below dependency in POM:

<dependency>
	<groupId>com.microsoft.sqlserver</groupId>
	<artifactId>mssql-jdbc</artifactId>
	<version>7.0.0.jre8</version>
</dependency>

And use below code for connection:

String connectionUrl = "jdbc:sqlserver://localhost:1433;databaseName=master;user=sa;password=your_password";

try {
	System.out.print("Connecting to SQL Server ... ");
	try (Connection connection = DriverManager.getConnection(connectionUrl))        {
		System.out.println("Done.");
    }
} catch (Exception e) {
	System.out.println();
	e.printStackTrace();
}

Look for this link for other CRUD type of queries.

I was having the same error, but had a proper connection string. My problem was that the driver was not being used, therefore was optimized out of the compiled war.

Be sure to import the driver:

import com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerDriver;

And then to force it to be included in the final war, you can do something like this:

Class.forName("com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerDriver");

That line is in the original question. This will also work:

SQLServerDriver driver = new SQLServerDriver();

You can try like below with sqljdbc4-2.0.jar:

 public void getConnection() throws ClassNotFoundException, SQLException, IllegalAccessException, InstantiationException {
        Class.forName("com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerDriver").newInstance();
        String url = "jdbc:sqlserver://<SERVER_IP>:<PORT_NO>;databaseName=" + DATABASE_NAME;
        Connection conn = DriverManager.getConnection(url, USERNAME, PASSWORD);
        System.out.println("DB Connection started");
        Statement sta = conn.createStatement();
        String Sql = "select * from TABLE_NAME";
        ResultSet rs = sta.executeQuery(Sql);
        while (rs.next()) {
            System.out.println(rs.getString("COLUMN_NAME"));
        }
    }