{"id":11873,"date":"2026-03-19T23:03:05","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T23:03:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zappysys.com\/blog\/?p=11873"},"modified":"2026-04-06T11:45:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T11:45:09","slug":"how-to-add-non-admin-user-access-for-linked-servers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zappysys.com\/blog\/how-to-add-non-admin-user-access-for-linked-servers\/","title":{"rendered":"How to add non-admin user access for linked servers"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Introduction<\/h2>\n<p>When you create a linked server, the connection succeeds, but the query fails. By default, non-admin users do not have access to a Linked Server in SQL Server. When such users attempt to query a Linked Server, they may encounter errors similar to the following:<\/p>\n<pre class=\"\">OLE DB provider \"SQLNCLI11\" \r\nfor linked server \"ZappySysLink\" returned message \"Unable to open a logical session\". \r\n\r\nMsg -1, Level 16, State 1, Line 0 \r\n\r\nSMux Provider: Physical connection is not usable [xFFFFFFFF].<\/pre>\n<p>This issue occurs because the Linked Server does not have a login mapping configured for the user executing the query.<\/p>\n<h2>Cause<\/h2>\n<div>\n<div>A Linked Server in SQL Server is treated similarly to a database for security purposes. Access is not automatically granted to all users.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>1. Non-admin users do not inherit access to Linked Servers by default.<br \/>\n2. No login mapping exists between the local SQL Server login and the remote Linked Server credentials.<br \/>\n3. SQL Server cannot determine which remote credentials to use when the user connects.<\/p>\n<p>For admin users, SQL Server often uses the default option &#8220;Be made using this security context&#8221;, which allows access without additional configuration.<\/p>\n<h2>Solution<\/h2>\n<div>\n<div>To resolve this issue, you must explicitly map the local login to a remote login for the Linked Server. Follow these steps:<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<ol>\n<li>Remove any existing incorrect login mapping (optional but recommended)\n<div>\n<pre class=\"lang:tsql decode:true\">EXEC sp_droplinkedsrvlogin\r\n\u00a0 \u00a0 @rmtsrvname = 'YourLinkedServerName',\r\n\u00a0 \u00a0 @locallogin = 'MyDomain\\User1';<\/pre>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>Create a new login mapping for the Linked Server:\n<div>\n<pre class=\"lang:tsql decode:true \">EXEC sp_addlinkedsrvlogin\r\n\u00a0 \u00a0 @rmtsrvname = 'YourLinkedServerName', -- Linked Server name\r\n\u00a0 \u00a0 @useself = 'false',\r\n\u00a0 \u00a0 @locallogin = 'MyDomain\\User1', \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 -- Local Windows user\r\n\u00a0 \u00a0 @rmtuser = 'gateway_Admin', \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 -- Remote (Linked Server) login\r\n\u00a0 \u00a0 @rmtpassword = 'gateway_pass123'; \u00a0 \u00a0 -- Remote password<\/pre>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>Verify the configuration:<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>&#8211; Open <strong>Linked Server Properties<\/strong> in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).<\/div>\n<div>&#8211; Go to the <strong>Security<\/strong> tab.<\/div>\n<div>&#8211; Confirm that your local login is mapped to the correct remote user.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_11881\" style=\"width: 720px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/zappysys.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Linked-server-security-tab.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-11881\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11881\" src=\"https:\/\/zappysys.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Linked-server-security-tab.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"710\" height=\"662\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zappysys.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Linked-server-security-tab.png 710w, https:\/\/zappysys.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Linked-server-security-tab-300x280.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 710px) 100vw, 710px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-11881\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Linked server &#8211; security tab<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>Test the Linked Server query again using the non-admin user.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div>After completing these steps, SQL Server will use the specified remote credentials when the mapped user accesses the Linked Server.<\/div>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>Non-admin users cannot access Linked Servers by default because no login mapping is defined. SQL Server requires explicit credential mapping to determine which remote account to use.<\/div>\n<div>By configuring login mappings using `sp_addlinkedsrvlogin`, you can grant controlled access to Linked Servers and ensure queries execute successfully without connection errors.<\/div>\n<h2>Still need help?<\/h2>\n<div>If the issue persists, please get in touch with our support team:<\/div>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: circle;\">\n<li><strong>Live Chat<\/strong>: Open the chat widget (bottom right of this page)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Email<\/strong>: support@zappysys.com<\/li>\n<li><strong>Support Center<\/strong>: https:\/\/zappysys.com\/support\/<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introduction When you create a linked server, the connection succeeds, but the query fails. By default, non-admin users do not have access to a Linked Server in SQL Server. When such users attempt to query a Linked Server, they may encounter errors similar to the following: OLE DB provider &#8220;SQLNCLI11&#8221; for linked server &#8220;ZappySysLink&#8221; returned [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":11881,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[380],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\r\n<title>How to add non-admin user access for linked servers | ZappySys Blog<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How to add non-admin user access for linked servers - ZappySys Blog\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/zappysys.com\/blog\/how-to-add-non-admin-user-access-for-linked-servers\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to add non-admin user access for linked servers | ZappySys Blog\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How to add non-admin user access for linked servers - 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