PRB: User '_' Not Defined as a Valid User of Trusted Connection

• Microsoft SQL Server version 6.5

SYMPTOMS

While running replication tasks, you may receive the following error:

Login Failed: Reason: User '_' not defined as a valid user of trusted
connection.

CAUSE

All replication tasks run under the user context of the SQL Executive startup account. Replication tasks also attempt to use integrated security to connect to the subscriber or publisher. When replication is set up, the user under which the SQL Executive service is running is checked for administrative privileges on the publisher or subscriber. If the correct privileges are present, the system administrator ("sa") account is enabled with RemoteLogin privileges and the tasks use "sa" as the login.

In cases where replication is set up and the SQL Executive account is changed back to LocalSystem, replication tasks attempt to connect to the publisher or subscriber. The domain separator is an underscore character ("_"). Therefore, the account information is NULL for domain name and also NULL for username, so the account under which SQL Executive is running is evaluated to "NULL", followed by the domain separator ("_"), followed by "NULL" again. Thus, only the "_" appears in the error message.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, change the SQL Executive account back to an account that has administrative privileges on the publisher or subscriber.

Additional query words: log in on logon admin sqlexec SQLExecutive permission
permissions rights repl remote local system

Keywords          : SSrvRep 
Version           : WINNT:6.5
Platform          : winnt 
Issue type        : kbprb 

Last Reviewed: April 14, 1999