Executing Stored Procedures/update in Federated SQL Server

Anshul_DBX — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 10:54:14 GMT

I have federated Azure SQL DB in my DBX workspace, but I am not able to run update commands or execute a stored procedure, is this still not supported?

Re: Executing Stored Procedures/update in Federated SQL Server

mark_ott — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 11:26:25 GMT

Federated connections from Azure Databricks to Azure SQL DB via Lakehouse Federation currently only support read-only queries—meaning running update commands or executing stored procedures directly through the federated Unity Catalog interface is not supported as of late 2025. This limitation means that operations such as UPDATE statements or invoking stored procedures must be performed through other means, not through the federated SQL interface in Databricks.

Federated Capabilities and Limitations

Lakehouse Federation allows connecting and querying data across SQL Server, Azure SQL Database, and other sources using read-only SQL commands for analytics purposes.
Write operations, such as insert, update, or delete, and direct execution of stored procedures are typically restricted or unsupported in federated mode.
The only writeable exception applies to legacy Hive metastore catalog federation, where foreign tables can be writeable—not relevant to Azure SQL DB federation.

Alternative Methods for Updates and Procedures

To execute update statements or stored procedures, use direct SQL connections (ODBC, JDBC) from Databricks notebooks or jobs, rather than federated queries.
This involves installing appropriate drivers (such as pyodbc for Python) and connecting directly to the Azure SQL DB; stored procedures can then be executed using standard SQL commands within your notebook or code.
Example (Python/pyodbc):

python

import pyodbc conn = pyodbc.connect(conn_str) cursor = conn.cursor() cursor.execute("EXEC YourStoredProcedureName @param1 = ?, @param2 = ?", (value1, value2)) conn.commit()

Recent Developments

Despite some improvements in Databricks SQL and Lakehouse Federation features throughout 2025, updates about full DML (Data Manipulation Language) support for federated SQL DBs have not been announced; federated actions remain read-only except for Hive-metastore scenarios.

Summary:
Federated queries to Azure SQL DB from Databricks are read-only and do not support update commands or stored procedure execution. For these actions, establish a direct database connection using ODBC/JDBC from your Databricks notebook or workflow.

topic Executing Stored Procedures/update in Federated SQL Server in Data Engineering

Executing Stored Procedures/update in Federated SQL Server

Re: Executing Stored Procedures/update in Federated SQL Server

Federated Capabilities and Limitations

Alternative Methods for Updates and Procedures

Recent Developments