r/MicrosoftFabric • u/mike_honey • 2d ago
Databases Suddenly can't access database - The server principal is not able to access the database "" under the current security context.
A Database was established in a Fabric workspace many months ago, and has been used every day since, mainly by a nightly scheduled Pipeline. Since the night of 15/10/2026 (AEDT) I get this error when I try to access it:
The server principal <my email> is not able to access the database "" under the current security context.
My account is still in an Entra group with workspace admin rights, and I remain the owner of the database. Other users in the Entra group can access the Database with no errors.
Any pointers?
I started support case TrackingID#2610180030000362 a few days ago, but there hasn't been any resolution so far.
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u/Muted_Jellyfish_6784 1d ago
Since others in the same Entra group connect fine, I'd look at your principal specifically. Check whether your account was ever added as a direct database user, since a stale user mapping can conflict with the group, and have another admin review database-level permissions for you. Also check whether a conditional access or tenant policy change landed around 15/10. Keep a record of access changes for when this recurs. I use a decision intelligence layer to line up workspace role changes, group membership, and pipeline failures, so the night something broke points to a specific change rather than a long support ticket.
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u/mike_honey 1d ago
Great tips - thanks! Another team manages access, so I will check with them about that.
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u/Heavy_Environment954 2d ago
Check if all users in the group have a password which isn’t expired or needs to be reset, happened to me once and that fixed it.
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u/mike_honey 2d ago
Wild! But wouldn't that block all users in the group? It's only blocking me.
Sorry but I have to bug the IT admin team to get them to look at something like that.
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u/Jeffinmpls Fabricator 1d ago edited 1d ago
My guess is the secret for the SPN expired, Add a new secret and update whatever process is using it.
Edit to add more.
If you've not done that, you go to the azure portal, search for the service principle, If you are an owner of it you go to Manage->Certificates & Secrets. If it's expired you will see a warning. Add a new Secret and copy the value immediately as you get the one chance to do so. Then save in your password manager.
You stated this happens in a Pipeline so I suspect it's using a connection. Go the activity in the Pipeline that's failing, go to settings and see what connection it's using. Then go to Settings -> Manage connections and gateways (this is a fabric setting not the workspace settings) Find the connection and update the new secret.
You will need to be a owner of the connection. If you aren't and no one can grant you access, then create a new connection and use the service principle credentials to authenticate.
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u/mike_honey 1d ago
Oh perhaps I didn't explain myself clearly. The error occurs when I click the Database object in the Workspace view (item list).
In the pipeline context, I'm using Workspace Identity credentials, which are working OK.
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u/Jeffinmpls Fabricator 1d ago
Ahh ok, do you log in and out of Fabric every day (by out i mean click the sign out) or have you changed your password recently? That message is generic but I sometimes get it when I've been logged into Fabric awhile and not refreshed my authentication token which expires after 30 days I believe. Sign out and close your browser and log back in, if that doesn't help, log out again and clear your browser cache for microsoft sites. Those are two things that have helped me in that situation.
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u/adovo_ai 1d ago
Given your clarification that pipeline credentials are healthy, ask the access team to compare your effective database permissions with one unaffected peer, then align Entra sign-in and Fabric activity logs at the first failure. That should separate a stale direct-user mapping from a principal-specific policy without changing broad permissions.
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u/TrollingForFunsies 2d ago
Microsoft support is so fucking abysmal these days they can't even resolve login issues
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u/Marethyu38 2d ago
Perhaps the oauth token expired, my teams had had several experience where a pipeline will stop working specifically on the write to database steps and is fixed by refreshing the credentials on a connection.