I have 2 Virtual Machines, One with MS SQL server 2008 R2, other with MS SQL Server 2012 Express.... On 1 I have configuration for replication (publication), and I would like to setup Express version like subscriber. but I can't to connect to publisher SQL Server replication requires the actual server name to make a connection to the server. Specify the actual server name, 'XXXX'. (Replication.Utilities) I have tried to cheat and added XXXX server name to hosts file, but it dos't help. Additianlly I used to run http://www.hagrin.com/332/fixing-sql-server-replication-requires-actual-server-name-make-connection-server-error action for setup publication in correct way What I need to do for successful connection ?