Installation Overview

This guide provides step‑by‑step instructions for installing Microsoft SQL Server on Windows and Linux platforms, configuring essential services, and validating the deployment.

System Requirements

Prerequisites

1. Ensure the latest cumulative update for the OS is installed.
2. Verify that the NET Framework 4.8 (Windows) or dotnet-runtime-6.0 (Linux) is present.
3. Disable any conflicting services (e.g., older SQL Server instances) before proceeding.

Installation Steps

Windows

1. Download the SQL Server installer.
2. Run setup.exe with administrator privileges.
3. Select Installation → New SQL Server stand‑alone installation.
4. Follow the wizard: accept license terms, choose Feature Selection (Database Engine Services, Full‑Text, etc.), configure instance name, and set authentication mode.
5. On the Server Configuration page, set service accounts and start mode (Automatic).
6. Complete the installation and launch SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) to verify connectivity.

Linux (RHEL/CentOS)

# Add the Microsoft repository
sudo rpm -Uvh https://packages.microsoft.com/config/rhel/9.0/mssql-server-2022.repo

# Install the engine
sudo dnf install -y mssql-server

# Run the setup script
sudo /opt/mssql/bin/mssql-conf setup

# Enable and start the service
sudo systemctl enable mssql-server
sudo systemctl start mssql-server

# Verify the service
systemctl status mssql-server

Post‑Installation Configuration

• Configure firewall rules: port 1433 inbound TCP.
• Enable Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) for sensitive databases.
• Set up regular backups using sqlbackup or OS‑level scripts.
• Apply the latest cumulative updates: sqlcmd -S localhost -Q "EXEC sp_updatestats".

Troubleshooting

Common issues and resolutions: