Setting an Agent to Run Under a Specific Login Account on Windows

Versions: 8.0+

The QuerySurge Agent installs as a service on Windows. The default user account on Windows under which services install is the "Local System" account. This account is fine for many Agent tasks, but there are some tasks that you might want to perform with your Agent that need different permissions than the Local System account has. Examples include read access to a network share drive (containing Flat Files), or accessing SQL Server via Windows Authentication (where the Agent needs to authenticate with SQL Server using your Windows account). For these situations, as well as any others requiring the Agent to run under a specific login account, you can change your Agent service to run under a user account of your own choosing.

Note: If you change the Agent login account, make sure the new account has rights for all Agent tasks that you plan to execute. Specifically, the new account should have an equal or greater rights level than the default Local System service account.

Note: It is strongly recommended that you request creation of a network user for QuerySurge Agents with all required rights, as opposed to using the login of an existing user for the Agent. The reason for this recommendation is that your organization may need to track network access, and if an existing user's login is used for an Agent, it may not be clear what tasks the user performed and what tasks QuerySurge performed on the network.

Changing your Agent Login Account

The following procedure should be executed on each Agent machine. You will need Administrative rights to complete the procedure.

1. Open the Windows Services console (Start Menu > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services). Scroll down to the QuerySurgeAgent service, and right-click on this entry. Select Properties in the context menu. Stop the Agent by clicking on the Stop button in the lower portion of the popup.
   
   
   
2. Click on the Log On tab. The Local System account will be selected by default.
   
   
   
3. Click on the This account radio button.
   
   
   You need to enter your account name in [e-mail] format. If you are not sure of the exact format of the new user account for the Agent, click on the Browse button. 
   
   
4. After clicking on the Browse button, the Select User or Service Account dialog will appear. In the dialog, click on the Locations button. Select Entire Directory in the popup. Note that you may need elevated permissions to complete this, or the help of an administrator. 
   
   
   
5. In the Enter the object name to select textbox, type the new account name for the Agent. Then click on the Check Names button. If your system recognizes the account name, the fully qualified name will appear. Click OK.
   
   
   
6. The account name in the proper format will appear next to the This account radio button. You will then need to enter the credentials for the account. In the lower right, click Apply.
   
   
   If there is any problem with your entries, a notification should appear. If service accepts the change, depending on your network, you may receive no notification, or you may receive a confirming notification about the account.
   
   
7. Click back to the General tab, and use the Start button to start your Agent Service. Once the Service has started, click OK.
   
   
8. Make sure to repeat these steps for every Agent installation.