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Building the connection URL

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The general form of the connection URL is

jdbc:sqlserver://[serverName[\instanceName][:portNumber]][;property=value[;property=value]]

Where:

  • jdbc:sqlserver:// (Required) - Is known as the subprotocol and is constant.

  • serverName (Optional) - Is the address of the server to connect to. This address can be a DNS or IP address, or it can be localhost or 127.0.0.1 for the local computer. If not specified in the connection URL, the server name must be specified in the properties collection.

  • instanceName (Optional) - Is the instance to connect to on serverName. If not specified, a connection to the default instance is made.

  • portNumber (Optional) - Is the port to connect to on serverName. The default is 1433. If you're using the default port, you don't have to specify the port, nor the preceding : in the URL.

    Note

    For optimal connection performance, you should set the portNumber when you connect to a named instance. This will avoid a round trip to the server to determine the port number. If both a portNumber and instanceName are used, the portNumber will take precedence and the instanceName will be ignored.

  • property (Optional) - Is one or more option connection properties. For more information, see Setting the connection properties. Any property from the list can be specified. Properties can only be delimited by using the semicolon (;), and they can't be duplicated.

Caution

For security purposes, you should avoid building the connection URLs based on user input. You should only specify the server name and driver in the URL. For user name and password values, use the connection property collections. For more information about security in your JDBC applications, see Securing JDBC driver applications.

Connection properties

For a detailed list of properties that can be set in the connection string, see Setting the connection properties.

Connection examples

Connect to the default database on the local computer by using a user name and password:

jdbc:sqlserver://localhost;encrypt=true;user=MyUserName;password=*****;

Note

Although the previous example uses a username and password in the connection string, you should use integrated security as it's more secure. For more information, see the Connecting with integrated authentication section later in this article.

The following connection string shows an example of how to connect to a SQL Server database using integrated authentication and Kerberos from an application running on any operating system supported by the Microsoft JDBC Driver for SQL Server:

jdbc:sqlserver://;servername=server_name;encrypt=true;integratedSecurity=true;authenticationScheme=JavaKerberos

  • Connect to the default database on the local computer by using integrated authentication:

    jdbc:sqlserver://localhost;encrypt=true;integratedSecurity=true;

  • Connect to a named database on a remote server:

    jdbc:sqlserver://localhost;encrypt=true;databaseName=AdventureWorks;integratedSecurity=true;

  • Connect on the default port to the remote server:

    jdbc:sqlserver://localhost:1433;encrypt=true;databaseName=AdventureWorks;integratedSecurity=true;

  • Connect by specifying a customized application name:

    jdbc:sqlserver://localhost;encrypt=true;databaseName=AdventureWorks;integratedSecurity=true;applicationName=MyApp;

Named and multiple SQL Server instances

SQL Server allows for the installation of multiple database instances per server. Each instance is identifiable by a specific name. To connect to a named instance of SQL Server, you can either specify the port number of the named instance (preferred). You can also specify the instance name as a JDBC URL property or a datasource property. If no instance name or port number property is specified, a connection to the default instance is created. See the following examples:

  • To specify a port number, use the following format:

    jdbc:sqlserver://localhost:1433;encrypt=true;integratedSecurity=true;<more properties as required>;

  • To use a JDBC URL property, use the following format:

    jdbc:sqlserver://localhost;encrypt=true;instanceName=instance1;integratedSecurity=true;<more properties as required>;

Escaping values in the connection URL

You might have to escape certain parts of the connection URL values if the values include special characters like spaces, semicolons, and quotation marks. The JDBC driver supports escaping these characters by enclosing them in braces. For example, {;} escapes a semicolon.

Before version 8.4, escaped values can contain special characters (especially =, ;, [], and space) but can't contain braces. Values that must be escaped and contain braces should be added to a properties collection.

In version 8.4 and above, escaped values can contain special characters, including braces. However, closing braces must be escaped. For example, with a password of pass";{}word, a connection string would need to escape the password as follows:

jdbc:sqlserver://localhost;encrypt=true;username=MyUsername;password={pass";{}}word};

Note

White space inside the braces is literal and not trimmed.

Connecting with integrated authentication On Windows

The JDBC driver supports the use of Type 2 integrated authentication on Windows operating systems by using the integratedSecurity connection string property. To use integrated authentication, copy the mssql-jdbc_auth-<version>-<arch>.dll file to a directory on the Windows system path on the computer where the JDBC driver is installed.

The mssql-jdbc_auth-<version>-<arch>.dll files are installed in the following location:

<installation directory>\sqljdbc_<version>\<language>\auth\

For any operating system supported by the Microsoft JDBC Driver for SQL Server, see Using Kerberos integrated authentication to connect to SQL Server for a description of a feature added in Microsoft JDBC Driver 4.0 for SQL Server that allows an application to connect to a database using integrated authentication with Type 4 Kerberos.

Note

If you are running a 32-bit Java Virtual Machine (JVM), use the mssql-jdbc_auth-<version>-<arch>.dll file in the x86 folder, even if the operating system is the x64 version. If you are running a 64-bit JVM on a x64 processor, use the mssql-jdbc_auth-<version>-<arch>.dll file in the x64 folder.

Alternatively you can set the java.library.path system property to specify the directory of the mssql-jdbc_auth-<version>-<arch>.dll. For example, if the JDBC driver is installed in the default directory, you can specify the location of the DLL by using the following virtual machine (VM) argument when the Java application is started:

-Djava.library.path=C:\Microsoft JDBC Driver 6.4 for SQL Server\sqljdbc_<version>\enu\auth\x86

Connecting with IPv6 addresses

The JDBC driver supports the use of IPv6 addresses with the connection properties collection, and with the serverName connection string property. The initial serverName value, such as jdbc:sqlserver://serverName, isn't supported for IPv6 addresses in connection strings. Using a name for serverName instead of a raw IPv6 address works in every case in the connection. The following examples provide more information.

  • To use the serverName property:

    jdbc:sqlserver://;serverName=3ffe:8311:eeee:f70f:0:5eae:10.203.31.9\\instance1;encrypt=true;integratedSecurity=true;

  • To use the properties collection:

    Properties pro = new Properties();

    pro.setProperty("serverName", "serverName=3ffe:8311:eeee:f70f:0:5eae:10.203.31.9\\instance1");

    Connection con = DriverManager.getConnection("jdbc:sqlserver://;encrypt=true;integratedSecurity=true;", pro);

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