Issues with backup to a network drive

  • Hello

    I have 2 server, a SQL ETL build server and a reporting services server

    All the ETL work is performed on the ETL server

    Data is then moved to the reporting services server

    It's moved using backup and restore

    I have an issue with backing up

    Basically, I have a job with a step to backup the data to a specific network drive

    This has worked perfectly for months

    Over the weekend, I had to restart the server (ETL one)

    Now, the backups fail with, what looks like a permission issue

    Access to path ... is denied

    As far as I am aware, the step runs as 'SQL Server Agent user Service Account' (I can confirm by looking at the job step)

    Nothing has changed with security on the folder that is required

    How do I actually check permissions though

    My SQL Agent account comes up as NT SERVICE\SQLAgent$MI_SQL_SERVER

    I don't actually see this account

    Or maybe it's never been there??

    I guess the questions are:

    1. What could have caused this to stop working?

    2. How does SQL Agent access to folder security work (I didn't originally set this up)

    Thanks

    Damian.

    - Damian

  • has someone changed the run as on the job step maybe?

    running as the virtual NT SERVICE account is not recommended for services that require network access, what has changed since it last ran successfully, check share and NTFS permissions on the share itself

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    "Ya can't make an omelette without breaking just a few eggs" 😉

  • and is possible open this network device with explorer ? like folder?

    for example I have test server which is not in domain , but sometimes I need to get something from domain, so I logon to network disk with my domain account and its working.. .after restart I have to do same , login again with my domain account to network disk...

  • I've since tried to change the job owner (me, sa, NT Service/SQLAgent$MI_SQL_SERVER, back to what it was)

    No success

    Everything else about the job works fine

    Run as, for the step comes up 'SQL Server Agent Service Account' and I cannot change this

    No issues with the network drive, I can access this

    I have a backup job that runs as 'sa' on my reporting services server

    This accesses the same folder on the same network servr with no issues

    If the job runs as 'sa', how does this work as my sa account does not have access to this folder

    I suspect I have missing something obvious in my logic here but can't quite see how this works

    - Damian

  • DamianC (3/1/2016)


    No issues with the network drive, I can access this

    It's not what you can access that's important - it's what SQL Server can access. If I remember correctly, jobs owned by sysadmin logins will run under the context of the SQL Server Agent service account. If the owner isn't sysadmin, you can set up a proxy account for it to run under. However you choose to do it, the account in question needs to have the necessary access on the network location.

    John

  • I just can't see what has changed here

    Now concerned that the same will happen if I have to restart the report server

    If it's running as the service account on both servers, how is it accessing the server/folder?

    Or do service accounts have aliases or parent accounts or something else that defines the server/folder that they can access

    - Damian

  • The first thing I would try is to change SQL Server Agent to run under a domain account instead of a built-in account. I appreciate that it's frustrating that it's stopped working for no apparent reason, but I think changing the account may well fix your problem.

    John

  • ok, so I've tried the following and this still does not work

    Created a maintenance plan that performs a backup to the network folder

    Created me as a proxy user

    So, added me as 'Test User' via credentials

    Now added the Test User as a SSIS Package Execution proxy account

    Gone into the new job that the maintenance plan has created

    Made 'sa' the owner of the job (it was me)

    Amended the backup step

    Changed Run As from SQL Server Agent Service Account to the Test User previously created

    Surely this should run the job as me and use my credentials to access the specific folder (I have full permissions against it)

    - Damian

  • can you post the history from the job?

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    "Ya can't make an omelette without breaking just a few eggs" 😉

  • Is your service account locked?

    net user TheAccount /DOMAIN

  • Hmm...

    So this morning (UK) I come in and see that the job worked!

    Also, I can now perform manual backup steps to the network drive with no issues

    All things considered, I don't think I've actually done anything

    Positive that it's working

    Negative that I have absolutely no idea what caused it

    It seemed to have stopped after the service restart at the weekend and restarted at some point through the night

    Thanks for the advice

    I did find out a little more about how the sql agent works along with proxy accounts etc.

    - Damian

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