You have an instance of SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines named VM1. You plan to schedule a SQL Server Agent job that will rebuild indexes of the databases hosted on VM1. You need to configure…

Question

Options

• AIncrease scheduling priority
• BLog on as a service
• CProfile system performance
• DLog on as a batch job

• A
  4% (1)
• B
  96% (25)

Explanation

SQL Server Agent Service Account Rights

"Log on as a service" is correct because SQL Server Agent runs as a Windows service, and the service account must be granted this specific right to allow it to authenticate and run continuously in the background as a service process - this is the minimum required permission and perfectly aligns with the principle of least privilege.

Why the distractors are wrong:

• A (Increase scheduling priority) allows a process to boost its CPU scheduling priority, which is unnecessary for a job agent and would grant more system-level power than needed.
• C (Profile system performance) permits monitoring of system performance counters, which is irrelevant to running scheduled SQL Agent jobs.
• D (Log on as a batch job) is used for accounts running scheduled tasks via Task Scheduler or batch queues - not for Windows services like SQL Server Agent.

Memory Tip: Think of it this way - SQL Server Agent is a service, so it needs to "log on as a service." Any time a question asks about the minimum rights for a SQL Server component that runs as a Windows service (Agent, Engine, SSRS, etc.), "Log on as a service" is almost always the answer tied to least privilege.

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