Applies to:SQL Server - Linux

This article provides guidance for installing, updating, and uninstalling SQL Server 2017 (14.x), SQL Server 2019 (15.x), SQL Server 2022 (16.x), and SQL Server 2025 (17.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 theSQL Server on Linux FAQ.

SQL Server support policy

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.

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

System requirements

SQL Server has the following system requirements for Linux:

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 settingmax server memory andMemoryLimitMB.

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

• Use NFS version4.2 or higher. Older versions of NFS don't support required features, such asfallocate 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 UpdateCU repository for SQL Server. For more information on repositories and how to configure them, seeConfigure 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:

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

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

Update or upgrade SQL Server

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

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, firstchange your configured repository to the desired version of SQL Server. Then use the sameupdate 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

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, seeInstall the sqlcmd and bcp SQL Server command-line tools on Linux.

2. Usesqlcmd 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 themssql-server package on Linux, use one of the following commands based on your platform:

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 thequickstarts to register the repositories and install SQL Server.
• When you runmssql-conf setup, setenvironment variables and use the-n (no prompt) option.

The following example configures SQL Server Developer edition with theMSSQL_PID environment variable. It also accepts the EULA (ACCEPT_EULA) and sets thesa 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

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 thequick starts, you can download the package files directly. These packages are located in the Microsoft repository, athttps://packages.microsoft.com.

1. Download the database engine package for your platform. Find package download links in the package details section of theRelease 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 thescp 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 therpm -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 theapt-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 themssql-server package again.

5. Complete the SQL Server setup. Usemssql-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, seeHow to license SQL Server, andSQL Server Licensing Resources and Documents.

Optional SQL Server features

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

• Install the sqlcmd and bcp SQL Server command-line tools 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
• 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, seeEdit Microsoft Learn documentation.

Related content

• SQL Server on Linux Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)