MOSS SSP problem - Failed database logons from deleted SSP

Question

We've been having some issues with a SharePoint instance in a test environment. Thankfully this is not production ;) The problems started when the disk with the SQL Server databases and search index ran out of space. Following this, the search service would not run and search settings in the SSP were not accessible. Reclaiming the disk space did not resolve the issue. So rather than restoring the VM, we decided to try to fix the issue.

We created a new SSP and changed the association of all services to the new SSP. The old SSP and it's databases were then deleted. Search results for PDF files are no longer appearing, but the search works fine otherwise. MySites also works OK.

Following the implementation of this change, these problems occur:

1) An audit failure message started appearing in the application event log, for 'DOMAIN\SPMOSSSvc' which is the MOSS farm account.

Event Type: Failure Audit Event Source: MSSQLSERVER Event Category: (4) Event ID: 18456 Date: 8/5/2008 Time: 3:55:19 PM User: DOMAIN\SPMOSSSvc Computer: dastest01 Description: Login failed for user 'DOMAIN\SPMOSSSvc'. [CLIENT: ]

2) SQL Server profiler is showing queries from SharePoint that reference the old (deleted) SSP database.

So...

• Where would these references to DOMAIN\SPMOSSSvc and the old SSP database exist?
• Is there a way to 'completely' remove the SSP from the server, and re-create? The option to delete was not available (greyed out) when a single SSP is in place.

Answer 1

Hi Brian

Have you tried removing the SSP using the command line? I found this worked once when we had a broken an SSP just wanted to get rid of it.

The command is:

stsadm.exe -o deletessp -title <sspname> [-deletedatabases]

The deletedatbases switch is optional.

Answer 2

I suspect these are related to the SQL Server Agent trying to login to a database that no longer exists.

To clear it up you need to: 1. Go to SQL Server Management Studio 2. Disable the job called jobdeleteExpiredSessions

If that works, then you should be all clear to delete it.

Answer 3

Also, check in Central Administration under Job Definitions and Job Schedules to ensure no SSP related jobs are still running

Answer 4

As Daniel McPherson said, this is caused when SSPs are deleted but the associated job are not and attempt to communicate with the deleted database.

If the SSP database has been deleted or a problem occurred when deleting an SSP, the job may not be deleted. When the job attempts to run, it will fail since the database no longer exists.

Follow the steps Daniel mentioned:
1. Go to SQL Server Management Studio
2. Disable the job called SSPNAME_JobDeleteExpiredSessions, right click and choose Disable Job.