Service Accounts (Clusters)

  • Article

Use the Service Accounts (Clusters) page of the Microsoft SQL Server Installation Wizard to assign a login account to the SQL Server services. The actual services configured on this page depend on the features that you have selected to install.

Options

You can assign the same login account to all SQL Server services, or you can configure each service account individually. You can also specify whether services start automatically.

ms143763.security(en-US,SQL.90).gifSecurity Note:
Setting strong passwords is essential to the security of your system. Always use strong passwords.

  • Customize for each service account
    Select the Customize for each service account check box to customize settings for individual services.

    This option assigns specific logon accounts to individual services. Click this check box to implement the principle of least privileges, where SQL Server services are granted the minimum permissions they need to complete their tasks. For more information, see Setting Up Windows Service Accounts.

    If this check box is not selected, the same account and settings are used for all SQL Server services.

    Select any of the following services to customize its settings.

    Select this service To configure authentication settings for

    SQL Server

    The SQL Server Database Engine

    SQL Server Agent

    The service that executes jobs, monitors, SQL Server, and allows automation of administrative tasks.

    Analysis Services

    Analysis Services

    Reporting Services

    Reporting Services. Service accounts are used to configure a report server database connection. Choose a domain user account if you want to connect to a report server database on a remote SQL Server instance. If you are using a local report server database, you can use a domain user account or Local System to run the service.

    SQL Server Browser

    SQL Server Browser is the name resolution service that provides SQL Server connection information to client computers. This service is shared across multiple SQL Server and Integration Services instances.
  • Use the built-in System account
    This option is disabled because you cannot use a built-in System account on a SQL Server Cluster.

  • Use a domain user account
    Specifies a domain user account that uses Windows Authentication to set up and connect to SQL Server. We recommend using a domain user account with minimal rights for the SQL Server service, as the SQL Server service does not require administrator account privileges.

    The SQL Server Agent account must have administrator privileges if you create CmdExec and ActiveScript jobs that belong to someone other than a SQL Server administrator, or if you use the AutoRestart feature. If the above features are requirements in your environment, consider using separate service accounts for the SQL Server and SQL Server Agent services.

    For strong password guidelines, see Authentication Mode.

    Note

    The domain name cannot be a full DNS name. For example, if your DNS name is my-domain-name.com, use my-domain-name in the domain field. SQL Server Setup will not accept my-domain-name.com in the domain field.

  • Start services at the end of SQL Server Setup
    Automatically starts the services when your operating system is started. For SQL Server 2005, the services Auto-start option will be selected by default for SQL Server, Analysis Services, and Reporting Services.

    Note

    The SQL Server Agent service depends on the SQL Server service. If you select the Auto-start check box for SQL Server Agent, Auto-start is automatically selected for the SQL Server service and it cannot be unchecked unless you uncheck the option for SQL Server Agent.

    Important

    Off by Default - To enhance security in SQL Server 2005, some services and features are not activated by default. They have to be configured and enabled after Setup is complete. For more information, see SQL Server Surface Area Configuration and Security Considerations for a SQL Server Installation.

See Also

Reference

Setting Up Windows Service Accounts

Concepts

Security Considerations for a SQL Server Installation

Help and Information

Getting SQL Server 2005 Assistance