SQL Server Error 7416

Error number

7416

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

Category

Linked Servers

Last reviewed

24 October 2026

What it means

Error 7416 means the linked server has no login mapping that applies to you: neither one for your own login nor a default mapping for all logins, so SQL Server refuses before contacting the remote server.

When you use a linked server, SQL Server looks in sys.linked_logins for a row for your login, and if there is none, for the default row that covers every login (local_principal_id = 0). That row says whether to connect as yourself or as a named remote login. If neither row exists, there is nothing to connect with and 7416 is raised locally. The message does not name the linked server, so look at the statement that failed.

sp_addlinkedserver creates the default self-mapping for you, so 7416 usually means someone removed it on purpose (for example with sp_droplinkedsrvlogin and a NULL login) to allow only certain logins, and your login is not one of them. It is not a wrong password or a remote permission problem: those come back from the remote server as 18456 or as provider errors such as 7399 and 7303.

Common causes

• The default mapping for all logins was removed, and mappings exist only for specific logins that do not include yours.
• The linked server was scripted or recreated with sp_addlinkedsrvlogin calls for some logins only.
• Your login reaches the linked server through a different identity than expected (for example a job owner, an EXECUTE AS context or a new Windows group login) that has no mapping.
• The mapping for a login was dropped when that login was dropped and recreated on the local server.

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 s.name AS linked_server,
       CASE WHEN l.local_principal_id = 0 THEN N'(all logins)' ELSE p.name END AS local_login,
       l.uses_self_credential, l.remote_name
FROM sys.servers AS s
LEFT JOIN sys.linked_logins AS l ON l.server_id = s.server_id
LEFT JOIN sys.server_principals AS p ON p.principal_id = l.local_principal_id
WHERE s.is_linked = 1
ORDER BY s.name, local_login;

SELECT SUSER_SNAME() AS current_login, ORIGINAL_LOGIN() AS original_login;

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_addlinkedsrvlogin
     @rmtsrvname = N'SALESSRV01', @useself = N'True', @locallogin = NULL;

Examples

A linked server whose default mapping was removed

-- A throwaway linked server that points back at this instance
EXEC master.dbo.sp_addlinkedserver @server = N'cws_errlab_ls', @srvproduct = N'',
     @provider = N'MSOLEDBSQL', @datasrc = N'localhost';
-- Remove the default mapping for all logins
EXEC master.dbo.sp_droplinkedsrvlogin @rmtsrvname = N'cws_errlab_ls', @locallogin = NULL;
GO
SELECT * FROM OPENQUERY(cws_errlab_ls, 'SELECT 1 AS x');
GO
EXEC master.dbo.sp_dropserver @server = N'cws_errlab_ls', @droplogins = 'droplogins';

Msg 7416, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Access to the remote server is denied because no login-mapping exists.

How to prevent it

Decide per linked server who may use it and write that down as explicit sp_addlinkedsrvlogin calls in the server build script, including whether the default mapping exists. Review sys.linked_logins when logins are added or recreated, and when job owners or service accounts change.

Common questions

Learn more on CodeWithSQL

• SQL Server security: logins, users and permissions

Official documentation

• sp_addlinkedsrvlogin (Transact-SQL)
• sp_droplinkedsrvlogin (Transact-SQL)
• sys.linked_logins (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.