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Install the go-mssqldb driver

The go-mssqldb driver is a Go module that you install by using go get. This article covers system requirements, installation steps, and verification.

Prerequisites

Component Requirement
Go 1.23 or later. Download from go.dev/dl.
SQL Server All supported versions of SQL Server, Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, SQL database in Fabric, Fabric Data Warehouse, or Azure Synapse Analytics.
Module support Your project must use Go modules (a go.mod file in the project root).

Install the driver module

  1. Open a terminal in your Go project directory.

  2. Run go get to download the driver and its dependencies:

    go get github.com/microsoft/go-mssqldb

  3. The command automatically updates your go.mod and go.sum files.

Install optional packages

The driver has optional packages for specific scenarios. Install them only when you need the corresponding feature.

Microsoft Entra ID authentication

Install this package to use Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) credential types:

go get github.com/microsoft/go-mssqldb/azuread

This package registers a driver named azuresql that supports all Microsoft Entra ID credential types. For more information, see Microsoft Entra ID authentication.

Always Encrypted - Azure Key Vault provider

Install this package to use Azure Key Vault as the column master key store:

go get github.com/microsoft/go-mssqldb/aecmk/akv

This package registers the Azure Key Vault column master key provider. For more information, see Always Encrypted.

Always Encrypted - local certificate provider

Install this package to use local certificates or PFX files as the column master key store:

go get github.com/microsoft/go-mssqldb/aecmk/localcert

This package registers the local certificate and PFX file column master key providers. For more information, see Always Encrypted.

Verify the installation

Create a file named verify.go and paste the following code:

package main

import (
    "database/sql"
    "fmt"
    "log"

    _ "github.com/microsoft/go-mssqldb"
)

func main() {
    connString := "sqlserver://<server>?database=AdventureWorks2025&trusted_connection=yes"
    db, err := sql.Open("sqlserver", connString)
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatal("Error creating connection: ", err.Error())
    }
    defer db.Close()

    err = db.Ping()
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatal("Error pinging database: ", err.Error())
    }

    fmt.Println("Connected successfully.")
}

Run the file:

go run verify.go

If the output shows Connected successfully., the driver is installed and working.

Note

The preceding example uses Windows integrated authentication (trusted_connection=yes), which works only on Windows. On Linux or macOS, use SQL authentication, NTLM, Kerberos, or Microsoft Entra ID instead. For examples, see Authentication and Connection strings.

Upgrade the driver

To upgrade to the latest version:

go get -u github.com/microsoft/go-mssqldb

To upgrade to a specific version:

go get github.com/microsoft/go-mssqldb@v1.10.0

After upgrading, run go mod tidy to remove unused indirect dependencies.

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