Sql-server – Unable to back up SQL Server databases using a maintenance plan

maintenancesql server

I am trying to create a maintenance plan that will run automatically and back up my SQL Server 2005 databases automatically.
I create a new maintenance plan and add a "Back Up Database Task", select all User databases, and choose a path to back up to.

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When I save and try to execute this plan, I get the following error message:

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Execution failed. See the maintenance plan and SQL Server Agent job history logs for details.
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Job 'Backup.Subplan_1' failed. (SqlManagerUI)

I've checked the maintenance plan log, the agent log, and just about every log file I can find and there are no entries at all to help me figure out why this is failing.

If I right-click on a specific database and select "Back Up", the task succeeds. I tried changing the plan to back up just that one database and it still failed.

I've tried running the plan with both Windows authentication and SQL Server authentication with the sa account. I also tried specifically granting the SQL Server Agent user account full privileges on the backup folder, but it still failed.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Best Answer

Check you SQL version, if SQL 2005 then you need to have SP2 for this to work w/o Integration Services. SQL 2008 requires Integration Services regardless.

Look in the default log directory for the text output of the maintenance plan log which should give you a better error than the SQL Agent: c:\program files\microsoft sql server\mssql\mssql.1\log

If not a local administrator on the machine, make sure your service account has full permissions on that backup directory