I upgraded sql server from 2008r2 enterprise edition to 2016 enterprise edition, on same server. I detached, uninstalled 2008, installed sql 2016, reattached. Replication issues occuring...I now see I probably was suppose to drop all replication prior to starting upgrade process. I searched for what to do when upgrading the server but found no guidance on this. So now things are broke. Doesn't seem to recognize distributor/distribution db. I do have scripts for dropping and recreating all replication but when I tried to run the initial scripts to begin dropping replication (first item was drop a subscription), I get this error:
OLE DB provider "SQLNCLI11" for linked server "repl_distributor" returned message "Login timeout expired".
OLE DB provider "SQLNCLI11" for linked server "repl_distributor" returned message "A network-related or instance-specific error has occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. Server is not found or not accessible. Check
if instance name is correct and if SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. For more information see SQL Server Books Online.".
Msg 53, Level 16, State 1, Line 2
Named Pipes Provider: Could not open a connection to SQL Server [53].
I am not sure if this is simply a issue because I do not know the password for the distributor_admin. A part of my upgrade plan included recreating all the logins and linked servers
from saved scripts. I did not know the password for repl_distributor. I set it to a guessed password. When I realized there were issues after completing migration steps I tried to access distributor properties in replication but they aren't
available. I went to publication properties and changed password there to new password.
What step do I need to take to get replication going again? Will it require dropping it all, like I am thinking. If so, how do I get around issues I am seeing trying to drop replication items?