You receive an "Error 18482" error message when you try to make a remote procedure call (RPC) from one server to another in SQL Server (217395)

SYMPTOMS

When attempting a remote procedure call (RPC) from one server to another (for example, by executing a stored procedure on a remote computer with a statement such as EXEC SERV_REMOTE.pubs..byroyalty), you may receive the following error message:

Error 18482: Unable to connect to site '0' because '' is not defined as a remote server at the site.

Note If you are using Microsoft SQL Server 2005, you may receive the following error message:

Error 18482: Could not connect to server <ServerName> because <ServerName> is not defined as a remote server. Verify that you have specified the correct server name.

CAUSE

This error occurs when SQL Server cannot execute a remote procedure call. This can be caused by an improperly configured local server. To make a remote procedure call, SQL Server first determines who the local server is by looking for the server name with srvid = 0 in sysservers. If an entry with srvid = 0 is not found in sysservers, or if the server name with srvid = 0 belongs to a server name that is different from the local Windows NT computer name, you will receive the error.

WORKAROUND

To determine if the local server is configured correctly, examine the srvstatus column in master..sysservers. This value should be 0 for the local server.

For example, suppose your local server was named "SERV_LOCAL", the remote server was named "SERV_REMOTE", and sysservers contained the following information:

   srvid srvstatus      srvname            srvnetname
   ----- ---------      ---------------    ------------    ...
   1     1              SERV_LOCAL         SERV_LOCAL
   2     1              SERV_REMOTE        SERV_REMOTE

In the preceding output, SERV_LOCAL is the local server, but it has a srvid of 1; it should be 0. To correct this, follow these steps:

Run sp_dropserver local_server_name, droplogins (in this example, you would run sp_dropserver SERV_LOCAL, droplogins).
Run sp_addserver local_server_name, LOCAL (in this example, you would run sp_addserver SERV_LOCAL, LOCAL).
Stop and restart SQL Server.

After running those steps, the sysservers table should look like the following:

   srvid srvstatus      srvname            srvnetname
   ----- ---------      ---------------    ------------    ...
   0     0              SERV_LOCAL         SERV_LOCAL
   2     1              SERV_REMOTE        SERV_REMOTE

Note that server ID (srvid) should be 0 for the local server.

You receive an "Error 18482" error message when you try to make a remote procedure call (RPC) from one server to another in SQL Server (217395)

SYMPTOMS

CAUSE

WORKAROUND

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