Recently I encountered a SQL Server 2005 Replication setup where the following error message was appearing about every 5 minutes in the SQL Server error logs.

Replication-@rowcount_only parameter must be the value 0,1, or 2. 0=7.0 compatible checksum. 1=only check rowcou: agent distribution@rowcount_only parameter must be the value 0,1, or 2. 0=7.0 compatible checksum. 1=only  scheduled for retry. Could not clean up the distribution transaction tables.

The error message was coming from the failing distribution cleanup job. Examining the job history I was able to determine the real error message.

Executed as user: PROD\SQLAgent. Could not remove directory '\\dummy\Replication\unc\DUMMY_TRANSLOG_TRANSLOG\20080205230108\'. Check the security context of xp_cmdshell and close other processes that may be accessing the directory. [SQLSTATE 42000] (Error 20015). The step failed.

To provide some background information on the Distribution Cleanup Job. When a server is configured to be a Distributer a job is created titled ‘Distribution clean up: distribution’. The job has one step and it calls a stored proc called dbo.sp_MSdistribution_cleanup where it will clear out records from the MSrepl_commands and MSrepl_transactions tables. The cleanup procedure also deletes any expired snapshots stored in the Replication folder.

The first step in debugging was to confirm if xp_cmdshell was enabled. (more…)