I am trying to run a backup from "Operations" to a shared folder \\servername\backup and it fails everytime it is to start writing the database info. The failure happens on file 00000017.bak with SQL server error "access denied". The SP user has full rights to this directory and SQL is using a service account. It works if I do it locally! Signed, Frustrated.

Does your SQL service account have access to write to the shared folder? Make sure you check both share and NTFS permissions.

Hi Matthew, You should try to give full control access to that folder to the SQL Agent User Account. Hope it helps you. Regards

I have looked at the directory rights for the backup location. Sharepoint uses a "user" account, but SQL users a "Service" account and I do not know how to assign directory rights to a service. The backup directory and the SQL service run on two separate servers. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The user account for your SQL Agent windows service needs to be an actual domain user account if you want to backup SharePoint to a network share that is not on the same box as the SQL server. During the backup process, an actual BACKUP DATABASE command is issued to SQL Server in the same manner as if you backed up a database using SQL Server Management Studio. -- Bryan Phillips MCT, MCSD, MCDBA, MCSE Microsoft MVP - SharePoint Services Blog: http://bphillips76.spaces.live.com Web Site: http://www.composablesystems.net

Hi, I had a similar issue with one of my customers. It was due to the UNC path of the destination within the STSADM command. Not sure why it got to the 17+.bak file?! They had c:\backup rather then the \\servername\share. Hope this helps. Aaron

Hi Matthew, I agree with Bryan. Grant the Full control permission to the following accounts at the share level and write permissions at the folder level. All accounts must be domain accounts if you are backing up to a location that is not on the same physical server from which you are initiating the backup. Account Central Administration STSADM.exe Database access account Yes Yes SharePoint Central Administration V3 application pool Yes Yes SPTimerV3 service Yes No Server administrators No Yes Although you can enter either a local or a domain account in installations in which you are using a SQL Server installation, only a local account will work for single server deployments. We recommend that you use a domain account so that you preserve the flexibility to scale up by adding computers to the farm. Demo: Prepare to back up Office SharePoint Server 2007 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc811605.aspx For more information about Office SharePoint Server Security Account Requirements, please refer to (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=92883&clcid=0x409). Hope it is helpful. Rock Wang Rock Wang MSFT

Thank you everyone for your insightfull answers. I will create a domain account, as I can see the reasoning now for it and the need for scalability. Very helpful. Cheers.

Here's a good article on how to setup automatic backups: http://imperfectit.blogspot.com/2010/03/automate-sharepoint-2010-farm-backups.html