sp-catalogs-transact-sql.md

title	sp_catalogs (Transact-SQL)
description	sp_catalogs returns the list of catalogs in the specified linked server.
author	markingmyname
ms.author	maghan
ms.reviewer	randolphwest
ms.date	06/23/2025
ms.service	sql
ms.subservice	system-objects
ms.topic	reference
f1_keywords	sp_catalogs_TSQL sp_catalogs
helpviewer_keywords	sp_catalogs
dev_langs	TSQL

sp_catalogs (Transact-SQL)

[!INCLUDE SQL Server]

Returns the list of catalogs in the specified linked server. This is equivalent to databases in [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion].

:::image type="icon" source="../../includes/media/topic-link-icon.svg" border="false"::: Transact-SQL syntax conventions

Syntax

sp_catalogs [ @server_name = ] N'server_name'
[ ; ]

Arguments

[ @server_name = ] N'server_name'

The name of a linked server. @server_name is sysname, with no default.

Result set

Column name	Data type	Description
CATALOG_NAME	nvarchar(128)	Name of the catalog
DESCRIPTION	nvarchar(4000)	Description of the catalog

Permissions

Requires SELECT permission on the schema.

Examples

The following example returns catalog information for the linked server named OLE DB ODBC Linked Server #3.

Note

For sp_catalogs to provide useful information, the OLE DB ODBC Linked Server #3 must already exist.

USE master;
GO

EXECUTE sp_catalogs 'OLE DB ODBC Linked Server #3';

Related content

• sp_addlinkedserver (Transact-SQL)
• sp_columns_ex (Transact-SQL)
• sp_column_privileges (Transact-SQL)
• sp_foreignkeys (Transact-SQL)
• sp_indexes (Transact-SQL)
• sp_linkedservers (Transact-SQL)
• sp_primarykeys (Transact-SQL)
• sp_tables_ex (Transact-SQL)
• sp_table_privileges (Transact-SQL)
• System stored procedures (Transact-SQL)