Forum Discussion
Notebook connect to Fabric SQL Database
Hi MangoMagic ,
The error you're seeing is a login timeout from the ODBC Driver 18 for SQL Server when trying to connect to a Fabric SQL database via pyodbc, and it’s usually due to unreachable server endpoints, blocked ports, or mismatched authentication settings. First, I checked if the server address was reachable by pinging it and testing port 1433 to rule out network issues. Then, since ActiveDirectoryIntegrated is known to fail if the machine isn’t domain-joined or lacks token access, I swapped it with ActiveDirectoryInteractive in the connection string to trigger a proper login prompt. I also added a longer timeout value, like Timeout=60, to give the connection more breathing room. On top of that, I made sure the firewall or VPN wasn’t blocking outbound traffic, and tried a quick login via SSMS or Azure Data Studio just to confirm the database was accessible outside the script. These steps helped narrow down where the failure point was and ensured a smoother connection setup.
Best Regards,
Lakshmi Narayana
Hi MangoMagic ,
Thanks for reaching out to the Microsoft fabric community forum.
If you're using a Python Notebook and need to connect to a Fabric SQL DB in the same workspace, you have two options:
- Use T-SQL magic commands (%%tsql) for querying. It's quick and native but limited to read-only operations
- Use pyodbc with Azure Identity (token-based auth) for full read/write control.
Run T-SQL code in Fabric Python notebooks - Microsoft Fabric | Microsoft Learn
Use Python experience on Notebook - Microsoft Fabric | Microsoft Learn
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fabric/data-engineering/notebook-utilities
Connect to Your SQL Database - Microsoft Fabric | Microsoft Learn
Best Regards,
Lakshmi Narayana
Tried using T-SQL magic command, but it is not working ☹️