Cannot create an external table in SQL Server

Question

Hi,I have an on-premise SQL Server 16.01.1135.2. I am trying to create an external file format:CREATE&nbsp;EXTERNAL&nbsp;FILE&nbsp;FORMAT&nbsp;skipHeader_CSVWITH&nbsp;(FORMAT_TYPE&nbsp;=&nbsp;DELIMITEDTEXT,&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;FORMAT_OPTIONS(&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;FIELD_TERMINATOR&nbsp;=&nbsp;',',&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;STRING_DELIMITER&nbsp;=&nbsp;'"',&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;FIRST_ROW&nbsp;=&nbsp;2,&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;USE_TYPE_DEFAULT&nbsp;=&nbsp;True));but it gives me the following error:Msg&nbsp;102,&nbsp;Level&nbsp;15,&nbsp;State&nbsp;1,&nbsp;Line&nbsp;1Incorrect&nbsp;syntax&nbsp;near&nbsp;'EXTERNAL'.Completion&nbsp;time:&nbsp;2025-03-24T23:13:46.7487583+01:00Table creation clause is copied from the documentation. What am I doing wrong?

ccaab · Answer

EXEC sp_configure 'polybase enabled', 1;&nbsp;RECONFIGURE;

rodgerkong · Answer

It seems you need to enable PolyBase first. Check this document https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/relational-databases/polybase/virtualize-csv?view=sql-server-ver16

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Cannot create an external table in SQL Server

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