Sql 2008 and 'Agent XPs' component is turned off as part of the security configuration of this server when creating a Maintenance Plan

If you try to create a Maintenance Plan on Sql 2008 you may get the following error:
'Agent XPs' component is turned off as part of the security configuration of this server. A system administrator can enable the use of 'Agent XPs' by using sp_configure....

The reason is simple - the Sql Server Agent Service, which handles Maintenance plans among other things, is not started automatically. The service is set to Manual start. The solution is simple - just set it to Automatic (so it starts in case of a reboot) and start it up!

You can, of course, do this through windows services, but you can also do it through the Sql tools - specifically the "Sql Server Configuration Manager".

Step 1 - open up the Sql Server Configuration Manager and click on 'Sql Server Services in the left pane. You will see that the SQL Server Agetn is Stopped and has its 'Start Mode' set to Manual.

Step 2 - double click on the Sql Server Agent in the right tab and its properties will appear. Click on the 'Start' button to begin it running.

Step 3 - now click on the 'Service' tab and change the Start Mode to Automatic. This will ensure that if your server restarts this service will start as well (and hence you will get your Maintenance plans.

Now, give yourself a raise and take the rest of the day off....