Windows updates broke SQL Server with “TCP port is already in use” errors

Windows updates for Windows 7, 8, 2008 and 2012 released on July 10, 2018 caused failure of SQL Servers, with error “TCP port is already in use”. Some specific builds of Windows 10 and 2016 server were also affected.

We suspect that this might also affect other TCP/IP servers, possibly even IntraWeb SA servers. 

One of our customers reported that one of his IntraWeb applications, which has been running stable for more than 1 year, started to fail with that exact same error after a recent Windows update.

More information here: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/psssql/2018/07/26/july-10-2018-windows-updates-cause-sql-startup-issues-due-to-tcp-port-is-already-in-use-errors/

If you start receiving “TCP port is already in use” errors in one of your IntraWeb applications, please follow this procedure:

  • Check if your system has the faulty hotfix installed (see link above)
  • Install the corresponding hotfix which fixes the regression bug, if this is the case.
  • Restart your server and your application. Verify if the fix was effective.