SQL Server Error 7391

Error number

7391

Severity

16 (user-correctable error)

State

Not documented by Microsoft (not reproduced here)

Product

Microsoft SQL Server Database Engine

Versions

All supported SQL Server versions (2016 to 2025) on Windows with linked servers; on Linux, MSDTC must be configured separately

Category

Linked Servers

Last reviewed

24 October 2026

What it means

Error 7391 means a statement needed to turn your transaction into a distributed transaction across a linked server, and the Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (MSDTC) on one of the servers could not start or join it.

When a transaction changes data on a linked server, or explicitly starts with BEGIN DISTRIBUTED TRANSACTION, SQL Server asks MSDTC to coordinate a two-phase commit between both servers. If the provider cannot enlist in that transaction, SQL Server stops with 7391. The quoted names are the provider and the linked server; the cause is almost never in the query itself.

Microsoft lists the usual reasons: MSDTC is not running, or it runs with network access switched off, on either server; the two servers cannot reach each other by name in both directions; a firewall blocks the RPC ports MSDTC uses; or the linked server loops back to the same instance, which does not support distributed transactions. A remote object can also call a third server, which then becomes the real source of the failure.

Common causes

• The MSDTC service is stopped, or Network DTC Access (inbound and outbound) is disabled, on the local or the remote server.
• Name resolution or a firewall blocks MSDTC: the servers can reach each other by IP address but not by name, or the dynamic RPC ports are closed.
• A local transaction is promoted because it changes remote data (or runs INSERT ... EXEC against a remote procedure) while the remote side cannot take part in a distributed transaction.
• The provider or the remote data source does not support distributed transactions, or the linked server points back to the same instance (loopback).
• On a failover cluster, the clustered MSDTC resource or its name resolution is not configured correctly.

Diagnose it

Read-only These queries only read metadata and dynamic management views. They do not change data, permissions or configuration, so they are safe to run first.

SELECT name, provider, data_source, is_rpc_out_enabled,
       is_remote_proc_transaction_promotion_enabled
FROM sys.servers
WHERE is_linked = 1;

SELECT @@SERVERNAME AS server_name,
       SERVERPROPERTY('MachineName') AS machine_name,
       SERVERPROPERTY('ServerName') AS instance_name;

SELECT name, value_in_use
FROM sys.configurations
WHERE name IN (N'remote proc trans', N'remote access');

SELECT at.transaction_id, at.name, at.transaction_begin_time, at.dtc_state, st.session_id
FROM sys.dm_tran_active_transactions AS at
LEFT JOIN sys.dm_tran_session_transactions AS st ON st.transaction_id = at.transaction_id
WHERE at.transaction_type = 4 OR at.dtc_state <> 0;

How to fix it

Each fix is labelled with what it changes. Try read-only checks and the least invasive fix first, and test changes outside production.

-- Copy what you need first (no local transaction open)
SELECT order_id, total
INTO #remote_orders
FROM OPENQUERY(SALESSRV01, 'SELECT order_id, total FROM Sales.dbo.Orders WHERE order_date >= ''2026-10-01''');

BEGIN TRANSACTION;
    UPDATE o SET o.total = r.total
    FROM dbo.Orders AS o JOIN #remote_orders AS r ON r.order_id = o.order_id;
COMMIT;

SET XACT_ABORT ON;
BEGIN DISTRIBUTED TRANSACTION;
    UPDATE SALESSRV01.Sales.dbo.Orders SET status = 'shipped' WHERE order_id = 1001;
    UPDATE dbo.Shipments SET shipped = 1 WHERE order_id = 1001;
COMMIT;

EXEC master.dbo.sp_serveroption
     @server = N'SALESSRV01',
     @optname = N'remote proc transaction promotion', @optvalue = N'false';

Examples

Changing remote and local data in one transaction

Shown as documented by Microsoft; not reproduced here, because it needs two servers and an MSDTC that is stopped or closed to the network. The state is not documented, so no message header is shown. A loopback linked server on our test instance gave error 3910 instead (shown in the variants).

BEGIN TRANSACTION;
    UPDATE SALESSRV01.Sales.dbo.Orders SET status = 'shipped' WHERE order_id = 1001;
    UPDATE dbo.Shipments SET shipped = 1 WHERE order_id = 1001;
COMMIT;

The operation could not be performed because OLE DB provider "MSOLEDBSQL19" for linked server "SALESSRV01" was unable to begin a distributed transaction.

How to prevent it

Design cross-server work so that most of it does not need a distributed transaction: stage remote data locally, or let each server commit its own part with a retry or reconciliation step. Where a distributed transaction is truly needed, include MSDTC (service, Network DTC Access, firewall, name resolution in both directions) in the server build checklist for both sides, and test it after patching, cluster changes or firewall changes.

Common questions

Learn more on CodeWithSQL

• Transactions and concurrency

Official documentation

• MSSQLSERVER_7391 (Microsoft Learn)
• BEGIN DISTRIBUTED TRANSACTION (Transact-SQL)
• Error message of OLE DB provider when you run a linked server query
• sp_serveroption (Transact-SQL)

Last technically reviewed 24 October 2026; examples and diagnostics run on SQL Server 2025 (17.0.1145.4). Message text checked against the engine's sys.messages catalogue.