SQL server error 15190 triggers while trying to drop the existing SQL Server instance name using sp_dropserver stored procedure.

As a part of our Server Management Services, we help our Customers to fix SQL related errors regularly.

Let us today discuss the possible causes and fixes for this error.

What causes SQL server error 15190?

As we discussed earlier, SQL server error 15190 triggers while trying to drop the existing SQL Server instance name using sp_dropserver stored procedure. To change the instance name, we need to drop the existing details of the SQL Server instance name from metadata system table sys.servers and then add a new instance name.

While performing this task, it triggers the error 15190 when some remote logins are present for the SQL Server instance. This happens when the database server has any remote login that we use for linked servers or some other purposes. A typical error message may look like the one given below:

Server: Msg 15190, Level 16, State 1, Procedure sp_dropserver
There are still remote logins or linked logins for the server ‘DBSERVER’.

We need to drop all the remote logins to fix this issue. Let us now look at the steps to perform this task.

How to fix SQL server error 15190?

To fix this issue we need to identify remote logins and drop them before changing the SQL Server instance name. These logins can be SQL as well as windows logins. We can use a system stored procedure sp_dropremotelogin to drop all remote logins from our SQL Server instance. Below command will drop all remote logins from a default instance of SQL Server.

sp_dropremotelogin old_name;
GO

If we have a named instance running on the database server then we can run the command below. Make sure to change the name of the server in place of Old_DBSERVER\Instancename.

sp_dropremotelogin Old_DBSERVER\Instancename;
GO

Once all remote logins have been dropped we can go ahead and perform the rename operation on the SQL Server Instance. Make sure to create remote logins for the linked servers or alias post changing the instance name.

To know the logins associated with the linked server, we can use the command below:

EXEC sp_helplinkedsrvlogin

To find them and drop them one by one use the system stored procedure given below:

EXEC sp_droplinkedsrvlogin

The command below can help to drop the linked server:

EXEC master.dbo.sp_dropserver @server=N'old_Name', @droplogins='droplogins'

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Conclusion

In short, SQL server error 15190 triggers while trying to drop the existing SQL Server instance name using a stored procedure. Today, we saw how our Support Engineers fix this error.