Create SQL Server Alias – CliConfg.exe

If you are working with a number of SQL Server instances (or have really complex server/instance names!), you may already be familiar with aliases and using it to connect to instances. We create aliases for instances using SQL Server Configuration Manager.

However, SQL Server Configuration Manager is not shipped with OS and it will not be available on client machines.

To define an alias on a client machine, you can use the classic SQL Server Client Network Utility. You can launch this by going to Start > Run > CliConfg.exe

CliConfg.exe provides same functionality with a slightly different interface.

If you check "Dynamically determine port", make sure that SQL Server Browser is running on the server.