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The supported Windows account types that you can use to run the SQL Server Agent service in SQL Server 2005

Article ID: 907557 - View products that this article applies to.

INTRODUCTION

SQL Server Agent is a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 component that lets you automate some administrative tasks. SQL Server Agent runs jobs, monitors SQL Server, and processes alerts.

The Microsoft Windows account types that are supported and that you can use to run the SQL Server Agent service are listed in the table in the "More information" section. Use SQL Server Configuration Manager to set the service account for SQL Server Agent.

For more information, see the "How to set the service startup account for SQL Server Agent (SQL Server Configuration Manager)" topic in SQL Server 2005 Books Online (December 2005 update).

To obtain SQL Server 2005 Books Online (December 2005 update), visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sqlserver/bb428874.aspx

(http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sqlserver/bb428874.aspx)

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MORE INFORMATION

Supported service account types

The following table lists the Windows account types that are supported and that you can use to run the SQL Server Agent service.

Collapse this tableExpand this table

Service account type	Nonclustered server	Clustered server	Domain controller (nonclustered)
Windows domain account (member of the Windows Administrators group)	Supported	Supported	Supported
Windows domain account (nonadministrative)	Supported (see limitation 1)	Supported (see limitation 1)	Supported (see limitation 1)
Network Service account (NT AUTHORITY\NetworkService)	Supported (see limitations 1, 4, and 5)	Not supported	Not supported
Local user account (nonadministrative)	Supported (see limitations 1 and 3)	Not supported	Not applicable
Local System account (NT AUTHORITY\System)	Supported (see limitation 2)	Not supported	Supported (see limitation 2)
Local Service account (NT AUTHORITY\LocalService)	Not supported	Not supported	Not supported

Limitation 1: When you use a nonadministrative account for multiple-server administration

When you use a nonadministrative account for multiple-server administration, you cannot enlist target servers to a master server, and the following error message may be logged:

"The enlist operation failed."

To resolve this problem, restart both the SQL Server service and the SQL Server Agent service.

For more information, see the following topics in SQL Server 2005 Books Online (December 2005 update):

"How to restart an instance of SQL Server (SQL Server Management Studio)"
"How to restart the SQL Server Agent service (SQL Server Management Studio)"

Limitation 2: When you use the Local System account for multiple-server administration

Multiple-server administration is supported when the SQL Server Agent service runs under the Local System account only when both the master server and the target server reside on the same computer. If you use this configuration, you receive the following message when you enlist target servers to the master server:

Ensure the agent start-up account for <target_server_computer_name> has rights to log on as targetServer.

You can safely ignore this informational message. The enlistment operation should successfully finish.
For more information, see the "Creating a multiserver environment" topic in SQL Server 2005 Books Online (December 2005 update).

Limitation 3: When you use a local user account

Jobs that use proxies will fail if the SQL Server Agent service runs under a local user account and the SQL Server service runs under a different account.

To resolve this problem, configure the SQL Server Agent service and the SQL Server service to run under the same local account, and then restart both services.

For more information, see the following topics in SQL Server 2005 Books Online (December 2005 update):

"How to change the service startup account for SQL Server (SQL Server Configuration Manager)"
"How to set the service startup account for SQL Server Agent (SQL Server Configuration Manager)"
"Setting up Windows service accounts"

Note Limitation 3 does not apply to Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1 (SP1). For more information about how to obtain SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

913089

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913089/ )

How to obtain the latest service pack for SQL Server 2005

Limitation 4: When you use the Network Service account and the Network Service account is a SQL Server user

SQL Server Agent may not start if the following conditions are true:

You configure the SQL Server Agent service to run under the Network Service account.
The Network Service account was explicitly granted access to log in to an instance of SQL Server as a SQL Server user.

To resolve this problem, restart the computer that is running SQL Server. You only have to restart the computer one time.

Limitation 5: When you use the Network Service account and SQL Server Reporting Services is running on the same computer

SQL Server Agent may not start if the following conditions are true:

You configure the SQL Server Agent service to run under the Network Service account.
SQL Server Reporting Services is also running on the same computer.

To resolve this problem, restart the computer that is running SQL Server, and then restart both the SQL Server service and the SQL Server Agent service. You only have to do this one time.

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REFERENCES

For more information about SQL Server Agent, see the "Selecting an account for SQL Server Agent service" topic in SQL Server 2005 Books Online (December 2005 update).

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