In trying to setup back up device, net use command throws operating system error 53 when passing in a unc

Question

So I'm trying to use XP_CMDSHELL to set up my drive for using a backup. I already have the drive mapped, but per Link, I figured I'd need to mount the drive using net use.

But when I do, I get System error 53, 'The network path was not found.'

EXEC XP_CMDSHELL 'net use S: \\sql-backup'

I know this unc is accessible from the server because it is mounted as a network share on the sql server.

Any ideas why the unc is unreachable?

• user507: Why don't you just backup straight to the UNC path, use that in your backup command, in place of mapping it?
• brian: +1 Shawn. There's no reason to use xp_cmdshell for this. Honestly, with all the tools available (CLRs, SSIS, the ability to invoke the command shell via the agent, Powershell...), there's really no legitimate reason to use xp_cmdshell. xp_cmdshell was a good "pre SQL 2005" tool that, for security reasons, most experts now recommend disabling.

Answer 1

You have to give it both the server name and a shared folder, i.e., \\Server\SharedFolder.

Answer 2

An idea would be to check to see if the account identity for the SQL Service has access to that network share.