You try to start the SQL Server service at a cluster node or at a standalone machine, after the SQL Server service was stopped.

The service fails to start and you see these messages or similar ones logged in the ERRORLOG:

Server TCP provider failed to listen on [IP Address]. Tcp port is already in use.

TDSSNIClient initialization failed with error 0x271d, status code 0xa. Reason: Unable to initialize the TCP/IP listener. An attempt was made to access a socket in a way forbidden by its access permissions.

TDSSNIClient initialization failed with error 0x271d, status code 0x1. Reason: Initialization failed with an infrastructure error. Check for previous errors. An attempt was made to access a socket in a way forbidden by its access permissions.

Could not start the network library because of an internal error in the network library. To determine the cause, review the errors immediately preceding this one in the error log.

SQL Server could not spawn FRunCM thread. Check the SQL Server error log and the Windows event logs for information about possible related problems.

These messages indicate that the port of SQL Server is used by another process.

So you collect a netstat output to see which ports are used by which application (default port for SQL Server is 1433):

netstat -a -n -b

and you see that the 1433 port is used by a process running at a remote machine (remote IP address):

Local Address          Foreign Address        State

TCP   
0.0.0.0:1433           0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING

[services.exe]

TCP   

[IP Address]:1433     [IP Address]:Port   ESTABLISHED

[services.exe]

After logging on to the remote machine and killing these sessions, the SQL Server service can start without errors.

The root cause for this scenario is that another application or service has taken control of the port before SQL Server starts. In this case it was the services console. Although port 1433 is reserved for use by SQL Server, Winsock applications may still use random ports above 1024 and therefore may happen to bind to port 1433. Obviously this is a very rare occurrence and the stars must be properly aligned for this issue to affect your environment.

To avoid this kind of issue, you may Bind the Port to certain IP address:

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc771629.aspx

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb909657(v=vs.90).aspx

 To get more information how to bind the port, you should contact your Network administrator.

SQLServer2005MSSQLUser$<computer name>$MSSQLSERVER

These groups are part of the product and should not be deleted:

- Reviewing Windows NT Rights and Privileges Granted for SQL Server Service Accounts

Deleting them renders the product unsupported and part of the functionality is lost. Plus, it poses a security risk.

Specifically, after deleting these groups, it is no longer possible to install updates and Service Packs to the SQL Server product:

- SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 is not successfully updated when you try to install or to uninstall a security update

- Error message when you try to install a SQL Server 2005 service pack or a SQL Server 2005 hotfix package: "Error 29528. The setup has encountered an unexpected error while Setting Internal Properties"

So, to summarize, it is neither safe nor supported to delete these groups.

If all the files of TEMPDB fail to be recreated for some reason, the SQL Server service won't be able to start.

In a specific scenario, the error we saw was:

CREATE FILE encountered operating system error 32(The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.) while attempting to open or create the physical file '<folder\tempdb.mdf>'

Some common root causes for this error are:

[1]

Antivirus exclusions have not been set correctly at the machine that is running the SQL Server service.

The exclusions are documented here: How to choose antivirus software to run on computers that are running SQL Server

[2]

There is another process "touching" the TEMPDB files, like a backup application or another instance of the SQL Server service.

To check this possibility you can use the Process Explorer tool to see which processes have locks at the TEMPDB files.

[3]

The metadata of the TEMPDB database are mixed and there exist multiple TEMPDB files that have different logical names but they use the same physical name.

To check this possibility, you can run these two queries and check if some of the files have the same physical name:

SELECT name, physical_name from sys.master_files

SELECT name, filename from sysaltfiles

In this scenario, if you capture a Process Monitor trace, you will see a "SHARING VIOLATION" event regarding the sqlservr.exe process.

To address this issue, you can simply change the location of the physical files so that they are created at different locations on the disk, with different names and they do not collide.

e.g.

USE master;

GO

ALTER DATABASE tempdb

MODIFY FILE (NAME = tempdev, FILENAME = 'M:\TEMPDB\tempdb.mdf');

GO

ALTER DATABASE tempdb

MODIFY FILE (NAME = templog, FILENAME = 'M:\TEMPDB\templog.ldf');

GO

To give a short reply: YES, IT IS SUPPORTED

The longer reply is:

The default isolation level of a SQL Server database is READ COMMITTED:

SQL Server Customer Advisory Team Blog - Concurrency Series: Basics of Transaction Isolation Levels

But this isolation level will cause blocking between some CRM processes and deadlocks in some cases (e.g. when processes try to SELECT data and UPDATE data at the same table).

So what the CRM Support team usually suggests in some of these issues is to enable the SNAPSHOT isolation level for the CRM database.

More details about the Pros/Cons of this isolation level and how to enable it can be found in this blog post from Ritesh Ranjan:

https://blogs.msdn.com/b/ritesh_ranjan/archive/2014/09/12/sql-read-committed-snapshot-isolation-and-dynamics-crm.aspx

This is handy when migrating a SQL Server instance to a new environment and serves as a checklist.

The result was the following script, that exports:

- The instance name of SQL Server

- The Version, Platform and Build of the SQL Server instance

- The server-level configuration (SP_CONFIGURE)

- Information about the attached databases and their database files

- The server logins

- The permissions of the users for each database

- Information about saved Credentials

- Information about Server Backup Devices

- Information about System and Mirroring endpoints

- Information about Linked Servers

- Information about Logon triggers

- Information about Publications and Subscriptions

- Information about SQL Server Agent jobs

- Information about SQL Server Alerts

- Information about SQL Server Operators

- Information about the SSIS packages that are stored in MSDB

The script:

USE master
GO
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '<SQL Server Instance Name>'
SELECT @@SERVERNAME
GO
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '<SQL Server Version, Edition and Build>'
SELECT @@VERSION
GO
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '<The server wide configuration>'
GO
SP_CONFIGURE 'show advanced options',1
reconfigure with override
GO
sp_configure
GO
SP_CONFIGURE 'show advanced options',0
reconfigure with override
GO
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '<List of Attached Databases>'
SELECT name as Database_Name, dbid as Database_ID, cmptlevel as Database_Compatibility_Level, filename as Database_MDF_Location from SYSDATABASES
GO
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '<Information for all the databases and their files>'
SET NOCOUNT ON
IF (object_id( 'tempdb..#TMPFIXEDDRIVES' ) IS NOT NULL) DROP TABLE #TMPFIXEDDRIVES
IF (object_id( 'tempdb..#TMPSPACEUSED' ) IS NOT NULL) DROP TABLE #TMPSPACEUSED
IF (object_id( 'tempdb..#HDB' ) IS NOT NULL) DROP TABLE #HDB
CREATE TABLE #TMPFIXEDDRIVES (DRIVE CHAR(1), MBFREE INT)
INSERT INTO #TMPFIXEDDRIVES
EXEC xp_FIXEDDRIVES
CREATE TABLE #TMPSPACEUSED (DBNAME VARCHAR(255), FILEID INT,FILENME VARCHAR(255), SPACEUSED FLOAT)
CREATE TABLE #HDB (name sysname not null,db_size varchar(25) not null,owner varchar(40) not null,dbid int not null,created smalldatetime not null,status varchar(500) not null,compatibility_level int not null)
INSERT INTO #HDB exec sp_helpdb;
INSERT INTO #TMPSPACEUSED
EXEC( 'sp_msforeachdb''use [?]; Select ''''?'''' DBName,fileid, Name FileNme, fileproperty(Name,''''SpaceUsed'''') SpaceUsed from sysfiles''')
SELECT @@servername as SQLServerInstance, A.Database_id as Database_ID,A.NAME AS Database_Name,
CASE D.FILEID WHEN 1 THEN ltrim(XX.db_size) ELSE NULL END as Database_Size ,CASE D.FILEID  WHEN 1 THEN XX.owner ELSE NULL END as Database_Owner,
CASE D.FILEID WHEN 1 THEN XX.created ELSE NULL END as Database_Creation_Date ,C.DRIVE, C.MBFREE AS Free_Space_of_the_Disk, D.FILEID as Database_File_ID, B.NAME AS Database_Filename,
CASE B.TYPE WHEN 0 THEN 'DATA' ELSE TYPE_DESC END AS FILETYPE, (B.SIZE * 8 / 1024)AS FILESIZE_MB, ROUND((B.SIZE * 8 / 1024) - (D.SPACEUSED / 128),2) as SPACEFREE_MB,
ROUND(100-((((B.SIZE * 8 / 1024) - (D.SPACEUSED / 128))*100)/ CASE(B.SIZE * 8 / 1024) WHEN 0 THEN 1 ELSE (B.SIZE * 8 / 1024)  END ),2) as [%USED], b.size,
b.max_size, b.growth, b.is_percent_growth, B.PHYSICAL_NAME, CASE B.TYPE WHEN 0 THEN A.recovery_model_desc ELSE NULL END AS [Recovery_Model],
CASE B.TYPE WHEN 0 THEN A.compatibility_level ELSE NULL END AS [Compatibility_Level] ,CASE D.FILEID WHEN 1 THEN BR.last_backup_finish_date
ELSE NULL END as [Backup],CASE D.FILEID  WHEN 1 THEN BR.last_TRLog_backup_finish_date ELSE NULL  END as TRBackup ,CASE D.FILEID
WHEN 1 THEN BR.last_restore_date ELSE NULL END as [Restore],  DM.mirroring_role_desc+'('+DM.mirroring_state_desc+')' as DBMirror_Info
FROM SYS.DATABASES A 
INNER JOIN SYS.MASTER_FILES B ON A.DATABASE_ID = B.DATABASE_ID
INNER JOIN #TMPFIXEDDRIVES C ON LEFT(B.PHYSICAL_NAME,1) = C.DRIVE
INNER JOIN #TMPSPACEUSED D ON A.NAME = D.DBNAME AND B.NAME = D.FILENME
INNER JOIN #HDB XX on XX.dbid= A.Database_id
INNER JOIN (SELECT D.database_id,B.last_backup_finish_date,TR.last_TRLog_backup_finish_date,R.last_restore_date
FROM sys.databases D
LEFT JOIN (SELECT BS.database_name ,max(BS.backup_finish_date) as last_backup_finish_date FROM msdb.dbo.backupset BS (NOLOCK)
INNER JOIN msdb.dbo.backupmediafamily MF(NOLOCK) ON BS.media_set_id = MF.media_set_id
WHERE  BS.backup_start_date >= CAST(CONVERT(varchar(10),dateadd(mm,-3,getdate()),120) AS datetime)
AND BS.server_name = @@servername and BS.type='D'
GROUP BY BS.database_name ) B on D.name=B.database_name LEFT JOIN (SELECT BS.database_name ,max(BS.backup_finish_date) as last_TRLog_backup_finish_date
FROM  msdb.dbo.backupset BS (NOLOCK) INNER JOIN msdb.dbo.backupmediafamily MF(NOLOCK) ON BS.media_set_id = MF.media_set_id
WHERE BS.backup_start_date >= CAST(CONVERT(varchar(10),dateadd(mm,-1,getdate()),120) AS datetime) AND BS.server_name = @@servername and BS.type='L'
GROUP BY BS.database_name) TR on D.name=TR.database_name
LEFT JOIN (SELECT rh.destination_database_name, max(rh.restore_date) as last_restore_date FROM msdb.dbo.restorehistory rh (NOLOCK)
INNER JOIN msdb.dbo.backupset BS (NOLOCK) ON rh.backup_set_id=BS.backup_set_id
WHERE BS.type= 'D' AND RH.restore_date >=CAST(CONVERT(varchar(10),dateadd(mm,-3,getdate()),120) AS datetime)
GROUP BY rh.destination_database_name) R on D.name=R.destination_database_name) BR on A.Database_id=BR.database_id
LEFT JOIN msdb.sys.database_mirroring dm (nolock) on A.database_id=dm.database_id
ORDER BY Database_Name
IF (object_id( 'tempdb..#TMPFIXEDDRIVES' ) IS NOT NULL) DROP TABLE #TMPFIXEDDRIVES
IF (object_id( 'tempdb..#TMPSPACEUSED' ) IS NOT NULL) DROP TABLE #TMPSPACEUSED
IF (object_id( 'tempdb..#HDB' ) IS NOT NULL) DROP TABLE #HDB
GO
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '<Information for all the server logins>'
EXEC sp_helplogins
GO
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '<The permissions of the users for each database>'
DECLARE @DB_USers TABLE(DBName sysname, UserName sysname, LoginType sysname, AssociatedRole varchar(max),create_date datetime,modify_date datetime)
INSERT @DB_USers EXEC sp_MSforeachdb'
use [?]
SELECT ''?'' AS DB_Name,
case prin.name when ''dbo'' then prin.name + '' (''+ (select SUSER_SNAME(owner_sid) from master.sys.databases where name =''?'') + '')'' else prin.name end AS UserName,
prin.type_desc AS LoginType,
isnull(USER_NAME(mem.role_principal_id),'''') AS AssociatedRole ,create_date,modify_date
FROM sys.database_principals prin
LEFT OUTER JOIN sys.database_role_members mem ON prin.principal_id=mem.member_principal_id
WHERE prin.sid IS NOT NULL and prin.sid NOT IN (0x00) and
prin.is_fixed_role <> 1 AND prin.name NOT LIKE ''##%'''
SELECT dbname,username ,logintype ,create_date ,modify_date ,STUFF((SELECT ',' + CONVERT(VARCHAR(500),associatedrole)
FROM @DB_USers user2 WHERE user1.DBName=user2.DBName AND user1.UserName=user2.UserName FOR XML PATH('') ),1,1,'') AS Permissions_user
FROM @DB_USers user1 GROUP BY dbname,username ,logintype ,create_date ,modify_date ORDER BY DBName,username
GO
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '<Script out any Credentials under Security>'
select   'CREATE CREDENTIAL ' + name + ' WITH IDENTITY = ''' + credential_identity + ''', SECRET = ''<Put Password Here>'';'  from sys.credentials  order by name;
GO
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '<List all Server Backup Devices>'
SELECT 'Server[@Name=' + quotename(CAST(serverproperty(N'Servername') AS sysname),'''') + ']' + '/BackupDevice[@Name=' + quotename(o.name,'''') + ']' AS [Urn],
o.name AS [Name], case when 1=msdb.dbo.fn_syspolicy_is_automation_enabled() and exists (select * from msdb.dbo.syspolicy_system_health_state
where target_query_expression_with_id like 'Server/BackupDevice\[@Name=' + QUOTENAME(o.name, '''') + '\]%' ESCAPE '\') then 1 else 0 end AS [PolicyHealthState]
FROM sys.backup_devices o ORDER BY [Name] ASC
GO
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '<List all System and Mirroring endpoints>'
select * from sys.endpoints
GO
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '<List all Linked Servers and their associated login>'
SELECT ss.server_id ,ss.name ,'Server ' = Case ss.Server_id   when 0 then 'Current Server'   else 'Remote Server'   end
,ss.product   ,ss.provider  ,ss.catalog  ,'Local Login ' = case sl.uses_self_credential   when 1 then 'Uses Self Credentials'
else ssp.name end ,'Remote Login Name' = sl.remote_name ,'RPC Out Enabled'    = case ss.is_rpc_out_enabled when 1 then 'True'
else 'False' end ,'Data Access Enabled' = case ss.is_data_access_enabled when 1 then 'True' else 'False' end
,ss.modify_date FROM sys.Servers ss 
LEFT JOIN sys.linked_logins sl ON ss.server_id = sl.server_id
LEFT JOIN sys.server_principals ssp ON ssp.principal_id = sl.local_principal_id
GO
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '<Script out the Logon Triggers of the server, if any exist>'
SELECT SSM.definition FROM sys.server_triggers AS ST JOIN sys.server_sql_modules AS SSM ON ST.object_id = SSM.object_id
GO
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '<REPLICATION - List Publication or Subscription articles>'
IF EXISTS (SELECT 1
           FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES
           WHERE TABLE_TYPE='BASE TABLE'
           AND TABLE_NAME='sysextendedarticlesview')
(SELECT  sub.srvname,  pub.name, art.name, art.dest_table,art.dest_owner
FROM sysextendedarticlesview art
inner join syspublications pub on (art.pubid = pub.pubid)
inner join syssubscriptions sub on (sub.artid = art.artid))
ELSE SELECT 'No Publication or Subcsription articles were found'
GO
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '<List all SQL Server Agent jobs>'
USE MSDB
GO
SELECT        srv.srvname,
              sj.name,
              COALESCE(sj.description, ''),
              ss.name,
              ss.schedule_id,
              sc.name,
              ss.freq_type,
              ss.freq_interval,
              ss.freq_subday_type,
              ss.freq_subday_interval,
              ss.freq_relative_interval,
              ss.freq_recurrence_factor,
              COALESCE(STR(ss.active_start_date, 8), CONVERT(CHAR(8), GETDATE(), 112)),
              STUFF(STUFF(REPLACE(STR(ss.active_start_time, 6), ' ', '0'), 3, 0, ':'), 6, 0, ':'),
              STR(ss.active_end_date, 8),
              STUFF(STUFF(REPLACE(STR(ss.active_end_time, 6), ' ', '0'), 3, 0, ':'), 6, 0, ':'),
              sj.enabled,
              ss.enabled
FROM          msdb..sysschedules AS ss
INNER JOIN    msdb..sysjobschedules AS sjs ON sjs.schedule_id = ss.schedule_id
INNER JOIN    msdb..sysjobs AS sj ON sj.job_id = sjs.job_id
INNER JOIN    sys.sysservers AS srv ON srv.srvid = sj.originating_server_id
INNER JOIN    msdb..syscategories AS sc ON sc.category_id = sj.category_id
WHERE         ss.freq_type IN(1, 4, 8, 16, 32)
ORDER BY      srv.srvname,
              sj.name,
              ss.name
GO
USE master
GO
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '<List of SQL Server Agent - Alerts>'
select * from  msdb.dbo.sysalerts
GO
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '<List of SQL Server Agent - Operators>'
SELECT name, email_address, enabled FROM MSDB.dbo.sysoperators ORDER BY name
GO
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '<List of SSIS packages in MSDB>'
USE MSDB
GO
select name, description, createdate from sysssispackages where description not like 'System Data Collector Package'
USE master
GO
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'
PRINT '*******************************************************************************************'

The server could not load the certificate it needs to initiate an SSL connection. It returned the following error: 0x8009030d. Check certificates to make sure they are valid.
Error: 26014, Severity: 16, State: 1.
Unable to load user-specified certificate The server will not accept a connection. You should verify that the certificate is correctly installed. See "Configuring Certificate for Use by SSL" in Books Online.
2014-10-15 09:44:12.23 Server      Error: 17182, Severity: 16, State: 1.
2014-10-15 09:44:12.23 Server      TDSSNIClient initialization failed with error 0x80092004, status code 0x80. Reason: Unable to initialize SSL support. Cannot find object or property.
2014-10-15 09:44:12.23 Server      Error: 17182, Severity: 16, State: 1.
2014-10-15 09:44:12.23 Server      TDSSNIClient initialization failed with error 0x80092004, status code 0x1. Reason: Initialization failed with an infrastructure error. Check for previous errors. Cannot find object or property.
2014-10-15 09:44:12.23 Server      Error: 17826, Severity: 18, State: 3.
2014-10-15 09:44:12.23 Server      Could not start the network library because of an internal error in the network library. To determine the cause, review the errors immediately preceding this one in the error log.
2014-10-15 09:44:12.23 Server      Error: 17120, Severity: 16, State: 1.
2014-10-15 09:44:12.23 Server      SQL Server could not spawn FRunCM thread. Check the SQL Server error log and the Windows event logs for information about possible related problems.

The critical question as always is what was the last change before the error started occurring.

Fortunately the DBA was willing to share this information. Usually nobody remembers if they did any changes at all :S

The last change was that the SQL Server service account had been removed from the Local Admins group.

BINGO! A permissions issue!

A Process Monitor trace captured from the reproduction of the issue showed clear access denied events at these folders and registry keys:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10_50.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Crypto\RSA\MachineKeys
HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\WinSock2\Parameters

Adding Full Control permissions for the SQL Server service account at these locations solved the certificates errors.

Long live the Process Monitor tool! :)

It happened during an Index Rebuild operation of a CRM database and there is absolutely no documentation on the Internet about this error!

So here is what you could do regarding this error:

1. Replace the Rebuild Indexes maintenance step with a Reorganize Indexes step and an Update Statistics step

2. Check the database for corruption issues using DBCC CHECKDB. Verify there are 0 allocation and 0 consistency errors. If any errors are found, repair them.

3. Check if there are any duplicate rows at the database object where this error occurred. For a CRM database, an additional recommendation good starting point would be to check the table ExchangeSyncIdMappingBase for duplicate rows and eliminate them.

Good luck with that error if you ever manage to see it! :)

A solution has been found by my colleague, Balmukund Lakhani. It is blogged here:

https://sqlserver-help.com/2015/02/11/solution-getting-error-while-running-rebuild-index-on-crm-database-unable-to-process-object-id-id-object-name-because-it-is-a-synonym-if-the-object-referenced-by-the-synony/

Part 1 – Preparing for the installation

Preparing for the Service Pack installation is the most important part. Skipping one or more of the preparations steps imposes a risk and is not a recommended action.

-  Testing before deployment:

 Service packs and hotfixes must be tested on a representative non-production environment prior to being deployed to production. Thus, you should perform the installation of the SQL Server 2012 Service Pack at your test environment first. Identify and resolve any issues that occur to the test environment before deploying the Service Pack to your production environment.

 -  Identify existing issues:

 Use the SQL Server 2012 BPA tool to scan the instance you wish to update:

Microsoft® SQL Server® 2012 Best Practices Analyzer

Resolve any issues identified by this tool before proceeding.

 -  Validate the consistency of your databases:

Run a consistency check (DBCC CHECKDB) against every User and System database (i.e. master, model, msdb). Make sure that the check reports 0 allocation and 0 consistency errors for each database:

CHECKDB found 0 allocation errors and 0 consistency errors in database

If any allocation or consistency errors are detected for one or more of the databases, these should be repaired before the Service Pack installation takes place: DBCC CHECKDB / Database Integrity

-  Backup your data:

Take a FULL backup from all the User databases (especially from the user databases that are involved in a replication topology) and of all the System databases (i.e. master, model, msdb), in case you need to roll-back the SQL Server instance to its former state after the installation finishes.

 If you have installed Analysis Services, you should also backup this set of data:

• Analysis Services databases. By default, these are installed to C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSAS11.<InstanceID>\OLAP\Data\. For WOW installations, the default path is C:\ProgramFiles (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\MSAS11.<InstanceID>\OLAP\Data\.
• Analysis Services configuration setting in the msmdsrv.ini configuration file. By default, this is located in the C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSAS11.<InstanceID>\OLAP\Config\ directory.
• The database that contains the Analysis Services repository. This step is required only if Analysis Services was configured to work with the Decision Support Objects (DSO) library.

-  Make sure the System databases have free disk space inside their files:

If the autogrow option is not selected for the master and msdb system databases, these databases must each have at least 500 KB of free disk space. To verify that the databases have sufficient space, run the
sp_spaceused system stored procedure on the master and msdb databases. If the unallocated space in either database is less than 500 KB, increase the size of the database manually or simply allow these databases to autogrow.

-   Verify you have downloaded the correct Service Pack package:

 Service pack package (PCU): <SQLServer2012><SPx> -KBxxxxxx-PPP-LLL.exe

• x
  indicates the service pack number
• 
  PPP
  indicates the specific platform
• 
  LLL
  indicates the character abbreviation for the SQL Server language (e.g. LLL for
  English is ENU)

 -  Verify there is enough free disk space at the nodes:

The recommended disk space requirements are approximately 2.5 times the size of the package to install, download, and extract the package. As SQL Server 2012 SP2 is almost 1016 MB, the recommended free disk space is 2540 MB. After installing a service pack, you can remove the downloaded package. Any temporary files are removed automatically.

-   Make the Service Pack package available to each node:\

• As a best practice, you should copy the Service Pack package locally at each node of the cluster.
• If that is not possible, you could choose to install the Service Pack from a network share.

    Note: Running the Service Pack package from a local disk of the node is the safest choice

-   Use an account with adequate permissions to run the setup:

Use a domain account that is a local administrator at all the nodes of the Windows cluster. If you install SQL Server from a remote share, you must verify that this domain account has read and execute permissions on the remote share.

-   Stop Services and Applications:

To avoid a possible restart of the system, stop all applications and services that make connections to the instances of SQL Server that are being upgraded, before installing SQL Server 2012 updates. These include SQL Server Management Studio, SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT). For a SQL Server failover instance, this means that you should failover the SQL Server cluster group (Role) to another node before updating the current node.

 Part 2 – Performing the installation

Having made the proper preparations, the Service Pack installation should be a relatively simple task.

-   Execute the SQL Server 2012 Service Pack package at the first passive node:

 Double click the SQL Server 2012 Service Pack package and follow the instructions of the setup

 On the Choose Directory for Extracted Files dialog, the default directory path is prepopulated:

<Current drive>\<Currentworking folder>\<Package name>

 Click Browse if you wish to change the directory path for the extracted files.

The package decompresses to the specified installation path and would be left behind in the selected directory path after the installation completes. A user will be able to use the binaries in the extracted folder for future Installations. As this folder may prove useful for future maintenance operations, do not delete it if possible.

-   After the setup finishes successfully, reboot this node as a best practice, even if the setup reports that a reboot is not required.

-   Then repeat the same procedure at the next passive node. Failover the SQL Server cluster groups (Roles) as needed between the nodes, so that each time you patch a passive node. Don’t forget to reboot each
node after the setup finishes successfully.

-   Start the Services and Applications you had shut down as part of the installation’s preparation procedure.

Part 3 – Verifying the installation

Having finished the installation part, it is now time to verify that the Service Pack was installed and the SQL Server components were all updated successfully.

-  Verify that the SQL Server services are online.

-   Verify that the SQL Server build has been updated successfully:

The reported build for an instance patched with SQL Server 2012 SP2 should be 11.0.5058.0

-   You could additionally examine the SQL Server setup logs of each node to make sure that all components were patched successfully:

• Logon to each node
• Navigate to folder C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\110\Setup Bootstrap\Log
• Open the Summary.txt file file
• Make sure each component was patched successfully (exit code should be equal to zero):

-   Test your applications to make sure that their functionality was not broken by the SP installation.

Part 4 – Repair & Rollback options

If the installation of SQL Server 2012 SP2 broke the functionality of your applications or if there is some other need to roll back the recently installed service pack, you may use these options:

-   Uninstall the Service Pack: 

• You must perform the below steps for each cluster node:
• Make sure this is a passive node before running the steps.
• Go to "Programs and Features" options in Control Panel and click on "View installed updates"
• Highlight the SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 2 and click "Uninstall"
• Wait for the Uninstall Service Pack wizard to start
• Click "Next" after the update rules are verified.
• Select the features for which you need to remove the Service Pack and click "Next"
• Once the file check is completed, Click "Next"
• Verify the Summary and click "Remove"
• Wait for the process to complete
• Reboot the node

-   Repair the SQL Server 2012 failover instance:

• Repair must be run on each individual cluster nodes that is affected/damaged
• Launch the SQL Server Setup program (setup.exe) from SQL Server installation media.
• After prerequisites and system verification, the Setup program will display the SQL Server Installation Center page.
• Click Maintenance in the left-hand navigation area, and then click Repair to start the repair operation.
• If the Installation Center was launched using the start menu, you will need to provide the location of the installation media at this time.
• Setup support rule and file routines will run to ensure that your system has prerequisites installed and that the computer passes Setup validation rules. Click OK or Install to continue.
• On the Select Instance page, select the instance to repair, and then click Next to continue.
• The repair rules will run to validate the operation. To continue, click Next.
• The Ready to Repair page indicates that the operation is ready to proceed. To continue, click Repair.
• The Repair Progress page shows the status of the repair operation. The Complete page indicates that the operation is finished.
• If the repair fails, the only option left is to reinstall the failover instance.

-  Reinstall the SQL Server 2012 failover instance:

If the SQL Server installation has been severely corrupted or if there occurs a similar catastrophic error, you may need to reinstall the SQL Server 2012 failover instance. But to reinstall the instance, you need to
first uninstall it. You may use these steps in this case:

• Insert the SQL Server installation media. From the root folder, double-click setup.exe. To install from a network share, navigate to the root folder on the share, and then double-click Setup.exe.
• The Installation Wizard launches the SQL Server Installation Center. To remove a node to an existing failover cluster instance, click Maintenance in the left-hand pane, and then select Remove node from a SQL Server failover cluster.
• The System Configuration Checker will run a discovery operation on your computer. To continue, click OK.
• After you click install on the Setup Support Files page, the System Configuration Checker verifies the system state of your computer before Setup continues. After the check is complete, click Next to continue.
• On the Cluster Node Configuration page, use the drop-down box to specify the name of the SQL Server failover cluster instance to be modified during this Setup operation. The node to be removed is listed in the Name of this node field.
• The Ready to Remove Node page displays a tree view of options that were specified during Setup. To continue, click Remove.
• During the remove operation, the Remove Node Progress page provides status.
• The Complete page provides a link to the summary log file for the remove node operation and other important notes. To complete the SQL Server remove node, click Close.
• Reboot the node
• Reinstall the failover instance
• Restore the System & User databases
• Apply the Service Pack/Cumulative Update you were using before you tried to install SP2

References:

Microsoft® SQL Server® 2012 Service Pack 2 (SP2)

SQL Server 2012 SP2 Release Notes

Install SQL Server 2012 servicing updates

Best Practices for installing SQL Server service
packs, hotfixes, cumulative updates

Best Practices for Applying Service Packs, Hotfixes
and Security Patches

Upgrade and Update of Availability Group Servers with
Minimal Downtime and Data Loss

Overview of SQL Server Servicing Installation

Un-Installing Service Pack for SQL Server

DBCC CHECKDB / Database Integrity

Microsoft® SQL Server® 2012 Best Practices Analyzer

Remove a SQL Server Failover Cluster Instance (Setup)

Add or Remove Nodes in a SQL Server Failover Cluster
(Setup)

Failover Cluster Instance Administration and
Maintenance

The first thing I do is check the Events in the History Tab. Both the Successful and Failed runs of this Task will be logged here as Events.

You can even save these events as an .evtx file which can then be opened by the Eventviewer tool:

The event id of the problematic Task will usually give you good hints about the root cause of the failure.

The next thing I like to check is the conditions under which this Task fails to run. To do this, I prefer to directly check the XML file of the Task. First I export the Task as an XML file:

Then I review the conditions inside the files and check which could apply in my specific scenario:

<MultipleInstancesPolicy>IgnoreNew</MultipleInstancesPolicy>
<DisallowStartIfOnBatteries>true</DisallowStartIfOnBatteries>
<StopIfGoingOnBatteries>true</StopIfGoingOnBatteries>
<AllowHardTerminate>true</AllowHardTerminate>
<StartWhenAvailable>false</StartWhenAvailable>
<RunOnlyIfNetworkAvailable>false</RunOnlyIfNetworkAvailable>
<AllowStartOnDemand>true</AllowStartOnDemand>
<Enabled>true</Enabled>
<Hidden>false</Hidden>
<RunOnlyIfIdle>false</RunOnlyIfIdle>
<WakeToRun>false</WakeToRun>
<ExecutionTimeLimit>P3D</ExecutionTimeLimit>

You could also use this exported XML file to import the Task at another server where you want it to be executed.

If you have found better ways to troubleshoot failed Tasks please let me know! You are never too old to learn new tricks :)

Microsoft Services unaffected by OpenSSL "Heartbleed" vulnerability

It is unlikely that this vulnerability would affect SQL Server itself, because neither Windows or SQL Server use the OpenSSL software.

If there are any updates regarding this vulnerability, they will be released in the Microsoft Security Blog.