What causes FailedDbOperation?

A transport-level error occurred (connection reset by the server during a long-running write). The Synapse or SQL database was under heavy load and rejected the operation. A query timeout was exceeded during data loading. The linked service credentials are insufficient for the attempted operation

How do I fix FailedDbOperation?

Check the inner error message in the ADF activity run output for the specific SQL error code.. Add a retry policy to the copy activity for transient transport-level errors.. Monitor SQL/Synapse resource metrics (DTU, CPU, active sessions) during failure.. If loading data into Synapse via PolyBase or COPY INTO, verify the staging storage configuration is correct.. Review the Synapse or Azure SQL error log for the specific error at the failure timestamp.

High severitydata source

Power BI Refresh Error:
FailedDbOperation

What does this error mean?

A general database operation failure occurred when ADF loaded or read data from Synapse Analytics or Azure SQL. This wraps SQL-level failures including transport errors, connection resets, and query failures.

Common causes

1A transport-level error occurred (connection reset by the server during a long-running write)
2The Synapse or SQL database was under heavy load and rejected the operation
3A query timeout was exceeded during data loading
4The linked service credentials are insufficient for the attempted operation

How to fix it

1Check the inner error message in the ADF activity run output for the specific SQL error code.
2Add a retry policy to the copy activity for transient transport-level errors.
3Monitor SQL/Synapse resource metrics (DTU, CPU, active sessions) during failure.
4If loading data into Synapse via PolyBase or COPY INTO, verify the staging storage configuration is correct.
5Review the Synapse or Azure SQL error log for the specific error at the failure timestamp.

Frequently asked questions

Does this error affect all pipeline runs or just the current one?

Depends on the root cause. A persistent misconfiguration fails every run; a transient issue may resolve on retry. Check the run history.

Can this error appear in Azure Data Factory and Microsoft Fabric pipelines?

Yes — the same connector errors appear in both ADF and Fabric Data Factory pipelines.

How do I see the full error detail for an ADF pipeline failure?

In ADF Monitor, click the failed run, then the failed activity. The detail pane shows the error code, message, and sub-error codes.

Will downstream Power BI datasets be affected when an ADF pipeline fails?

Yes — a dataset refreshing after the pipeline will use stale data or fail if the target table was cleared. The Power BI refresh may succeed while serving wrong data.

Official documentation: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/data-factory/connector-troubleshoot-synapse-sql