Ralf Eisenreich

There are two options executing SSIS packages:

- xp_cmdshell command (not recommended for security reasons)
- sp_start_job command

The main difference between both options is the execution method. The xp_cmdshell command is a synchronous call and the sp_start_job command is an asynchronous call.

xp_cmdshell command (synchronous)

• enable xp_cmdshell mode in Surface Area Configuration Tool for SQL Server
• use following procedure to execute SSIS package:
  
DECLARE @returncode int
EXEC @returncode = xp_cmdshell 'dtexec /f "PackageNameWithFullPath.dtsx"'


sp_start_job (asynchronous)

• define job in SQL Server Agent with SSIS execution step
• use following procedure to start SQL Server Agent job with SSIS execution step:
  
[msdb].dbo.sp_start_job @job_name='JobName'

• check execution status of job, since the call is asynchronous:
  
SELECT
[server],
[start_execution_date],
[stop_execution_date],
[run_date],
[run_duration],
[run_status],
[message]
FROM
MSDB.DBO.SYSJOBS Z
INNER JOIN
MSDB.DBO.SYSJOBACTIVITY A
ON Z.JOB_ID = A.JOB_ID
INNER JOIN
(
SELECT
MAX(SESSION_ID) AS SESSION_ID
FROM
MSDB.DBO.SYSSESSIONS
) AS B
ON A.SESSION_ID = B.SESSION_ID
LEFT JOIN
MSDB.DBO.SYSJOBHISTORY C
ON A.JOB_HISTORY_ID = C.INSTANCE_ID
WHERE
Z.NAME = 'JobName'


There is following way to make the call of sp_start_job synchronous.

sp_start_job (synchronous)

• define job in SQL Server Agent with SSIS execution step
• use following procedure to start SQL Server Agent job with SSIS execution step:
  
ALTER PROCEDURE [dbo].[AGENT_JOB_CHECK2]
-- Add the parameters for the stored procedure here
DECLARE @job_name nvarchar(100)='',
DECLARE @maxwaitmins int = 5
AS
BEGIN
set NOCOUNT ON;
set XACT_ABORT ON;
BEGIN TRY
declare @running as int
declare @seccount as int
declare @maxseccount as int
set @maxseccount = 60*@maxwaitmins
set @seccount = 0
set @running = 0
declare @job_owner sysname
declare @job_id UNIQUEIDENTIFIER
set @job_owner = SUSER_SNAME()
-- get job id
select @job_id=job_id
from msdb.dbo.sysjobs sj
where sj.name=@job_name
-- invalid job name then exit with an error
if @job_id is null
RAISERROR (N'Unknown job: %s.', 16, 1, @job_name)
-- output from stored procedure xp_sqlagent_enum_jobs is captured in the following table
declare @xp_results TABLE ( job_id UNIQUEIDENTIFIER NOT NULL,
last_run_date INT NOT NULL,
last_run_time INT NOT NULL,
next_run_date INT NOT NULL,
next_run_time INT NOT NULL,
next_run_schedule_id INT NOT NULL,
requested_to_run INT NOT NULL, -- BOOL
request_source INT NOT NULL,
request_source_id sysname COLLATE database_default NULL,
running INT NOT NULL, -- BOOL
current_step INT NOT NULL,
current_retry_attempt INT NOT NULL,
job_state INT NOT NULL)
-- start the job
declare @r as int
exec @r = msdb..sp_start_job @job_name
-- quit if unable to start
if @r<>0
RAISERROR (N'Could not start job: %s.', 16, 2, @job_name)
-- start with an initial delay to allow the job to appear in the job list (maybe I am missing something ?)
WAITFOR DELAY '0:0:10';
set @seccount = 10
-- check job run state
insert into @xp_results
execute master.dbo.xp_sqlagent_enum_jobs 1, @job_owner, @job_id
set @running= (SELECT top 1 running from @xp_results)
while @running<>0 and @seccount < @maxseccount
begin
WAITFOR DELAY '0:0:10';
set @seccount = @seccount + 10
delete from @xp_results
insert into @xp_results
execute master.dbo.xp_sqlagent_enum_jobs 1, @job_owner, @job_id
set @running= (SELECT top 1 running from @xp_results)
end
-- result: query
SELECT
[server],
[start_execution_date],
[stop_execution_date],
[run_date],
[run_duration],
[run_status], -- 0: failed, 1: success, null: running
[message]
FROM
MSDB.DBO.SYSJOBS Z
INNER JOIN
MSDB.DBO.SYSJOBACTIVITY A
ON Z.JOB_ID = A.JOB_ID
INNER JOIN
(
SELECT
MAX(SESSION_ID) AS SESSION_ID
FROM
MSDB.DBO.SYSSESSIONS
) AS B
ON A.SESSION_ID = B.SESSION_ID
LEFT JOIN
MSDB.DBO.SYSJOBHISTORY C
ON A.JOB_HISTORY_ID = C.INSTANCE_ID
WHERE Z.NAME = @job_name
-- result: not ok (=1) if still running
--if @running <> 0
--return 0
--else
--return 1
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
DECLARE
@ErrorMessage NVARCHAR(4000),
@ErrorNumber INT,
@ErrorSeverity INT,
@ErrorState INT,
@ErrorLine INT,
@ErrorProcedure NVARCHAR(200);
SELECT
@ErrorNumber = ERROR_NUMBER(),
@ErrorSeverity = ERROR_SEVERITY(),
@ErrorState = ERROR_STATE(),
@ErrorLine = ERROR_LINE(),
@ErrorProcedure = ISNULL(ERROR_PROCEDURE(), '-');
SELECT @ErrorMessage =
N'Error %d, Level %d, State %d, Procedure %s, Line %d, ' +
'Message: '+ ERROR_MESSAGE();
RAISERROR
(
@ErrorMessage,
@ErrorSeverity,
1,
@ErrorNumber, -- original error number.
@ErrorSeverity, -- original error severity.
@ErrorState, -- original error state.
@ErrorProcedure, -- original error procedure name.
@ErrorLine -- original error line number.
);
END CATCH
END


[Source: http://blog.boxedbits.com/archives/124]