SQL Server Agent reports unknown username or bad pw

  • Hello,

    When I try to start "SQL Server Agent" in SQL Server Configuration Manager I get an error, when I look in the Event log I see:

    The SQLAgent$SQL2005 service was unable to log on as MyUserAccount with the currently configured password due to the following error:

    Logon failure: unknown user name or bad password.

    However, when I try to start "SQL Server" in SQL Server Configuration Manager using the same login credentials it works just fine.

    I'm not exactly sure what the difference between these two SQL Server 2005 Services is. I found out that I had to make MyUserAccount a member of the "Backup Operators" group in order to be able to start the "SQL Server" service in SQL Server Configuration Manager, strange.

    -Eric

  • I'm sure you probably did this, but can you double check to make sure you are using the correct password for the agent service. Just paste it in there again.

  • BTW - did you go to high school in Michigan?

    I used to know a guy named Eric Goforth

  • Adam Angelini (5/16/2008)


    I'm sure you probably did this, but can you double check to make sure you are using the correct password for the agent service. Just paste it in there again.

    Yeah, I checked the password, that's what's so perplexing about it. The message seems quite clear, but I've tried copying and pasting the password in both "SQL Server Agent" and "SQL Server". In SQL Server it works in "SQL Server Agent" I get the error message in my first posting.

    I'm from North Carolina, so I'm not the guy you went to high school with.

    -Eric

  • You are using the configuration manager to set this up right? you are not doing it direcly in services, I know that can cause security issues if you do it right in the services.

  • Adam Angelini (5/16/2008)


    You are using the configuration manager to set this up right? you are not doing it direcly in services, I know that can cause security issues if you do it right in the services.

    No I'm doing it in SQL Server Configuration Manager. This is on a Windows XP Pro SP2 machine. I also have SQL 2000 (and a bunch of other stuff) installed.

  • I'm not advocating this as a permanent solution, but rather a step to narrow things down. is it possible to give the account you are using in the server agent local administrator rights on the machine and see if it starts then. If it does, then you know that account is missing a local permission it needs and we can go from there.

  • Giving it admin rights doesn't fix a bad username or password, so I would recommend against that. I know you probably have already, but re-check the keyed in username as well, especially if it's a domain account. I've made that dumb mistake too many times to count because I'm off one letter or something like that.

    Also, what kind of audit settings do you have defined in your local security policy? Depending on what has been set, there may be additional events in the Security event log on the system which may prove useful (especially if it's an account lockout situation or something along those lines).

    K. Brian Kelley
    @kbriankelley

  • K. Brian Kelley (5/17/2008)


    Giving it admin rights doesn't fix a bad username or password, so I would recommend against that. I know you probably have already, but re-check the keyed in username as well, especially if it's a domain account. I've made that dumb mistake too many times to count because I'm off one letter or something like that.

    Also, what kind of audit settings do you have defined in your local security policy? Depending on what has been set, there may be additional events in the Security event log on the system which may prove useful (especially if it's an account lockout situation or something along those lines).

    Hmmm, I'm getting the message that the event log is corrupt, when I try to view the security log.

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