Q. I'm trying to install System Center Service Manager, but when it connects to the SQL database it gives a "User does not have permission" error. I'm an Administrator on the SQL box and on the SQL Server instance.

A. Make sure you've opened the SQL box to allow remote connections. I had this error in Service Manager and it wasn't actually an authorization problem—it just couldn't connect. By default, SQL Server uses TCP port 1433 for database connections, so create a firewall exception for TCP port 1433 and try again.