If I had a nickel for every time I’ve encountered “Cannot load script for execution,” I’d have a lot of nickels.

In this short (7:24) video, I demonstrate the issue and my fix:

My Fix

For me, the fix is almost always setting the SSIS project’s TargetServerVersion property to the proper version:

“Andy, How Did I Get Here?” </TalkingHeads>

That is an excellent question. I’m glad you asked!

On my server, I installed SQL Server 2017. I also installed the latest version of SQL Server Management Studio even though it no longer supports Debugging (even though some DBAs never use debugging and don’t understand those of us who do… well, did use debugging in SSMS…) </miniRant1>.

When I installed the latest version of SSMS (v18.9.1 in this case), I also installed SQL Server 2019 components. Now, I get why SQL Server 2019 components are installed with SSMS; SSMS supports SQL Server 2019.

I wish the SSIS template did not default to the latest version of SQL Server it finds installed. I’d like an SSMS Debug button. And I’d also like a Visual Studio Business Intelligence option to set the default TargetServerVersion property – perhaps on this VS Options page (unless experienced DBAs never use it. In that case, it’s not a valid request, is it??) </miniRant2>:

If you haven’t checked out the “Skip validation when opening a package” functionality (shown in the image above), this is extremely handy. I don’t have as much time to grab coffee refills while waiting for packages to open, though. Confession: I still go grab coffee because of habit.

Conclusion

If you receive the “Cannot load script for execution” error, a good place to begin troubleshooting is: Verify the SSIS project TargetServerVersion property.

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