Replication problem in SQL Server 2019 I have installed SQL Server 2019 RC1 and cannot create a snapshot. I keep getting the same message when I run the snapshot agent:

2019-10-30 12:32:41.59 Microsoft (R) SQL Server Snapshot Agent
2019-10-30 12:32:41.59 [Assembly Version = 15.0.0.0, File Version = 15.0.1900.25]
2019-10-30 12:32:41.59 Copyright (c) 2016 Microsoft Corporation.
2019-10-30 12:32:41.59 The timestamps prepended to the output lines are expressed in terms of UTC time.
2019-10-30 12:32:41.59 User-specified agent parameter values:
2019-10-30 12:32:41.59 --------------------------------------
2019-10-30 12:32:41.59 -Publisher DB100
2019-10-30 12:32:41.59 -PublisherDB REF3_DB
2019-10-30 12:32:41.59 -Publication REF3_PDR4
2019-10-30 12:32:41.59 -Distributor DB100
2019-10-30 12:32:41.59 -DistributorSecurityMode 1
2019-10-30 12:32:41.59 -XJOBID 0xA694274CD89FAF418C8B059F22C01B85
2019-10-30 12:32:41.59 --------------------------------------
2019-10-30 12:32:41.59 Connecting to Distributor 'DB100'
2019-10-30 12:32:41.64 Parameter values obtained from agent profile:
2019-10-30 12:32:41.64 ---------------------------------------------
2019-10-30 12:32:41.64 -BcpBatchSize 100000
2019-10-30 12:32:41.64 -HistoryVerboseLevel 2
2019-10-30 12:32:41.64 -LoginTimeout 15
2019-10-30 12:32:41.64 -QueryTimeout 1800
2019-10-30 12:32:41.64 ---------------------------------------------
2019-10-30 12:32:41.64 Validating Publisher
2019-10-30 12:32:41.64 Connecting to Publisher 'DB100'
2019-10-30 12:32:41.65 Publisher database compatibility level is set to 150.
2019-10-30 12:32:41.65 Retrieving publication and article information from the publisher database 'DB100.REF3_DB'
2019-10-30 12:32:41.65 [0%] Locking published tables while generating the snapshot
2019-10-30 12:32:41.67 [0%] The replication agent had encountered an exception.
2019-10-30 12:32:41.67 Source: Replication
2019-10-30 12:32:41.67 Exception Type: Microsoft.SqlServer.Replication.ReplicationAgentException
2019-10-30 12:32:41.67 Exception Message: An unspecified error had occurred in the native SQL Server connection component.
2019-10-30 12:32:41.67 Message Code: 55012
2019-10-30 12:32:41.67
It took me almost 2 days to resolve, but the following solved my issue

Even with the latest drivers installed the snapshot agent will still use the older version drivers that come with SQL Server 2019.

This has to do with the Path variable in your environment. Have a look at System Properties, Advanced System Settings, Environment Variables, System variables, Path.

Unless you have changed your defaults you will find %SystemRoot%\system32, %SystemRoot% at the top and C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\Client SDK\ODBC\170\Tools\Binn\  further down.

What you will not find is a path reference to %SystemRoot%\SysWOW64\ and %SystemRoot%\SysWOW64\1033 which is where the latest OLE drivers get installed on 64 bit systems. The driver files are msoledbsql.dll and msoledbsqlr.rll

So, when the snapshot agent starts it will use the OLE driver files installed relative to its binary somewhere under the C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\ branch as it cannot find any others in the Path.

When you insert %SystemRoot%\SysWOW64\ and %SystemRoot%\SysWOW64\1033 into your system Path variable (make sure this is above any references to C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server...) and the restart your SQL Server instance you should find that your problem goes away.

https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/sqlserver/en-US/e2c23cda-9e78-4514-bae6-27c6d34767a4/sql-server-2019-snapshot-agent-error?forum=sqldatabaseengine