SSIS - File system task, Create directory error

Question

I got an error after running a SSIS package that has worked for a long time. The error was thrown in a task used to create a directory (like this http://blogs.lessthandot.com/wp-content/uploads/blogs/DataMgmt/ssis_image_05.gif) and says "Cannot create because a file or directory with the same name already exists", but I am sure the directory or a file with the same name didn´t exist.
Before throwing error, the task created a file with no extension named as the expected directory. The file has a modified date more than 8 hours prior to the created date wich is weird.

I checked the date in the server and it is correct. I also tried running the package again and it worked.

What happened?

Answer 1

It sounds like some other process or person made a mistake in that directory and created a file that then blocked your SSIS package's directory create command, not a problem within your package.

Did you look at the security settings of the created file? It might have shown an owner that wasn't the credentials your SSIS package runs under. That won't help if you have many packages or processes that all run under the same credentials, but it might provide useful information.

What was in the file? The contents might provide a clue how it got there.

Did any other packages/processes have errors or warnings within a half day of your package's error? Maybe it was the result of another error. that you could locate through the logs of the other process.

Did your process fail to clean up after itself on the last run?

Does that directory get deleted at the start of your package run, at the end of your package run, or at the end of the run of the downstream consumer of the directory contents? If your package deletes it at the beginning, then something that slows the delete could present a race condition that normally resolves satisfactorily (the delete finishes before the create starts) but once in a while goes the wrong way.

Were you (or anyone) making a copy or scan of the directory in question? Sometimes copy programs (i.e. FTP) or scanning programs (anti virus, PII scans) can make a temporary copy of a large item being processed (i.e. that directory) and maybe it got interrupted and left the temp copy behind.

If it's not repeatable then finding out for sure what happened is tough, but if it happens again try exploring the above. Also, if you can afford to, you might want to increase logging. It takes more CPU and disk space and makes reviewing logs slower, but temporarily increasing log details can help isolate a problem like that.

Good luck!