Microsoft KB Archive/310639

= BUG: SP_ADD_JOBSTEP Does Not Recognize Server Names Longer Than 30 Characters =

Article ID: 310639

Article Last Modified on 9/26/2005

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q310639



BUG #: 354710 (SHILOH_BUGS)



SYMPTOMS
When you use the msdb..sp_add_jobstep stored procedure to add a job step, if the server name (NetBIOS name + \Instance name) exceeds 30 characters, msdb..sp_add_jobstep may fail with the following error:

Error 14234: The specified '@server' is invalid&quot; (valid values are returned by sp_helpserver).

For example, this error may be returned when you configure a replication distribution server or when you run the Create Job Wizard on a server with a name that exceeds 30 characters.



CAUSE
The msdb..sp_add_jobstep stored procedure assigns the datatype NVARCHAR(30) to the parameter @server. It is possible to install SQL Server 2000 with a server name longer than 30 characters. For example, the server NetBIOS name might be &quot;MSSUPPORTSQL010&quot; and the SQL Server instance name might be &quot;MSTVSQLINSTANCE01&quot;. The NetBIOS name and instance name would be separated with a backslash (\) like this MSSUPPORTSQL010\MSSQLINSTANCE01.



WORKAROUND
To work around this problem, make sure that the server name (NetBIOS name + \Instance name) does not exceed 30 characters.

Here is a quote from the &quot;Instance Name&quot; topic in SQL Server Books Online:

&quot;Important: It is recommended that instance names be kept to less than 10 characters. Instance names can appear in the user interface of various SQL Server and system tools; shorter names are more readable.&quot;



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in SQL Server 2000.

Keywords: kbbug kbqfe kbpending kbhotfixserver KB310639

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