This one is quick but interesting. You may run into an error “WMI Provider Error: Cannot find object or property” during SQL Server migration, in particular when switching SQL Service account from Source to Target.
The error occurs because SQL is normally encrypting client-server communications via SSL and needs certificate for that purpose, so it’s trying to obtain one from the service account’s local certificate store. However since the service account was migrated, even though Target account shares the same profile with the Source service account on this server and has access to the most profile aspects, it does not have access to the local certificate store with its new Target SID because access is encrypted with the Source accounts’ SID. To resolve:
– Delete this service account’s profile from this server using GUI | Delete Profile dialog while logging into the server with some 3rd account.
OR
– Create new SQL service account in Target
And don’t forget to skip SPN if you are migrating service accounts. Happy migrations!
