Installation guidance for SQL Server on Linux

Applies to: SQL Server - Linux

This article provides guidance for installing, updating, and uninstalling SQL Server 2017 (14.x), SQL Server 2019 (15.x), and SQL Server 2022 (16.x) on Linux.

For other deployment scenarios, see:

• Windows
• Linux containers
• Kubernetes - Big Data Clusters (SQL Server 2019 (15.x) only)

This guide covers several deployment scenarios. If you only need step-by-step installation instructions, jump to one of the quickstarts:

• Quickstart: Install SQL Server and create a database on Red Hat
• Quickstart: Install SQL Server and create a database on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
• Quickstart: Install SQL Server and create a database on Ubuntu
• Quickstart: Run SQL Server Linux container images with Docker

For answers to frequently asked questions, see the SQL Server on Linux FAQ.

SQL Server support policy

Term	Definition
Servicing	Microsoft releases GDR, hotfixes, and security fixes within lifecycle of product for supported distributions.
Support	Microsoft supports users with problems pertaining to supported distributions.

Support policy

SQL Server is supported on Linux distributions until the earlier of two events: the end of the distribution's support lifecycle, or the end of the SQL Server support lifecycle.

Servicing policy

During the Mainstream support phase of SQL Server, we provide Cumulative Updates (CUs) for all Linux distributions that are also within their Mainstream support period. For Linux distributions that move from Mainstream to Extended support and are still recognized as supported platforms, Microsoft can release CUs and bug fixes at its discretion.

Once SQL Server moves beyond Mainstream support and into the Extended support phase, we continue to publish security updates and General Distribution Release (GDR) fixes. However, these updates aren't extended to Linux distributions that conclude their support period.

Supported platforms

SQL Server is supported on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES), and Ubuntu. It's also supported as a container image, which can run on Kubernetes, OpenShift, and Docker Engine on Linux.

You should run production workloads on supported platforms like Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, and Ubuntu Pro, as they receive regular OS security updates, and have support coverage options that you need for enterprise database deployments.

Platform	File system	Installation guide	Get
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.x Server, or 9.x Server	XFS or EXT4	Installation guide	Get RHEL 9
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server v15 (SP1 - SP4)	XFS or EXT4	Installation guide	Get SLES v15
Ubuntu 20.04, or 22.04	XFS or EXT4	Installation guide	Get Ubuntu 22.04
Docker Engine 1.8+ on Linux	N/A	Installation guide	Get Docker

Tip

For more information, review the system requirements for SQL Server on Linux. For the latest support policy for SQL Server, see the Technical support policy for Microsoft SQL Server.

Microsoft also supports deploying and managing SQL Server containers by using OpenShift and Kubernetes.

Note

SQL Server is tested and supported on Linux for the previously listed distributions. If you choose to install SQL Server on an unsupported operating system, please review the Support policy section of the Technical support policy for Microsoft SQL Server to understand the support implications.

System requirements

SQL Server has the following system requirements for Linux:

	Requirement
Memory	2 GB 1
File System	XFS or EXT4 (other file systems, such as BTRFS, aren't supported)
Disk space	6 GB
Processor speed	2 GHz
Processor cores	2 cores
Processor type	x64-compatible only

¹ 2 GB is the minimum required memory to start SQL Server on Linux, which accommodates system threads and internal processes. You must take this amount into consideration when setting max server memory and MemoryLimitMB.

If you use Network File System (NFS) remote shares in production, note the following support requirements:

• Use NFS version 4.2 or higher. Older versions of NFS don't support required features, such as fallocate and sparse file creation, common to modern file systems.
• Locate only the /var/opt/mssql directories on the NFS mount. Other files, such as the SQL Server system binaries, aren't supported.

Configure source repositories

When you install or upgrade SQL Server, you get the latest version of SQL Server from your configured Microsoft repository. The quickstarts use the Cumulative Update CU repository for SQL Server. For more information on repositories and how to configure them, see Configure repositories for installing and upgrading SQL Server on Linux.

Install SQL Server

You can install SQL Server on Linux from the command line. For step-by-step instructions, see one of the following quickstarts:

Platform	Installation quickstarts
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)	2017 | 2019 | 2022
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES)	2017 | 2019 | 2022
Ubuntu	2017 | 2019 | 2022
Docker	2017 | 2019 | 2022

You can also run SQL Server on Linux in an Azure virtual machine. For more information, see Provision a SQL VM in Azure.

After installing, consider making extra configuration changes for optimal performance. For more information, see Performance best practices and configuration guidelines for SQL Server on Linux.

Update or upgrade SQL Server

To update the mssql-server package to the latest release, use one of the following commands based on your platform:

Platform	Package update commands
RHEL	sudo yum update mssql-server
SLES	sudo zypper update mssql-server
Ubuntu	sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install mssql-server

These commands download the newest package and replace the binaries located under /opt/mssql/. The user generated databases and system databases aren't affected by this operation.

To upgrade SQL Server, first change your configured repository to the desired version of SQL Server. Then use the same update command to upgrade your version of SQL Server. This step is only possible if the upgrade path is supported between the two repositories.

Roll back SQL Server

To roll back or downgrade SQL Server to a previous release, use the following steps:

1. Identify the version number for the SQL Server package you want to downgrade to. For a list of package numbers, see the release notes:

   • Release notes for SQL Server 2022 on Linux
   • Release notes for SQL Server 2019 on Linux
   • Release notes for SQL Server 2017 on Linux

2. Downgrade to a previous version of SQL Server. In the following commands, replace <version_number> with the SQL Server version number you identified in step 1.

   Platform	Package update commands
   RHEL	sudo yum downgrade mssql-server-<version_number>.x86_64
   SLES	sudo zypper install --oldpackage mssql-server=<version_number>
   Ubuntu	sudo apt-get install mssql-server=<version_number> sudo systemctl start mssql-server

Note

The only supported downgrade is if you downgrade to a release within the same major version, such as SQL Server 2022 (16.x).

Check installed SQL Server version

To verify your current version and edition of SQL Server on Linux, use the following procedure:

1. If not already installed, see Install the SQL Server command-line tools sqlcmd and bcp on Linux.

2. Use sqlcmd to run a Transact-SQL command that displays your SQL Server version and edition.

   sqlcmd -S localhost -U sa -Q 'select @@VERSION'
   

Uninstall SQL Server

To remove the mssql-server package on Linux, use one of the following commands based on your platform:

Platform	Package removal commands
RHEL	sudo yum remove mssql-server
SLES	sudo zypper remove mssql-server
Ubuntu	sudo apt-get remove mssql-server

Removing the package doesn't delete the generated database files. If you want to delete the database files, use the following command:

sudo rm -rf /var/opt/mssql/

Unattended install

You can perform an unattended installation in the following way:

• Follow the initial steps in the quickstarts to register the repositories and install SQL Server.
• When you run mssql-conf setup, set environment variables and use the -n (no prompt) option.

The following example configures SQL Server Developer edition with the MSSQL_PID environment variable. It also accepts the EULA (ACCEPT_EULA) and sets the sa password (MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD). The -n parameter performs an unprompted installation where the configuration values are pulled from the environment variables.

sudo MSSQL_PID=Developer ACCEPT_EULA=Y MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD='<password>' /opt/mssql/bin/mssql-conf -n setup

Caution

Your password should follow the SQL Server default password policy. By default, the password must be at least eight characters long and contain characters from three of the following four sets: uppercase letters, lowercase letters, base-10 digits, and symbols. Passwords can be up to 128 characters long. Use passwords that are as long and complex as possible.

You can also create a script that performs other actions. For example, you could install other SQL Server packages.

For a more detailed sample script, see the following examples:

• Sample: Unattended SQL Server installation script for Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Sample: Unattended SQL Server installation script for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
• Sample: Unattended SQL Server installation script for Ubuntu

Offline install

If your Linux machine doesn't have access to the online repositories used in the quick starts, you can download the package files directly. These packages are located in the Microsoft repository, at https://packages.microsoft.com.

Tip

If you successfully installed with the steps in the quick starts, you don't need to download or manually install the SQL Server package(s). This section is only for the offline scenario.

1. Download the database engine package for your platform. Find package download links in the package details section of the Release notes for SQL Server 2022 on Linux.

2. Move the downloaded package to your Linux machine. If you used a different machine to download the packages, one way to move the packages to your Linux machine is with the scp command.

3. Install the database engine package. Use one of the following commands based on your platform. Replace the package file name in this example with the exact name you downloaded.

   Platform	Package install command
   RHEL	sudo yum localinstall mssql-server_versionnumber.x86_64.rpm
   SLES	sudo zypper install mssql-server_versionnumber.x86_64.rpm
   Ubuntu	sudo dpkg -i mssql-server_versionnumber_amd64.deb

   Note

   You can also install the RPM packages (RHEL and SLES) with the rpm -ivh command, but the commands in the previous table automatically install dependencies if available from approved repositories.

4. Resolve missing dependencies: You might have missing dependencies at this point. If not, you can skip this step. On Ubuntu, if you have access to approved repositories containing those dependencies, the easiest solution is to use the apt-get -f install command. This command also completes the installation of SQL Server. To manually inspect dependencies, use the following commands:

   Platform	List dependencies command
   RHEL	rpm -qpR mssql-server_versionnumber.x86_64.rpm
   SLES	rpm -qpR mssql-server_versionnumber.x86_64.rpm
   Ubuntu	dpkg -I mssql-server_versionnumber_amd64.deb

   After you resolve the missing dependencies, you can try installing the mssql-server package again.

5. Complete the SQL Server setup. Use mssql-conf to complete the SQL Server setup:

   sudo /opt/mssql/bin/mssql-conf setup
   

License and pricing

SQL Server is licensed the same for Linux and Windows. For more information about SQL Server licensing and pricing, see How to license SQL Server, and SQL Server Licensing Resources and Documents.

Optional SQL Server features

After installation, you can also install or enable optional SQL Server features.

• Install the SQL Server command-line tools sqlcmd and bcp on Linux
• Install SQL Server Agent on Linux
• Install SQL Server Full-Text Search on Linux
• Install SQL Server 2019 Machine Learning Services (Python and R) on Linux
• Install SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) on Linux

Get help

• Ideas for SQL: Have suggestions for improving SQL Server?
• Microsoft Q & A (SQL Server)
• DBA Stack Exchange (tag sql-server): Ask SQL Server questions
• Stack Overflow (tag sql-server): Answers to SQL development questions
• Reddit: General discussion about SQL Server
• Microsoft SQL Server License Terms and Information
• Support options for business users
• Additional SQL Server help and feedback

Contribute to SQL documentation

Did you know that you can edit SQL content yourself? If you do so, not only do you help improve our documentation, but you also get credited as a contributor to the page.

For more information, see How to contribute to SQL Server documentation

Related content

• SQL Server on Linux Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)