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Error message when you run the Distribution Agent in SQL Server 2008 or in SQL Server 2008 R2: "The distribution agent failed to create temporary files"

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Symptoms

On an instance of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 or of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 that is installed on a Windows Server 2008-based computer, you configure a transactional publication. You use the "Distribution Profile for OLEDB streaming" profile for the Distribution Agent. When you run the Distribution Agent, you receive the following error message:
The distribution agent failed to create temporary files in C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\COM directory. System returned errorcode 5.

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Cause

When you use the "Distribution Profile for OLEDB streaming" profile for the Distribution Agent or you use OLEDB streaming in a custom profile, the Distribution Agent creates temporary files in the following directory:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\COM
If the account that is running SQL Server Agent does not have write access to the COM folder, the Distribution Agent will fail when it is running as a job. If you run the Distribution Agent from a command line by using an account that does not have write access to the COM folder, the same failure will occur.

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Workaround

To work around this issue, grant write permissions to the COM folder for the account that is running the SQL Server Agent service. If you run the Distribution Agent from a command line, grant write permissions to the COM folder for the account that you use to run the Distribution Agent.

Note If you change the account that is assigned to the replication job, the account should have write permissions to the COM folder.

If you still encounter this issue intermittently after you follow these steps, you should make sure that the COM folder is excluded from any antivirus scan that occurs on the system.

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More Information

Error code 5 indicates that the error is "access is denied."

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Status

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

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Keywords: kb, sql2008relnotereplication, sql2008relnote, kbtshoot, kbexpertiseadvanced, kbprb

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Article Info
Article ID : 956032
Revision : 1
Created on : 1/7/2017
Published on : 10/19/2015
Exists online : False
Views : 373