ConEst Login Error Number 18456

Issue
When attempting to open IntelliBid you receive the following message: Login Failure Unable to connect with ConEst Login Error Number = 18456

Solution

To resolve please perform the following in the following order:

1. Go into the 'Admin Utility' for IntelliBid (under the start menu under ConEst folder) and go to 'Connections' and delete and re-add the connection. (the default 'ConEst' password is C0nest32!.

2. If the above does not resolve the issue, check that the 'ownership' for the Conest SQL Databases (CE_DATA and CE_LICENSE) are set to 'ConEst'. This is performed using SQL Management Studio and usually requires assistance from your IT Department.

3. Check to make sure that Mixed Mode authentication is enabled on your SQL Server. Open SQL server management studio express, right-click on your instance name, then click "properties." In the "Security" tab, make sure that "Server Authentication" is set to "SQL Server and Windows Authentication mode" Changing this setting will require a reset of the SQL server instance.

4. Ensure that the ConEst user is configured correctly. Open SQL server management studio express, expand the "security" folder under the instance, then expand the "logins" folder underneath that. Right-click the "ConEst" user and select properties.  On the "General" tab make sure that "enforce password policy" is checked and "Enforce password expiration" is not. In "Server Roles" make sure "bulkadmin", "processadmin", and "public" are checked. Finally in the "status" tab make sure that "enabled" is active.