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.
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.
Platform
File system
Installation guide
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.7 - 7.9 Server 1, or 8.x Server
1 At the end of June 2024, RHEL 7.x transitioned from mainstream maintenance to extended lifecycle support (ELS). For more information, see Red Hat Enterprise Linux Life Cycle.
3 At the end of April 2023, Ubuntu 18.04 LTS transitioned from standard maintenance to expanded security maintenance (ESM). For more information, see Ubuntu 18.04 end of standard support.
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 7.7 - 7.9 Server 1, or 8.x Server
1 At the end of June 2024, RHEL 7.x transitioned from mainstream maintenance to extended lifecycle support (ELS). For more information, see Red Hat Enterprise Linux Life Cycle.
3 At the end of April 2023, Ubuntu 18.04 LTS transitioned from standard maintenance to expanded security maintenance (ESM). For more information, see Ubuntu 18.04 end of standard support.
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
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:
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:
Identify the version number for the SQL Server package you want to downgrade to. For a list of package numbers, see the release notes:
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Complete the SQL Server setup. Use mssql-conf to complete the SQL Server setup:
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