CODEWITHSUNDEEP
sql-server
olidev
olidev

Reputation: 20624

The remote procedure call failed with on MSSQL Server 2008

Recently, I have installed MSSQL Server 2008 Express.

Every time I try to enable "SQL Server Agent (SQLEXPRESS)", I got this error message:

WMI Provider Error: "The Remote procedure call failed".

I have tried to search for a solution but I have found some solutions and tried them all but It is still not working. Do you have know a good solution for this?

In addition, what is SQL Server Agent? do we really need it?

Upvotes: 8

Views: 10207

Answers (2)

Christian Specht
Christian Specht

Reputation: 36421

This is a bit strange.
One of the restrictions of the free SQL Server Express (compared to the bigger editions) is that it has no SQL Server Agent.

So you shouldn't even be able try to enable SQL Server Agent, because your edition doesn't support it!

However, I have SQL Server 2008 Express installed as well, and I never cared to take a look if the SQL Server Agent service is listed on my machine.
I just looked on my machine: it is there, it's called "SQL Server Agent (SQLEXPRESS)" exactly as yours, and I'm even able to start it.
I didn't expect that!

But it's not visible in SQL Server Management Studio, so I can't create any jobs (and I expected that).
Apparently Microsoft restricted the use of SQL Server Agent in the Express edition not by omitting the service at all, but by making it invisible in Management Studio.

So my actual answer is this:
Don't waste time by trying to start SQL Server Agent.
You don't need it to run the database, and you can't use it anyway even if you can get it to run.

Upvotes: 9

Derek
Derek

Reputation: 23228

SQL Server Agent is used for Job Scheduling, amongst other things.

If you don't know what it is, you probably don't need it ;) It's not necessary for the standard SQL Server RDBMS functionality.

I can't speak specifically to the error you're seeing.

Upvotes: 2

Related Questions