sql server management studio 2018 user setup

Question

sql server management studio 2018 user setup

Candace Snipes 20

how to set up user account and login for sql server management studio 2018 and connect to database

Ganesh Chelluri 5 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-09T23:49:49.39+00:00
Hello @Candace Snipes ,

Could you please clarify a few details so we can provide the correct setup steps?

Are you connecting to:

Azure SQL Database

Azure SQL Managed Instance

SQL Server on-premises

SQL Server running on an Azure VM

Do you want to use:

SQL Authentication (username and password), or

Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) Authentication?

What level of access does the user require?

Read-only

Read/Write

Administrative access

Do you already have the database and server name available?

Once you provide these details, we can share the appropriate SSMS 2018 connection steps and any required SQL commands.
Ganesh Chelluri 5 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-17T23:35:12.81+00:00
Hi @Candace Snipes s,

Sharing a general setup path so you have everything in one place. Note that there is no "SSMS 2018" release; the current version is SSMS 22.x and it works with all SQL Server and Azure SQL versions. Download it from the official Microsoft docs page for SQL Server Management Studio.

Install SSMS Run the installer, keep defaults, restart if prompted.

Have a database to connect to SSMS is only a client. You need either:

Azure SQL Database – create one via Azure portal → Create a resource → SQL Database → pick / create a server, database name, and set an admin login + password.

SQL Server on your machine / network – install SQL Server (Developer or Express edition is free).

Create the login/user (Azure SQL Database example, SQL Authentication) Connect to the server with the server admin, then in the master database:

CREATE LOGIN app_user WITH PASSWORD = 'StrongPassword!123';

Switch to your database and create the user + grant access:

CREATE USER app_user FOR LOGIN app_user; ALTER ROLE db_datareader ADD MEMBER app_user; -- read-only ALTER ROLE db_datawriter ADD MEMBER app_user; -- read/write -- ALTER ROLE db_owner ADD MEMBER app_user; -- admin on that DB only

Connect from SSMS Open SSMS → Connect → Database Engine:

Server name: yourservername.database.windows.net (Azure SQL) or SERVER\INSTANCE (on-prem).

Authentication: SQL Server Authentication (or Microsoft Entra ID – Password / Interactive if you use Entra).

Login / Password: the ones you created.

Click Options → Connection Properties → set Connect to database = your database name.

First-time firewall (Azure SQL Database only) If you get a firewall error on connect, SSMS will prompt you to sign in with an Azure account and add your client IP automatically, or you can add it from Azure portal → SQL server → Networking → Add your client IPv4 address.

If any part of this doesn't match your setup (on-prem vs Azure, SQL vs Entra auth, or a specific error message), share the exact error and one of us can point at the fix.Hi @Candace Snipes,

Sharing a general setup path so you have everything in one place. Note that there is no "SSMS 2018" release; the current version is SSMS 22.x and it works with all SQL Server and Azure SQL versions. Download it from the official Microsoft docs page for SQL Server Management Studio.

Install SSMS Run the installer, keep defaults, restart if prompted.

Have a database to connect to SSMS is only a client. You need either:

Azure SQL Database – create one via Azure portal → Create a resource → SQL Database → pick / create a server, database name, and set an admin login + password.

SQL Server on your machine / network – install SQL Server (Developer or Express edition is free).

Create the login/user (Azure SQL Database example, SQL Authentication) Connect to the server with the server admin, then in the master database:

CREATE LOGIN app_user WITH PASSWORD = 'StrongPassword!123';

Switch to your database and create the user + grant access:

CREATE USER app_user FOR LOGIN app_user; ALTER ROLE db_datareader ADD MEMBER app_user; -- read-only ALTER ROLE db_datawriter ADD MEMBER app_user; -- read/write -- ALTER ROLE db_owner ADD MEMBER app_user; -- admin on that DB only

Connect from SSMS Open SSMS → Connect → Database Engine:

Server name: yourservername.database.windows.net (Azure SQL) or SERVER\INSTANCE (on-prem).

Authentication: SQL Server Authentication (or Microsoft Entra ID – Password / Interactive if you use Entra).

Login / Password: the ones you created.

Click Options → Connection Properties → set Connect to database = your database name.

First-time firewall (Azure SQL Database only) If you get a firewall error on connect, SSMS will prompt you to sign in with an Azure account and add your client IP automatically, or you can add it from Azure portal → SQL server → Networking → Add your client IPv4 address.

If any part of this doesn't match your setup (on-prem vs Azure, SQL vs Entra auth, or a specific error message), share the exact error and one of us can point at the fix.

1 answer

Your answer

Ganesh Chelluri 5 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-09T23:49:49.39+00:00

Hello @Candace Snipes ,

Could you please clarify a few details so we can provide the correct setup steps?

Are you connecting to:

Azure SQL Database

Azure SQL Managed Instance

SQL Server on-premises

SQL Server running on an Azure VM

Do you want to use:

SQL Authentication (username and password), or

Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) Authentication?

What level of access does the user require?

Read-only

Read/Write

Administrative access

Do you already have the database and server name available?

Once you provide these details, we can share the appropriate SSMS 2018 connection steps and any required SQL commands.

Answer 1

Erland Sommarskog 135.7K MVP Volunteer Moderator

There is no SQL Server Management Studio 2018. The most recent version is 22.7.2, which you can download here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/ssms/download-sql-server-management-studio-ssms.

It is not clear what you have. SSMS alone will take you nowhere. You either need to have SQL Server installed locally on your own computer or in your network. Or you need to have a database in Azure. For the latter you need to have an Azure account, and you create the database through the portal. There is a free offer that you take advantage off.

0 comments