Troubleshooting error messages can be a little tricky, especially if you’re new to the task. Here’s a good example of a job that failed without a whole lot of information as to why it failed. This was taken from the Windows Event Log/Application Log:

Log Name:      Application
Source:        SQLISPackage
Date:          7/12/2014 10:45:45 PM
Event ID:      12291
Task Category: None
Level:         Error
Keywords:      Classic
User:
Computer:
Description:   Package “Dynamics DB Integrity Check” failed.

Step 1: this error message is pointing to a job (Application/SQLISPackage) called Dynamics DB Integrity Check.Subplan, so it’s logical to start with the SQL Server Management Studio scheduled jobs. Sure enough, there’s a scheduled job with the same name in the job list, and it’s an active job.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(The jobs with the tiny red downward-pointing arrows as part of the icon have been disabled.)

Step 2: open up the job history for the job and see if there’s any additional information:

 

 

 

 

 

 

As it turns out, there isn’t, not in the main entry for the job history description or in the subplan step.

 

 

 

 

 

The clues are in the error message Source (SQLISPackage) and Description that starts with “Package …”. The job name is a clue, also – the two-part name usually indicates that this job was created by a Maintenance Plan.

Step 3: Confirm these suspicions by opening the job itself and viewing the content (you’ll have to Edit in order to see the internal configuration of the job, but don’t make any changes – and always cancel out when you’re done, never save *).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maintenance Plans are SQL Server Integration Services packages. When you save a package that you’ve just created, it creates and enables scheduled jobs which run the various tasks that comprise the maintenance package.

Step 4: go to the Maintenance Plans and check the plan named in the job step…but look!  There IS NO MAINTENANCE PLAN!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If there were maintenance plans for this SQL Server they would be listed under Legacy>Database Maintenance Plans (this is a SQL 2005 server). Obviously, there are none. Also obviously, at one time there was a maintenance plan.

Reason for the Error Message: the scheduled job is calling a non-existent maintenance plan.

Lesson Learned: when a Maintenance Plan is deleted from a SQL Server, the scheduled jobs that ran the pieces of the Plan are not also deleted. You have to remove (or disable) them separately.

Step 5: remove or disable the scheduled job. For the sake of caution, we’re going to disable the job. Highlight the job name, R-click, choose “Disable”. The result looks like this:

 

 

 

 

And those are the steps to troubleshooting an error message about a job failing to run.

* Save v. cancel: when investigating settings or parameters for live jobs or other database properties, it’s always safest to cancel out rather than save when you’re done observing. A “save” could cause changes if you inadvertently modify something in the settings, whereas a “cancel” will simply leave the settings as they were. “Save” when you intend to make changes; “cancel” when you don’t.