SQL Server Error 7399

Error number

7399

Severity

16 (user-correctable error)

State

1

Product

Microsoft SQL Server Database Engine

Versions

All supported SQL Server versions (2016 to 2025), Azure SQL Managed Instance (supported providers only)

Category

Linked Servers

Last reviewed

23 October 2026

What it means

Error 7399 is a generic wrapper: the OLE DB provider behind a linked server failed and passed its own short reason, which is the part of the message after "reported an error."

SQL Server does not know why the provider failed; it relays what the provider said. So the useful part of 7399 is the text after reported an error., for example Authentication failed., Access denied. or a timeout, plus any returned message lines and the error that follows (often 7303 when the connect step failed, or 7350 and 7321 when a query step failed). Read all of them together before changing anything.

The quoted provider name tells you which driver was used (for example MSOLEDBSQL19 for the SQL Server OLE DB driver, Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.16.0 for Access and Excel files) and the second name is the linked server. Microsoft notes that the most common reason inside 7399 is a timeout: logging in to the remote server or running the remote query took longer than the configured limit.

Common causes

• The login mapping sends no usable credentials or wrong ones (reason Authentication failed., often with Invalid authorization specification).
• Windows credentials cannot be passed on (the double hop): the user connects with Windows authentication and the linked server uses self-mapping without Kerberos delegation.
• The remote server took too long to accept the login or to run the remote query (the timeout forms described by Microsoft).
• A file based provider (Access or Excel) cannot read the file as the SQL Server service account, or the provider gave no detail at all.
• A problem on the remote side, such as the remote database being offline or the remote query failing.

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, provider_string, catalog,
       connect_timeout, query_timeout, is_remote_login_enabled
FROM sys.servers
WHERE is_linked = 1;

SELECT s.name AS linked_server, p.name AS local_login, l.uses_self_credential, l.remote_name
FROM sys.linked_logins AS l
JOIN sys.servers AS s ON s.server_id = l.server_id
LEFT JOIN sys.server_principals AS p ON p.principal_id = l.local_principal_id
WHERE s.is_linked = 1;

SELECT session_id, auth_scheme, net_transport, client_net_address
FROM sys.dm_exec_connections
WHERE session_id = @@SPID;

SELECT name, value_in_use
FROM sys.configurations
WHERE name IN (N'remote login timeout (s)', N'remote query timeout (s)');

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.

EXEC master.dbo.sp_addlinkedsrvlogin
     @rmtsrvname = N'SALESSRV01', @useself = N'False',
     @locallogin = N'CONTOSO\ReportUser',
     @rmtuser = N'report_reader', @rmtpassword = N'<strong password>';

EXEC master.dbo.sp_testlinkedserver N'SALESSRV01';

EXEC master.dbo.sp_serveroption
     @server = N'SALESSRV01', @optname = N'query timeout', @optvalue = N'1200';

Examples

A login mapping with no remote credentials

Reproduced on SQL Server 2025 (17.0.1145.4) with a temporary linked server (MSOLEDBSQL provider) whose only login mapping had @useself = 'False' and no remote user; it was dropped afterwards and the name is changed here. The provider refused before any login reached the remote server.

-- Linked server SALESSRV01 (provider MSOLEDBSQL), mapped with:
-- EXEC sp_addlinkedsrvlogin N'SALESSRV01', N'False', NULL, NULL, NULL;
SELECT * FROM OPENQUERY(SALESSRV01, 'SELECT 1 AS x');

Msg 7399, Level 16, State 1, Line 3
The OLE DB provider "MSOLEDBSQL19" for linked server "SALESSRV01" reported an error. Authentication failed.
Msg 7303, Level 16, State 1, Line 3
Cannot initialize the data source object of OLE DB provider "MSOLEDBSQL19" for linked server "SALESSRV01".
OLE DB provider "MSOLEDBSQL19" for linked server "SALESSRV01" returned message "Invalid authorization specification".

How to prevent it

Define every linked server with an explicit, least-privilege login mapping, and decide up front whether it relies on Kerberos delegation or on a dedicated remote login. Keep these definitions in your server build scripts and test them with sp_testlinkedserver after service account, driver or password changes.

Keep remote queries small and filtered on the remote side, so they finish well within the remote query timeout.

Common questions

Learn more on CodeWithSQL

• SQL Server security: logins, users and permissions

Official documentation

• MSSQLSERVER_7399 (Microsoft Learn)
• sp_addlinkedsrvlogin (Transact-SQL)
• Linked servers (Database Engine)

Last technically reviewed 23 October 2026; examples and diagnostics run on SQL Server 2025 (17.0.1145.4). Message text checked against the engine's sys.messages catalogue.