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

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This article was previously published under Q217395

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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.

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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.

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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.

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MORE INFORMATION

You may receive this error message when installing replication because the installation process makes remote procedure calls between the servers involved in replication.

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