Microsoft SQL Server maintenance plan

On a server running Windows NT 4.0 and Microsoft SQL Server 7 I have set up a database maintenance plan through Enterprise Manager to perform backups, database consistency checks and update statistics. The job fails to start and Event ID:208 is generated within the application log component of the event viewer log. I have set the SqlServerAgent service to start as user sqlservice, a user with administrator rights and as the system account and have logged in as these accounts to run the maintenance plan jobs with the same result.

I have performed this task before on a number of servers without encountering this problem.

ThanksDoes this also occur if you:
specify the sa account or equivalent (if running mixed authentication), use local administrator equivalent accounts,
use domain administrator equivalent accounts?

Also, did you also stop and start the services following each account change?|||Originally posted by DBA
Does this also occur if you:
specify the sa account or equivalent (if running mixed authentication), use local administrator equivalent accounts,
use domain administrator equivalent accounts?

Also, did you also stop and start the services following each account change?

Have used the sa account, domain administrator equivalent account and local administrator equivalent account with same result.

Services were cycled after each change.|||This is not helpful but at this point it could possibly be an issue of maint dlls becomming corrupt / unregistered, etc., some kind of security issue, a service pack or hot fix issue (up to date?), or something else entirely. Some things to think about may include:
Do any maint jobs run? Have any ever run sucesfully? Do non-maint jobs run fine? What is common about those that do / do not? Is the server stand alone, domain member DC, etc. (what kind of domain, any domain issues going on, etc.)? You may wish to try some interactive testing, have you tried:
copying the information from each maint. job into QA and running it interactively from QA with different accounts (note successes, failures, error messages, run a profile / trace while doing so for any that do not immediatly fail.)|||Originally posted by DBA
This is not helpful but at this point it could possibly be an issue of maint dlls becomming corrupt / unregistered, etc., some kind of security issue, a service pack or hot fix issue (up to date?), or something else entirely. Some things to think about may include:
Do any maint jobs run? Have any ever run sucesfully? Do non-maint jobs run fine? What is common about those that do / do not? Is the server stand alone, domain member DC, etc. (what kind of domain, any domain issues going on, etc.)? You may wish to try some interactive testing, have you tried:
copying the information from each maint. job into QA and running it interactively from QA with different accounts (note successes, failures, error messages, run a profile / trace while doing so for any that do not immediatly fail.)

This problem has now been resolved, further research led me to discover that the sqlmaint executable on this server was missing. I do not know the reason for this however as soon as I placed a copy in the Microsoft SQL Server binn directory, I was able to successfully execute the maintenance plan jobs.

Thank you for your prompt assistance.|||RE:
This problem has now been resolved, further research led me to discover that the sqlmaint executable on this server was missing. I do not know the reason for this however as soon as I placed a copy in the Microsoft SQL Server binn directory, I was able to successfully execute the maintenance plan jobs.

Thank you for your prompt assistance.

You are welcome.

It is kind of interesting that: "the sqlmaint executable on this server was missing"; I remember some similar complaints about issues with sql maint plans failing to execute that were apparently addressed by overwriting the sqlmaint files (exe, rll, etc). That was what led me to mention that it might possibly be an issue of corrupted maint exe, rlls, etc. (makes one wonder if something, or some rarely performed process corrupts and / or deletes them).