SQL Server Integration Services 2012 (RC0) Project Conversion Bugs

UPDATE – 10th February 2012

Since writing this article I’ve discovered that the Int32 error discussed below occurs irrespective of whether the ServerPort value is greater than 32767 i.e. even a value of 21 (the default) causes the same error.

I’ve also discovered that the following additional FTP Task properties cause the same Int32 error (irrespective of their value):

• ChunkSize
• Retries
• Timeout

I believe this error occurs because the datatype for these properties is being stored in the configuration file as Int32 and the Integration Services Project Conversion Wizard expects them to be Int16.

There’s going to be a lot of unhappy people is this isn’t fixed in RTM!

Original Post

Stumbled across a couple of bugs the other day while upgrading a SSIS 2008 package to SSIS 2012 RC0.  The bugs relate to using a FTP Task with a Server Port greater than 32767.

The bugs identified have been reported via Microsoft Connect (item 721089) however I have been advised that fixes for these bugs won’t make it into the RTM version of SQL Server 2012.  Therefore, if you’re using FTP Tasks with a Server Port number greater than 32767, you are going to have problems converting your SSIS projects to SSIS 2012.

I apologise in advance for the length of this post however there are quite a few bugs and workarounds to cover.

The Problem

I have a SSIS project which contains a FTP Task configured using a configuration file.  One of the properties configured via the configuration file is the FTP Server Port which is set to 36360. 

When upgrading this project to SSIS 2012 (RC0) using the various conversion wizard (3 to be precise!), the conversion fails with the following error:

The parameter value could not be assigned because the data types did not match. The provided value was of type "Int32", the expected data type was "Int16".

Subsequent attempts to rectify the error can also result in the following exception loop:

An exception occurred while setting the parameter value for “ServerPort” (Int16). The exception message was: Value was wither too large or too small for an Int16.

and the following errors:

There were errors while loading the package. See the error list for details.

Error loading Package.dtsx: Failed to decrypt protected XML node "DTS:Property" with error 0x8009000B "Key not valid for use in specified state.". You may not be authorized to access this information. This error occurs when there is a cryptographic error. Verify that the correct key is available.

FTP Server Port defaulting to 21

Steps to Reproduce Errors

Create Legacy SSIS Package

The following is an abridged version of creating a package containing a FTP Task.  Please refer to SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) – Part 22 – Receive File using FTP Task in SSIS Package if you require further assistance with creating this package.

1. Create a SSIS 2008 project containing at least 1 SSIS package
2. Add a FTP Task to the package and configure it to use a Server Port of 36360  (You can use any value greater than 32767 (Int16 upper boundary).  I’m using 36360 as it’s easier to demonstrate).
3. Enable package configurations and add a XML Configuration File to the project. 
4. Add the ServerPort property of the FTP Connection Manager to the configuration file.
5. Save and close the project.

One thing you’ll notice while completing Step 4 is that the type of the ServerPort property is listed as Int16, despite the default value being 36360 (bug in SSIS 2008). There’s no way to change the associated type. 

If you view the configuration file created at Step 4, you’ll see that the ValueType of the ServerPort property is listed as Int32 despite the type being listed as Int16 in the Package Configuration Wizard.

BTW, changing the data type in the configuration file to Int32 does not change it to Int32 in the Package Configuration Wizard.  Changing this value also causes the property to disappear from the list of available properties to convert to package parameters during the Integration Services Project Conversion wizard steps (discussed below).

Convert Legacy SSIS Package to SSIS 2012 (RC0)

During this process you will encounter 3 conversion wizards (!!!) in the following order:

1. Visual Studio Conversion Wizard
2. SSIS Package Upgrade Wizard
3. Integration Services Project Conversion Wizard (a.k.a. Convert to Project Deployment Model)

The first wizard simply converts a legacy Project or Solution into 2012 RC0.  The second wizard converts SSIS packages to 2012 RC0.   The third wizard converts a project to use the new Project Deployment Model.

Visual Studio Conversion Wizard

1. Launch SQL Server Data Tools
2. Open the legacy project created above
3. Follow the Visual Studio Conversion Wizard steps (using the default values selected by the wizard) to complete the conversion of the Solution.

Nothing special to report here.

SSIS Package Upgrade Wizard

Prior to the completion of the Visual Studio Conversion Wizard,  the SSIS Package Upgrade Wizard launches (It’s essentially the last step of the Visual Studio Conversion Wizard).

1. Follow the steps of the SSIS Package Upgrade Wizard (using the default values selected by the wizard) until you get to the “Select Package Management Options” screen. 

   Note that there’s an option to “Ignore configurations”.  Checking this option seems to have no affect on the conversion process as the reported errors (which I now know relate to configuration file properties) still occur.

   

2. Click the “Next” button.
3. Click the “Finish” button to start the conversion process.  After a few seconds you’ll be advised that the conversion process failed. 
4. Click on the Messages hyperlink to view the conversion errors. The interesting thing is that one of the errors talks about decrypting a protected XML node however I am not using encryption and there is no mention of any data type errors.

   

5. Click the “X” at the top of the “View Report” dialog to close it.
6. Click the “Close” button to exit the SSIS Package Upgrade Wizard.
7. Click the “Close” button to exit the Visual Studio Conversion Wizard.

Integration Services Project Conversion Wizard (a.k.a Convert to Project Deployment Model)

If you look at Solution Explorer, you’ll see that your project has the words “Package Deployment Model” appended to its name.  This advises that your package is still using the legacy deployment method.

1. Right click on you project and select “Convert to Project Deployment Model”.  This will launch the Integration Services Project Conversion Wizard (Yes I know, confusing naming conventions).

   

2. Follow the wizard steps (using the default values selected by the wizard) until you reach the “Select Configurations” screen.  Ensure that the configuration file for your package has been loaded.  If it hasn’t loaded, click the “Add Configurations” button to add the relevant configuration file.

   

3. Clicking the “Next” button takes you to the “Create Parameters” screen where you can select what properties in your configuration file should be converted to Project/Package Parameters.  Ensure that ServerPort is selected and has a scope of Package.

   

4. Clicking on the “Next” button takes you to the “Configure Parameters” screen.  Note that there is no indication that the ServerPort parameter is invalid.

   

5. Click the “Next” button.
6. Click the “Convert” button to start the conversion process. After a couple of seconds a dialog box appears advising that the project has been converted to the “Project Deployment Model” however in the background you will see that the conversion actually failed (bug).

   

7. Click on the “Ok” button to close the dialog box
8. Click on the “Failed” hyperlink to view the error message.  Once again there is no real indication of what exactly caused this error (not hard to work this out as there is only one value that could cause this error in this project. Not so easy when you’re converting a large number of values though!).

    

9. Click the “Save Report” button to save the conversion report.
10. Click the “Close” button to close the wizard. 
11. Navigate to the location where you saved the conversion report and open it.  You will see that the report provides no information whatsoever on the error that occurred during the conversion process.  It doesn’t even state that the conversion failed.
12. Close the report.

You will see that your project still has the words “Package Deployment Model” appended to its name. Further confirmation that the conversion failed.

Investigating the Error

This is where things get a little messy as there are two paths that can be taken to identify and rectify the conversion error however both paths produce additional errors along the way.

Path 1 – Running the Convert to Project Deployment Model wizard again without modifying the SSIS Package

Please Note: Do not open the package in the SSIS designer (i.e. don’t double click on the package or select “View Designer” from the context menu when you right click on the package) before undertaking these steps.

1. Launch the “Convert to Project Deployment Model” wizard again and follow the wizard steps (using the default values selected by the wizard) until you reach the “Configure Parameters” screen.
2. Click on the text 36360 (i.e. click on the cell containing this text).  Now try and click on the ellipse button next to the ServerPort parameter, the Previous, Next or Cancel buttons, or the Hyperlinked wizard steps
   
3. You have now entered an exception loop (bug!) which displays the following error:

   

   The only way out of this loop is to click on the “X” at the top right of the wizard as the Cancel button can’t be clicked.
   

4. Click the “X” at the top of the wizard and confirm that you want to cancel the conversion process.
5. Launch the wizard again and follow the wizard steps (using the default values selected by the wizard) until you reach the “Configure Parameters” screen.  Do not click on the cell containing the 36360 value otherwise you’ll enter the exception loop again
6. Click on the ellipse button next to the ServerPort parameter to launch the “Set Parameter Details” dialog. Notice that the data type is set as int16 and there’s no way to change it.
7. Move your mouse over the red and white exclamation icon next to the Value property. A ToolTip is displayed advising that the value is either too large or too small for an Int16

   

8. Change the value to 21 and click on the “Ok” button.
9. Complete the rest of wizard.  This time the conversion should complete without error.

If you view the converted package in the designer (by double clicking on the package) and then view the Parameters tab, you will see a ServerPort parameter of data type Int16 and a value of 21.  Change the data type to Int32 and the value to 36360. Your package has now been successfully converted to SSIS 2012 RC0.

Path 2 – Running the Convert to Project Deployment Model wizard again after modifying the SSIS Package

This path requires you to use the original legacy SSIS package you created at Create Legacy SSIS Package above i.e. don’t use the converted project created in Path 1.

1. Follow all the steps in Convert Legacy SSIS Package to SSIS 2012 (RC0) above.  Move onto the next step once all the conversion wizard steps have completed.
2. Double click the SSIS package (in Solution Explorer) to open it in the designer.  You will get the following error:

   There were errors while loading the package.  See the error list for details.
   

3. Click on the “Ok” button to close the dialog and view the Error List.  There is one error:

   Error loading Package.dtsx: Failed to decrypt protected XML node "DTS:Property" with error 0x8009000B "Key not valid for use in specified state.". You may not be authorized to access this information. This error occurs when there is a cryptographic error. Verify that the correct key is available.
   
   

   BTW, this package doesn’t use encryption so I suspect that this error actually relates to the Int16 conversion error (bug?).
   

4. Double click on the FTP Connection Manager to open the FTP Connection Manager Editor.  Notice that the ServerPort value is 36360.  There is no indication that this value is what caused the conversion error.
5. Close the FTP Connection Manager editor.
6. Click on the Parameters tab at the top of the designer.  Notice that no configuration properties were converted into package parameters. This indicates that the error received during the conversion process was probably caused by one of the properties in the configuration file as we told the conversion wizard to convert these properties into parameters and none have been converted..
7. Switch back to Control View by clicking on the Control View tab.
8. Double click on the FTP Connection Manager again to open the FTP Connection Manager Editor.  Notice that the ServerPort value has been changed to 21 (bug!).
9. Change the value back to 36360
10. Close the FTP Connection Manager Editor and then open it again.  Notice that the value has reverted back to 21 (bug!). 
11. Change the value back to 36360 and close the FTP Connection Manager Editor (Btw, the value has actually been reset back to 21 behind the scene at this point.  You just don’t know it at this stage) (bug!).
12. Save the package and project.
13. Launch the “Convert to Project Deployment Model” wizard again and follow the wizard steps (using the default values selected by the wizard) until you reach the “Configure Parameters” screen.  Notice that the ServerPort parameter value shows 21 despite it being set to 36360 (bug!). 

    

    Please note: If you try to complete the rest of the conversion process using the value of 21 without following the next couple of steps, you will still get the reported Int16 to Int32 error message despite the fact 21 is a valid Int16 value (bug!). 
    

14. Click on the Ellipse button of the ServerPort parameter.
15. Click on the “Ok” button of the “Set Parameter Details” dialog.  It appears that these two steps force the conversion wizard to convert the ServerPort property from a data type of Int32 to int16 despite no changes being made) (bug!).
16. Click the “Next” button.
17. Click the “Convert” button.  This time the conversion should complete without error.

If you view the converted packed in the package designer (by double clicking on the package) and then view the parameters tab, you will see a ServerPort parameter of data type Int16 and a value of 21. Change the data type to Int32 and the value to 36360. Your package has now been successfully converted to SSIS 2012 RC0.

Conclusion

Despite the fact that these errors shouldn’t occur in the first place, tracking down what caused the errors was a right pain in the butt as the error reports produced by the various conversion wizards and the error reported in the Error List while viewing the package were pretty useless.

As previously stated, the bugs identified have been reported via Microsoft Connect (item 721089) however I have been advised that fixes for these bugs won’t make it into the RTM version of SQL Server 2012.  Given the number of bugs discovered and the workarounds required to get past them, these issues should be fixed in RTM so please visit the connect item and vote for them to get fixed.