Powershell script to execute DDL statements on linked servers - not working when run using SSIS - sql

I have a Powershell script that loops through a list of SQL Servers and creates server logins and database users.
The script runs on a separate server, under the administrator credentials on that server, and connects to the other SQL Servers via linked servers.
#Get administrator credentials
$password = get-content C:\Powershell\General\password.txt | convertto-securestring;
$cred = new-object -typename System.Management.Automation.PSCredential -argumentlist "DOMAIN\administrator",$password;
When this script is run manually (either directly through a Powershell window or using a batch file through a command prompt) it works perfectly well. I am logged onto the executing server as administrator when running the script manually.
I then tried to run this Powershell script using an SSIS package on the executing server, using the Execute Process Task to run a batch file. The package was executed from a SQL Agent Job. Although both the job and the package seemed to execute successfully, the DDL statements were not executed against the linked servers.
SQL Agent on the executing server is run under a designated Service Account. SSIS runs under the Network Service account.
Does anybody have any thoughts on what I might be doing wrong? I am happy to provide details of the script or anything else that is required.
Thanks
Ash
UPDATE: ok we have a little more information.
I took out the lines I posted above as I have discovered I don't actually need the administrator credentials I was retrieving.
I logged onto the server with the script on it using the service account. As per #ElecticLlama's suggestion I set a Profiler trace on the destination server. When running the script manually (or running a batch file manually that runs the Powershell script) everything works well and the Profiler shows the DDL actions, under the service account login.
When running a job through SQL Agent (either a CmdExec job or an SSIS package) that runs the same batch file, I get the following error:
'Login failed for user 'DOMAIN\ServiceAccount'. Reason: Token-based server access validation failed with an infrastructure error.'
Anybody have any further thoughts?

Thnaks to everyone for their help. Once I got that last error a quick search revealed I just had to restart SQL Agent and now everything works as it should. Thanks in particular to #ElecticLlama for pointing me in the right direction.
Ash

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I assume whatever account the pipeline is attempting to connect under does not have access. How can I find out what that account is?
If you're curious, here's the simple PS, it just updates a table:
Invoke-Sqlcmd -ServerInstance "myremoteserver" -Query "--update the table"
You can add a powershell task to run below script to get the current user account that your pipeline is using
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Issue with SSIS package executing procedure that reads from a file share

I have an SSIS Package that runs via a SQL job on a SSIS server (Server A) that executes a stored procedure on the database server (server B). This stored procedure does a Bulk insert from a file share that is located on the SSIS Server (Server A). However, every time that the stored procedure runs it fails with the follow error:
Execute Membership Process:Error: Executing the query "exec storedprocname ?, ?" failed with the following error: "Cannot bulk load because the file "\ServerA\TestLoads\Membership\Processing\filename.csv" could not be opened. Operating system error code 5(Access is denied.).". Possible failure reasons: Problems with the query, "ResultSet" property not set correctly, parameters not set correctly, or connection not established correctly.
I am pretty positive that the issue is related to permissions. If I store the files on the database server (Server B) then it processes. Or if I run the proc manually, it will work.
When I execute the job on Server A it executes as the service account for that server. That account has full access to Server A and Server B (Admin in SQL and on the server). I believe what is happening is the credentials get passed the first time, but they are not continued once the stored proc runs. I ran wireshark on Server A (SSIS Server) so that I could see what was access the share and try to get some more information. What I found was that there was no account information being passed, it was just blank.
I went through a lot of steps just to try to see if could get that work such as granting everyone access to the share, enabling the guest account, allowing anonymous users, etc. Not stuff I would want to do, but trying to narrow down the issue. None of those worked.
I tried modify the stored proc to use WITH EXECUTE AS OWNER. Still did not work, but got a different error. Also tried a variety of other accounts to execute as and got the same error each time.
Execute Membership Process:Error: Executing the query "exec [storedprocname] ?, ?" failed with the following error: "Could not obtain information about Windows NT group/user '', error code 0x5.". Possible failure reasons: Problems with the query, "ResultSet" property not set correctly, parameters not set correctly, or connection not established correctly.
Tried a variety of solutions that I found online to get this to work and nothing so far has done it.
I understand that is not an ideal solution. I was under the impression that the developers where using SSIS to load the file initially and then using SQL for the rest of the process which would have worked. But because SQL has to touch the file system it keeps failing. And at this stage, there is not the option of rewriting this. Additionally, this process will work if we move the files to the database server (Server B), but that eliminates a large need for us in having the SSIS server in the first place which was to get files being processed off of the database server
Any ideas on if there is a way to get the current solution to work? Basically, what I think I am needing is to run the SSIS package and for a way to pass credentials via the stored proc to the file share during that process.
We are using Windows Server 2012 R2 on both servers and SQL Server 2012 sp3 Developer edition.
Thanks for the help!
I've had this issue before, and I still don't fully understand Kerberos authentication, but that fixed it for me. It's something to do with "double-hop" of authentication i.e. creds going from SSIS, through SQL Server, to a network Server.
Try setting up Kerberos Authentication for SQL Server. There are detailed step-by-step instructions with screenshots here => Setup Kerberos Authentication for SQL Server
I understand this is like a "link-only" answer, but I don't want to copy-paste & plagiarize the author's original works i.e. blog post, hence the link.

SQL Agent job hangs on packages with Execute Process Task

I have an SSIS package with the Execute Process Task, which runs 7zip exe to zip a file. This works fine when I run the SSIS. But when I run this SSIS from the SQL Agent it hangs. I assume this is something to do with the permission. I have given full control to Network Services and sqlsvc to the folder which has the zip exe and the folder it is extracting to. Still no luck. What should I do to make this SSIS run from the SQL agent.
I have created a proxy account which has administrator privilege and change the Job Step "Run As" property to the new proxy account instead of SQL Agent Service Account. I think the SQL Agent Service account doesnt have the access to run the process. You can also change the SQL Agent Serice Account group policies to make it work.
I would change the WindowStyle property to Hidden - the SQL Server agent may be hanging when it tries to create a Windowed process.

SQL xp_cmdshell copy files between servers

I am trying to move all .zip in a specific folder to another folder. the source folder is located on another server, currently i am using
EXECUTE xp_cmdshell 'copy \\server1\e$\ETL\*.zip \\server2\e$\ETL\'
GO
Which is working if I am logged into both server, but the goal is to automate this process VIA sql server job agent. I have tried
EXECUTE sp_xp_cmdshell_proxy_account 'domain\useracc','pass'
GO
EXECUTE xp_cmdshell 'copy \\server1\e$\ETL\*.zip \\server2\e$\ETL\'
GO
but I am receiving the following error;
An error occurred during the execution of sp_xp_cmdshell_proxy_account. Possible reasons: the provided account was invalid or the '##xp_cmdshell_proxy_account##' credential could not be created. Error code: '0'.
And also not sure if this is my solution. Please help with how I can achieve this. The file names on server1 change name and quantity everyday.
I would strongly advise...Do not use xp_cmdshell. It opens up large security wholes in your surface area and makes you vulnerable to attack. xp_cmdshell should be disabled!
Instead, if you want to automate this with server agent you have 2 options. My preference would be to write a simple SSIS package with a file system task and schedule this package with server agent. SSIS is underutilized for this kind of task but is actually pretty good at it.
Alternatively re-write your script to use Server Agent CmdExec job steps. This does not require xp_cmdshell to be enabled and reduces the attack surface.
I Found that the following worked for me;
In the command prompt, type services.msc, this would open the list of all services on the server.
In the list of services, look for SQL Server Agent, Right Click -> Properties. Go to Logon Tab
Change the logon to a user with access on both servers. then re-write your script to use Server Agent CmdExec job steps(Thank you Pete Carter)

Whose logon is being used in a SQL Server 2008 Agent Job

I have an SSIS package that transfers some tables to CSV files on a network drive; it runs fine from my computer manually. I store it on the server in the MSDB database and execute it from there and it runs fine, but when I create a job that has one step that runs the SSIS package from MSDB it fails saying it can't find the CSV file name.
I spent all day yesterday figuring out this means a permissions issue with whatever logon credentials are being used through the job. The job owner shows to be domain/myuserid and step properties show they are using windows authentication with my username. The problem is, I know I have access to this folder.
The first line of the error log says: "Executed as user: servername\SYSTEM". So I made sure user "SYSTEM" has access to the network folder I want to load the files on, but I still get the same error.
The command line looks like #command=N'/SQL "\SSIS package name" /SERVER servername /CHECKPOINTING OFF /REPORTING E'
edit: I found SQL Server agent job account issue where someone asks who the job is run under and marc_s says "I can't seem to find any definitive answers on that one, really. Since my Jobs typically select and update stuff in the database, I am lead to assume that the "Owner" account will be used by default, unless you specify some other account on a given step"
Which also leads me to believe it is using my logon information that has access
The best practice that we've been able to come up with here is to make a domain account for SSIS and then set up a Proxy in SQL Server that is used to run the SSIS Package in a SQL Job.
I would say that the servername\SYSTEM account is a local account, and therefore won't have access to network folders on other servers.
You probably want to run this as a domain account of some sort, which does have access.
Typically this will be the SQL Server Agent, so check in the Services list, in the control panel, and see what account is running the agent, and if necessary change it to the appropriate account.
This may have knock on consequences though, so be careful what other jobs are running.