SQL Server Error 22022

Error number

22022

Severity

16 (user-correctable error)

State

1

Product

Microsoft SQL Server Database Engine

Versions

SQL Server editions that include SQL Server Agent (2016 to 2025, not Express), Azure SQL Managed Instance

Category

SQL Server Agent

Last reviewed

23 October 2026

What it means

Error 22022 means you asked msdb to start a job (or otherwise notify SQL Server Agent) while the SQL Server Agent service was not running, so nothing happened.

Job procedures in msdb store their changes in tables and then notify the SQL Server Agent service. When the service is stopped, the notification fails and SQL Server sends this text. For sp_start_job it arrives as an error at level 16 and the job does not start; for procedures that only change job definitions (sp_add_jobserver, sp_update_job, sp_delete_job) it arrives as an informational message and the change is saved anyway, so Agent picks it up when it next starts.

Two details confuse people. The number 22022 is not the message stored in sys.messages: there 22022 is an unrelated internal file error, because this text is raised by the Agent notification extended procedure rather than from the catalogue. And because it comes from an extended procedure, TRY...CATCH does not catch it and @@ERROR stays 0; check the return code of sp_start_job instead (it returned 1 in our test).

Common causes

• The SQL Server Agent service is stopped, for example after a server restart when its start mode is Manual or Disabled.
• SQL Server Agent failed to start or stopped on its own, for example because its service account password changed or the account lost rights.
• The edition does not support SQL Server Agent: SQL Server Express cannot run Agent jobs.
• A script, application or deployment pipeline starts a job straight after a restart, before anyone has started Agent.

Diagnose it

Read-only These queries only read metadata and dynamic management views. They do not change data, permissions or configuration, so they are safe to run first.

SELECT servicename, status_desc, startup_type_desc, service_account
FROM sys.dm_server_services
WHERE servicename LIKE N'SQL Server Agent%';

SELECT session_id, program_name, login_name, login_time
FROM sys.dm_exec_sessions
WHERE program_name LIKE N'SQLAgent%';

SELECT SERVERPROPERTY('Edition') AS edition, SERVERPROPERTY('ProductVersion') AS version;

SELECT TOP (20) j.name, a.start_execution_date, a.stop_execution_date, a.run_requested_source
FROM msdb.dbo.sysjobactivity AS a
JOIN msdb.dbo.sysjobs AS j ON j.job_id = a.job_id
ORDER BY a.run_requested_date DESC;

How to fix it

Each fix is labelled with what it changes. Try read-only checks and the least invasive fix first, and test changes outside production.

-- PowerShell, run as an administrator on the server (default instance)
Start-Service -Name SQLSERVERAGENT

DECLARE @rc int;
EXEC @rc = msdb.dbo.sp_start_job @job_name = N'Nightly ETL';
IF @rc <> 0
    THROW 50001, N'Nightly ETL did not start. Is SQL Server Agent running?', 1;

Examples

Starting a job while SQL Server Agent is stopped

Reproduced on SQL Server 2025 (17.0.1145.4) with SQL Server Agent stopped, using a temporary job that was deleted afterwards; the job name is changed here. SSMS and .NET SqlClient report Line 0; sqlcmd prints the same error as HResult 0x5606, Level 16, State 1. The procedure returned 1, @@ERROR was 0 and TRY...CATCH did not catch it.

EXEC msdb.dbo.sp_start_job @job_name = N'Nightly ETL';

Msg 22022, Level 16, State 1, Line 0
SQLServerAgent is not currently running so it cannot be notified of this action.

How to prevent it

Set SQL Server Agent to start automatically on every server that runs jobs, and include it in post-patching and post-restart checks. Monitoring sys.dm_server_services for a stopped Agent catches the problem before a scheduled job is missed, because when Agent is down no schedules run at all, and nothing reports it.

In deployment or ETL scripts that start jobs, check the return code of sp_start_job rather than relying on error handling.

Common questions

Learn more on CodeWithSQL

• How to install SQL Server
• Stored procedures and functions

Official documentation

• sp_start_job (Transact-SQL)
• Start, stop, or pause the SQL Server Agent service

Last technically reviewed 23 October 2026; examples and diagnostics run on SQL Server 2025 (17.0.1145.4). Message text checked against the engine's sys.messages catalogue.