Cannot insert explicit value for identity column in table 'table' when IDENTITY_INSERT is set to OFF

I have the below error when I execute the following script. What is the error about, and how it can be resolved?

Insert table(OperationID,OpDescription,FilterID)
values (20,'Hierachy Update',1)

Error:

>Server: Msg 544, Level 16, State 1, Line 1

>Cannot insert explicit value for identity column in table 'table' when IDENTITY_INSERT is set to OFF.

You're inserting values for OperationId that is an identity column.

You can turn on identity insert on the table like this so that you can specify your own identity values.

SET IDENTITY_INSERT Table1 ON

INSERT INTO Table1
/*Note the column list is REQUIRED here, not optional*/
            (OperationID,
             OpDescription,
             FilterID)
VALUES      (20,
             'Hierachy Update',
             1)

SET IDENTITY_INSERT Table1 OFF 

don't put value to OperationID because it will be automatically generated. try this:

Insert table(OpDescription,FilterID) values ('Hierachy Update',1)

>Simply If you getting this error on SQL server then run this query-

SET IDENTITY_INSERT tableName ON

This is working only for a single table of database e.g If the table name is student then query look like this:

SET IDENTITY_INSERT student ON

>If you getting this error on your web application or you using entity framework then first run this query on SQL server and Update your entity model (.edmx file) and build your project and this error will be resolved

Be very wary of setting IDENTITY_INSERT to ON. This is a poor practice unless the database is in maintenance mode and set to single user. This affects not only your insert, but those of anyone else trying to access the table.

Why are you trying to put a value into an identity field?

In your entity for that table, add the DatabaseGenerated attribute above the column for which identity insert is set:

Example:

[DatabaseGenerated(DatabaseGeneratedOption.Identity)]
public int TaskId { get; set; }

There are basically 2 different ways to INSERT records without having an error:

1. When the IDENTITY_INSERT is set OFF. The PRIMARY KEY "ID" MUST NOT BE PRESENT

2. When the IDENTITY_INSERT is set ON. The PRIMARY KEY "ID" MUST BE PRESENT

As per the following example from the same Table created with an IDENTITY PRIMARY KEY:

CREATE TABLE [dbo].[Persons] (    
    ID INT IDENTITY(1,1) PRIMARY KEY,
    LastName VARCHAR(40) NOT NULL,
    FirstName VARCHAR(40)
);

1. In the first example, you can insert new records into the table without getting an error when the IDENTITY_INSERT is OFF. The PRIMARY KEY "ID" MUST NOT BE PRESENT from the "INSERT INTO" Statements and a unique ID value will be added automatically:. If the ID is present from the INSERT in this case, you will get the error "Cannot insert explicit value for identify column in table..."

   SET IDENTITY_INSERT [dbo].[Persons] OFF; INSERT INTO [dbo].[Persons] (FirstName,LastName) VALUES ('JANE','DOE'); INSERT INTO Persons (FirstName,LastName) VALUES ('JOE','BROWN');

OUTPUT of TABLE [dbo].[Persons] will be:

ID    LastName   FirstName
1     DOE        Jane
2     BROWN      JOE

2) In the Second example, you can insert new records into the table without getting an error when the IDENTITY_INSERT is ON. The PRIMARY KEY "ID" MUST BE PRESENT from the "INSERT INTO" Statements as long as the ID value does not already exist: If the ID is NOT present from the INSERT in this case, you will get the error "Explicit value must be specified for identity column table..."

SET IDENTITY_INSERT [dbo].[Persons] ON;
INSERT INTO [dbo].[Persons] (ID,FirstName,LastName)
VALUES (5,'JOHN','WHITE'); 
INSERT INTO [dbo].[Persons] (ID,FirstName,LastName)
VALUES (3,'JACK','BLACK'); 

OUTPUT of TABLE [dbo].[Persons] will be:

ID    LastName   FirstName
1     DOE        Jane
2     BROWN      JOE
3     BLACK      JACK
5     WHITE      JOHN

you can simply use This statement for example if your table name is School. Before insertion make sure identity_insert is set to ON and after insert query turn identity_insert OFF

SET IDENTITY_INSERT School ON
/*
  insert query
  enter code here
*/
SET IDENTITY_INSERT School OFF

Note that if you are closing each line with ;, the SET IDENTITY_INSERT mytable ON command will not hold for the following lines.

i.e.
a query like

SET IDENTITY_INSERT mytable ON;
INSERT INTO mytable (VoucherID, name) VALUES (1, 'Cole');

Gives the error
Cannot insert explicit value for identity column in table 'mytable' when IDENTITY_INSERT is set to OFF.

But a query like this will work:

SET IDENTITY_INSERT mytable ON
INSERT INTO mytable (VoucherID, name) VALUES (1, 'Cole')
SET IDENTITY_INSERT mytable OFF;

It seems like the SET IDENTITY_INSERT command only holds for a transaction, and the ; will signify the end of a transaction.

If you are using liquibase to update your SQL Server, you are likely trying to insert a record key into an autoIncrement field. By removing the column from the insert, your script should run.

<changeSet id="CREATE_GROUP_TABLE" >
	<createTable tableName="GROUP_D">
		<column name="GROUP_ID" type="INTEGER" autoIncrement="true">
			<constraints primaryKey="true"/>
		</column>
	</createTable>
</changeSet>

<changeSet id="INSERT_UNKNOWN_GROUP" >
	<insert tableName="GROUP_D">	

		<column name="GROUP_ID" valueNumeric="-1"/>
 ...
	</insert>
</changeSet>

everyone comment about SQL, but what happened in EntityFramework? I spent reading the whole post and no one solved EF. So after a few days a found solution: EF Core in the context to create the model there is an instruction like this: modelBuilder.Entity<Cliente>(entity => { entity.Property(e => e.Id).ValueGeneratedNever();

this produces the error too, solution: you have to change by ValueGeneratedOnAdd() and its works!

There is pre-mentioned OperationId in your query which should not be there as it is auto increamented

Insert table(OperationID,OpDescription,FilterID)
values (20,'Hierachy Update',1)

so your query will be

Insert table(OpDescription,FilterID)
values ('Hierachy Update',1)

Another situation is to check that the Primary Key is the same name as with your classes where the only difference is that your primary key has an 'ID' appended to it or to specify [Key] on primary keys that are not related to how the class is named.

1. This occurs when you have a (Primary key) column that is not set to Is Identity to true in SQL and you don't pass explicit value thereof during insert. It will take the first row, then you wont be able to insert the second row, the error will pop up. This can be corrected by adding this line of code [DatabaseGenerated(DatabaseGeneratedOption.Identity)] in your PrimaryKey column and make sure its set to a data type int. If the column is the primary key and is set to IsIDentity to true in SQL there is no need for this line of code [DatabaseGenerated(DatabaseGeneratedOption.Identity)]
2. this also occurs when u have a column that is not the primary key, in SQL that is set to Is Identity to true, and in your EF you did not add this line of code [DatabaseGenerated(DatabaseGeneratedOption.Identity)]

The best solution is to use annotation GeneratedValue(strategy = ...), i.e.

@Id
@GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.IDENTITY)
@Column ...
private int OperationID;

it says, that this column is generated by database using IDENTITY strategy and you don't need to take care of - database will do it.

If you're having this issue while using an sql-server with the sequelize-typescript npm make sure to add @AutoIncrement to ID column:

  @PrimaryKey
  @AutoIncrement
  @Column
  id!: number;

In my case I was having set another property as key in context for my modelBuilder.

modelBuilder.Entity<MyTable>().HasKey(t => t.OtherProp);

I had to set the proper id

 modelBuilder.Entity<MyTable>().HasKey(t => t.Id);

EF Core 3.x

Referencing Leniel Maccaferri, I had a table with an Autoincrementing attribute called ID(original primary key) and another attribute called Other_ID(The new primary Key). Originally ID was the primary key but then Other_ID needed to be the new Primary key. Since ID was being used in other parts of the application I could not just remove it from Table. Leniel Maccaferri solution only worked for me after I added the following snippet:

        entity.HasKey(x => x.Other_ID);
        entity.Property(x => x.ID).ValueGeneratedOnAdd();

Full Code snippet Below (ApplicationDbContext.cs):

  protected override void OnModelCreating(ModelBuilder builder)
  {
        builder.ApplyConfigurationsFromAssembly(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly());
        base.OnModelCreating(builder);
        builder.Entity<tablename>(entity =>
        {
            entity.HasKey(x => x.Other_ID);
            entity.Property(x => x.ID).ValueGeneratedOnAdd();
            entity.HasAlternateKey(x => new { x.Other_ID, x.ID });                
        });
        
    }

1. First Go to the required table name

Step 2 -> right click on the table name

step 3 --> Select Design

step 4 --> Click on the column name

step 5) go to the column properties then Set No to the Identity Specification

[Note: After insert to the explicit value if you want you can revert back to identity specification true then again it will generate the value]

if you using SQL server management studio you can use below method

Step 1) step 2)

I solved this problem by creating a new object every time I want to add anything to the database.

Even if everything was correct, this error can appear if the data type of Identity column is not int or long. I had identity column as decimal, although I was only saving int values (my bad). Changing data type in both database and underlying model fixed the issue for me.

First thing first...

You need to know why you are getting the error in the first place.

Lets take a simple HttpPost of JSON Data that looks like this:

{
"conversationID": 1, 
"senderUserID": 1, 
"receiverUserID": 2,
"message": "I fell for the wrong man!",
"created":"2022-02-14T21:18:11.186Z"
}

If you generated your database using Entity framework core while connecting to SQLServer or any other database server, the database automatically takes the responsibility of updating and auto-generating the Key/Unique identifier of the Identity Column, which in most cases is an integer value it auto-increments.

To safely post your data using the in-built conventions which keeps you at a safer end, just remove the ID field from the data you want to send to the database, and let the database engine and ef-core do the heavy lifting which they are designed to do.

So the proper way to post the data would be:

{ 
    "senderUserID": 1, 
    "receiverUserID": 2,
    "message": "I fell for the wrong man!",
    "created":"2022-02-14T21:18:11.186Z"
    }

You would notice I took out the ConversationID.

You can learn more about entity framework on this website : https://entityframeworkcore.com

I hope you stick more to conventions than configuration in your apps. Knowing how to do things with already proven standards and conventions will save you a lot of working hours.

And if you are using Oracle SQL Developer to connect, remember to add /sqldev:stmt/

/sqldev:stmt/ set identity_insert TABLE on;

I'm not sure what the use for the "Insert Table" is, but if you're just trying to insert some values try:

Insert Into [tablename] (OpDescription,FilterID)
values ('Hierachy Update',1);

I had the same error message come up, but I think this should work. The ID should auto-increment automatically as long as it's a primary key.

In my CASE I was inserting more character than defined in table.

In My Table column was defined with nvarchar(3) and I was passing more than 3 characters and same ERROR message was coming .

Its not answer but may be in some case problem is similar

im using asp.net core 5.0 and i get that error. i get that error because i was adding another data and triggering the other .SaveChanges() method like below :

 _unitOfWorkVval.RepositoryVariantValue.Create(variantValue);
 int request = HttpContext.Response.StatusCode;
 if (request == 200)
 {
     int tryCatch = _unitOfWorkCVar.Complete();
     if (tryCatch != 0)
     {
         productVariant.CategoryVariantID = variantValue.CategoryVariantID;
         productVariant.ProductID = variantValue.ProductID;
         productVariant.CreatedDate = DateTime.Now;
         _unitOfWorkProductVariant.RepositoryProductVariant.Create(productVariant);
         _unitOfWorkVval.RepositoryVariantValue.Create(variantValue);
         int request2 = HttpContext.Response.StatusCode;
         if(request==200)
         {
             int tryCatch2=_unitOfWorkProductVariant.Complete();//The point where i get that error
         }///.......

Had the same issue using Entity Framework with a model like this (I simplified the original code):

public class Pipeline
{
  public Pipeline()
  {
     Runs = new HashSet<Run>();
  }

  public int Id {get; set;}
  public ICollection<Run> Runs {get;set;}
}

public class Run
{
  public int Id {get; set;}
  public int RequestId {get; set;}
  public Pipeline Pipeline {get;set;}
}

The Run has a many-to-1 relation to the Pipeline (one Pipeline can run multiple times)

In my RunService I have injected the DbContex as context. The DbContext had a Runs DbSet. I implemented this method in the RunService:

public async Task<Run> CreateAndInit(int requestId, int pplId)
{
  Pipeline pipeline = await pipelineService.Get(pplId).FirstOrDefaultAsync().ConfigureAwait(false);
  Run newRun = new Run {RequestId = requestId, Pipeline = pipeline};
  context.Runs.Add(newRun);
  await context.SaveChangesAsync().ConfigureAwait(false); // got exception in this line
  return newRun;
}

As the method executed, I got this exception:

Exception has occurred: CLR/Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.DbUpdateException
Exception thrown: 'Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.DbUpdateException' in System.Private.CoreLib.dll: 'An error occurred while updating the entries. See the inner exception for details.'
 Inner exceptions found, see $exception in variables window for more details.
 Innermost exception 	 Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.SqlException : Cannot insert explicit value for identity column in table 'Pipelines' when IDENTITY_INSERT is set to OFF.

For me, the solution was to separate the creation of the object and relation

public async Task<Run> CreateAndInit(int requestId, int pplId)
{
  Pipeline pipeline = await pipelineService.Get(pplId).FirstOrDefaultAsync().ConfigureAwait(false);
  Run newRun = new Run {RequestId = requestId};
  context.Runs.Add(newRun);
  newRun.Pipeline = pipeline; // set the relation separately
  await context.SaveChangesAsync().ConfigureAwait(false); // no exception
  return newRun;
}

Put break point on your [HttpPost] method and check what value is being passed to Id property. If it is other than zero then this error will occur.

The problem raised from using non-typed DBContext or DBSet if you using Interface and implement method of savechanges in a generic way

If this is your case I propose to strongly typed DBContex for example

MyDBContext.MyEntity.Add(mynewObject)

then .Savechanges will work

Simply delete the tables that are dragged into your .dbml file and re-drag them again. Then Clean solution>Rebuild solution> Build solution.

Thats what worked for me.

I didnt made the table on my own, I was using VS and SSMS, I followed this link for ASP.NET Identity:https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/identity/overview/getting-started/adding-aspnet-identity-to-an-empty-or-existing-web-forms-project