Change NETMON Parser Port for SQL Server

This article gives instructions for how to change the NETMON parser to recognize SQL Servers on your network that do not use port 1433. This change should only have to be made once, assuming your SQL Server machines have statically allocated ports (recommended) and you aren't adding new servers to the network. Also, add Always-On Listener port numbers if they are different than the instance port numbers.

1. Copy C:\programdata\microsoft\Network Monitor 3\NPL\NetworkMonitor Parsers\Base\tcp.npl to a folder, such as c:\temp.

2. Rename the original file to tcp.npl.old.

3. Open c:\temp\tcp.npl in Notepad and search for 1433. Make sure you set the Open dialog to show "All Files (*.*)".

4. Add additional port numbers as illustrated below:

	case 1433:   // original SQL entry
        case 6020:   // additional SQL entry
        case 6021:   // additional SQL entry

4. Save the file and copy back into the C:\programdata\microsoft\Network Monitor 3\NPL\NetworkMonitor Parsers\Base folder.

5. Run NETMON "As Administrator" to rebuild the parser.

Note: You can also edit the file in place if you run your editor "As Administrator" or give your user account explicit permissions to the Network Monitor 3 folder and let the permissions be inherited by the subfolders and files.

Note: Turn on File Name Extensions in Windows Explorer to make sure the file is not accidentally saved as tcp.npl.txt.