sys.configurations (Transact-SQL)
Applies to: 
SQL Server
Contains a row for each server-wide configuration option value in the system.
| Column name | Data type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| configuration_id | int | Unique ID for the configuration value. |
| name | nvarchar(35) | Name of the configuration option. |
| value | sql_variant | Configured value for this option. |
| minimum | sql_variant | Minimum value for the configuration option. |
| maximum | sql_variant | Maximum value for the configuration option. |
| value_in_use | sql_variant | Running value currently in effect for this option. |
| description | nvarchar(255) | Description of the configuration option. |
| is_dynamic | bit | 1 = The variable that takes effect when the RECONFIGURE statement is executed. |
| is_advanced | bit | 1 = The variable is displayed only when the show advancedoption is set. |
Remarks
For a list of all server configuration options, see Server Configuration Options (SQL Server).
Note
For database-level configuration options, see ALTER DATABASE SCOPED CONFIGURATION (Transact-SQL). To configure Soft-NUMA, see Soft-NUMA (SQL Server).
The sys.configurations catalog view can be used to determine the config_value (the value column), the run_value (the value_in_use column), and whether the configuration option is dynamic (does not require a server engine restart or the is_dynamic column).
Note
The config_value in the result set of sp_configure is equivalent to the sys.configurations.value column. The run_value is equivalent to the sys.configurations.value_in_use column.
The following query can be used to determine if any configured values have not been installed:
select * from sys.configurations where value != value_in_use
If the value equals the change for the configuration option you made but the value_in_use is not the same, either the RECONFIGURE command was not run or has failed, or the server engine must be restarted.
There are configuration options where the value and value_in_use may not be the same and this is expected behavior. For example:
"max server memory (MB)" - The default configured value of 0 shows up as value_in_use = 2147483647
"min server memory (MB)" - The default configured value of 0 may show up as value_in_use = 8 (32bit) or 16 (64bit). In some cases, the value_in_use is 0. In this situation, the "true" value_in_use is 8 (32bit) or 16 (64bit).
The is_dynamic column can be used to determine if the configuration option requires a restart. is_dynamic=1 means that when the RECONFIGURE(T-SQL) command is executed, the new value will take effect "immediately" (in some cases the server engine may not evaluate the new value immediately but will do so in the normal course of its execution). is_dynamic=0 means the the changed configuration value will not take effect until the server is restarted even though the RECONFIGURE(T-SQL) command was executed.
For a configuration option that is not dynamic there is no way to tell if the RECONFIGURE(T-SQL) command has been run to perform the first step of installing the configuration change. Before you restart SQL Server to install a configuration change, run the RECONFIGURE(T-SQL) command to ensure all configuration changes will take effect after a SQL Server restart.
Permissions
Requires membership in the public role.
See Also
Server-wide Configuration Catalog Views (Transact-SQL)
Catalog Views (Transact-SQL)