SQL Server does not activate online or by telephone the way Windows does. Instead, you give SQL Server Setup your product key, and Setup changes the edition of an installed instance. Microsoft calls this an Edition Upgrade. This guide shows how to turn an Evaluation installation of SQL Server 2016 to 2025 into your licensed Standard or Enterprise edition. For SQL Server 2014, 2012 and 2008 R2, your key goes in during setup instead; see the section for these versions. If SQL Server is not installed yet, start with Install SQL Server 2008 R2 to 2025.

What you received

Your 25-character product key is in your order confirmation email and in your Lizensa account under My Library. In this guide it appears as XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX.

The key fixes three things:

The version. A key for SQL Server 2022 belongs to SQL Server 2022. Run the Edition Upgrade from the media of the same version as your installation and your key.
The edition. A Standard key leads to Standard, an Enterprise key to Enterprise.
The licence model inside Enterprise. Microsoft has two Enterprise variants: core-based and Server + CAL. The check at the end of this guide shows which one your key gave.

CAL packs have no key to enter. SQL Server Setup has no field for them. They cover the users or devices that access a Standard server licensed under Server + CAL. Keep your order confirmation as the record.

Product pages: SQL Server 2025 Enterprise, SQL Server 2019 Enterprise (16 core), SQL Server 2019 Standard (16 core), SQL Server 2017 Standard - 24 Core, SQL Server 2016 Standard - 24 Core, SQL Server 2019 Standard 10 Device CAL Pack, SQL Server 2014 Standard, SQL Server 2014 Standard 50 User CAL Pack.

Get the software

For the Edition Upgrade you need SQL Server Setup of the same version as the installed instance. The easiest source is the Evaluation ISO you installed from. For SQL Server 2016 to 2025, Microsoft's Evaluation Center offers it again if you no longer have it. The links for each version are in the installation guide.

For SQL Server 2016 to 2025, we supply the product key only, not an installer. CAL packs have nothing to enter or install.

For SQL Server 2014, 2012 and 2008 R2, your installer link follows in your account under My Library; we cannot give a date yet. Until it is there, contact our support with your order number.

Run Setup on the server that hosts the instance, with an account that has administrator rights there. If you start Setup from a network share instead of a mounted ISO, Microsoft requires a domain account with read permission on that share. Copy the ISO to the server when in doubt.

Install

This guide assumes that SQL Server 2016 to 2025 already runs as the Evaluation edition. For 2014, 2012 and 2008 R2, go to the section for these versions. If SQL Server 2016 to 2025 is not installed yet, install it first as described in the installation guide. Then prepare the instance before you change its edition:

Find the instance name. The default instance is called MSSQLSERVER. A named instance has its own name, shown in Services as SQL Server (name).
Check that it is a stand-alone instance. Microsoft supports changing Evaluation to a paid edition on stand-alone installations only, not on failover cluster instances. This limit does not apply to stand-alone instances in an availability group. If you move such an instance to Standard, check first that Standard supports the availability group features you use.
Plan for downtime. Setup restarts the SQL Server services to apply the new edition. Applications lose their connection for that time.
Back up your databases. The Edition Upgrade keeps your databases, but a current backup is good practice before any change to a production server.
Going to Standard: check for edition-specific features. The Evaluation edition has all Enterprise features. Run this query in each user database:

SELECT feature_name FROM sys.dm_db_persisted_sku_features;

No rows means the view finds no stored edition-specific features in that database. It does not check every feature your applications use. If rows appear, open Microsoft's editions and supported features, select your SQL Server version there and compare the listed features with your target edition. Microsoft states that a database with such features cannot be moved to an edition that does not support them.

Activate

For SQL Server 2016 to 2025, choose one of the two ways below. Both do the same thing.

In SQL Server Setup

Mount the ISO file. Right-click setup.exe and select Run as administrator. The SQL Server Installation Center opens.
Select Maintenance on the left, then Edition Upgrade.
Setup installs its support files and checks the computer. If it asks you to restart, restart and start again at step 1. When the check finishes, select OK if asked.
On the Product Key page, select Enter the product key and type your key. In SQL Server 2022 and 2025, also select I have a SQL Server license only. Your licence from us is a perpetual licence without Software Assurance or a SQL Server subscription. Select Next.
If Setup names an edition that does not match your order, select Cancel and contact our support.
On License Terms, accept the terms and select Next.
On Select Instance, choose the instance you want to license, for example MSSQLSERVER.
Edition Upgrade Rules checks the configuration. Fix any failed rule, then continue.
On Ready to Upgrade Edition, check the summary and select Upgrade.
Setup restarts the services. On the Complete page, select Close. Restart the server if Setup asks you to.

With an Enterprise key in Server + CAL form, Setup warns on machines with more than 20 physical cores, or 40 logical cores with simultaneous multithreading. Microsoft limits that variant to 20 cores per instance. Core-based Enterprise has no such limit.

From the command line

This way suits Server Core and remote sessions. Open Command Prompt as administrator, change to the mounted drive and run:

setup.exe /Q /ACTION=EditionUpgrade /INSTANCENAME=MSSQLSERVER /PID=XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX /IACCEPTSQLSERVERLICENSETERMS

Replace the placeholder with your key. For a named instance, replace MSSQLSERVER with its name. In quiet mode Setup needs /IACCEPTSQLSERVERLICENSETERMS to confirm that you accept the licence terms.

SQL Server 2022 and 2025 also know the parameter /PRODUCTCOVEREDBYSA. Leave it out. Without it, Setup treats your key as a SQL Server licence without Software Assurance, which matches your licence.

The command prints no progress. When it returns to the prompt, check the result as shown in the next section.

What changes and what stays

The Edition Upgrade changes the edition of the instance in place. Your databases, logins and SQL Server Agent jobs stay on the server. The instance name, the data folders and the service accounts stay as they were. Only the edition changes, and with it the limits that Microsoft sets for that edition. Standard in SQL Server 2025, for example, uses the lesser of four sockets or 32 cores per instance. In SQL Server 2016 to 2022, the Standard limit is the lesser of four sockets or 24 cores.

Several instances

Each instance has its own edition. If the server has more than one instance, run the Edition Upgrade once for each instance your licence covers.

SQL Server 2014, 2012 and 2008 R2: enter the key during setup

For these versions you do not install an Evaluation edition first. You enter your key while you install, and Setup installs Standard directly.

Once the installer link is in your Lizensa account, download the installer and open it. Right-click setup.exe and select Run as administrator.
In the SQL Server Installation Center, select Installation on the left, then the entry for a new stand-alone installation.
On the Product Key page, select Enter the product key and type your key. Select Next.
Accept the licence terms and continue as Setup guides you. Under feature selection, choose Database Engine Services. Add at least one SQL Server administrator, for example with Add Current User.
Finish the installation and restart the server if Setup asks you to.

Then check the edition as shown in Check it worked. It must show Standard, not Evaluation. If SQL Server 2014, 2012 or 2008 R2 already runs as Evaluation on your server, contact our support before you go further.

Check it worked

Connect to the instance with SSMS, open a new query and run:

SELECT SERVERPROPERTY('Edition') AS Edition, SERVERPROPERTY('ProductVersion') AS Version;

The edition no longer contains "Evaluation". You see one of these values; on a 64-bit installation it is followed by "(64-bit)":

Standard for a Standard key.
Enterprise Edition: Core-based Licensing for a core-based Enterprise key.
Enterprise for an Enterprise key in Server + CAL form.

For SQL Server 2014, 2012 and 2008 R2, the edition shows Standard. The version starts with 12 for 2014, 11 for 2012 and 10.50 for 2008 R2.

Without SSMS, you can query the edition from Command Prompt with the sqlcmd tool, if it is installed:

sqlcmd -S localhost -E -Q "SELECT SERVERPROPERTY('Edition')"

For a named instance use localhost\name after -S.

Setup can show the result too. In the SQL Server Installation Center, select Tools, then Installed SQL Server features discovery report. The report lists the edition of each instance.

Check that your licences cover the server

SQL Server does not count licences. Microsoft documents that the product does not keep licence information, so a successful Edition Upgrade says nothing about whether you hold enough licences. Check this yourself:

Open Task Manager and select Performance > CPU.
Read Sockets and Cores. On a physical server, Cores is the number of physical cores. Inside a virtual machine, this display does not show the host's physical cores.
For a per-core licence, Microsoft requires a core licence for every physical core of the server, and at least four for each processor. Any number of users and devices may then connect without CALs.
For Standard under Server + CAL, you need a server licence for each server or operating system environment (OSE) that runs SQL Server, and a CAL for every user or device that accesses SQL Server. The CALs must be for the SQL Server version being accessed or a later one.

Enterprise in its Server + CAL form is not available for new agreements. Your order confirmation shows the licence model of your Enterprise licence. Licensing single virtual machines is a Software Assurance benefit in SQL Server 2022, and your licence does not include Software Assurance. The details are in Microsoft's core-based licensing guidance and the SQL Server 2022 licensing guide.

Keep this count with your order confirmation.

If something goes wrong

Setup does not accept your key. Check the version first. A key for one SQL Server version does not work in Setup of another. Then compare the key character by character with your order email. If it still fails, contact our support with your order number and the exact message.

Setup names a different edition from your order. Do not continue. Select Cancel and send us your order number and a screenshot of the Setup page.

The Edition Upgrade stops at the Engine_SqlEngineHealthCheck rule. Microsoft documents a command that skips this one rule. Run it from Command Prompt as administrator in the folder that contains setup.exe:

setup.exe /Q /ACTION=EditionUpgrade /INSTANCENAME=MSSQLSERVER /PID=XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX /SkipRules=Engine_SqlEngineHealthCheck /IACCEPTSQLSERVERLICENSETERMS

Tools show "Evaluation period has expired". The 180-day evaluation ended before the edition change. For SQL Server 2016 to 2025, Microsoft's answer is the same Edition Upgrade described above. If SQL Server 2014, 2012 or 2008 R2 runs as Evaluation, contact our support before you continue. Connecting to an expired instance can also fail with a generic network error. If Setup cannot complete the change because the service no longer starts, contact our support before you try anything else.

Your target edition is not offered. For SQL Server 2016 to 2025 on stand-alone instances, Microsoft supports changing Evaluation, Developer and Express to Standard or Enterprise. On a failover cluster instance, Evaluation cannot be changed to a paid edition, and Developer cannot be changed to Standard. Open Microsoft's supported edition upgrades, select your SQL Server version there and write to us before you start in these cases.

You want to go from Enterprise down to Standard. An Edition Upgrade cannot do this. Microsoft's route is a full uninstall and a new installation with the Standard edition. Back up all databases first, including the system databases.

A tool still says the evaluation has expired after the change. Microsoft also documents this message for tools that were installed from an evaluation version. First check the edition with the query above. If the instance already shows your licensed edition, read Microsoft's guidance on expired evaluation tools. Its documented remedy is an Edition Upgrade of the evaluation components. If that does not help, contact our support with the name of the tool and the exact message.

Setup ends with an error. Open Summary.txt in %programfiles%\Microsoft SQL Server\<nnn>\Setup Bootstrap\Log. For a quiet run, also look at the sqlsetup*.log files in %temp%. The log names the failed rule or component.

Still stuck? Contact our support with your order number, your SQL Server version, the instance name and the error text.

Activate SQL Server 2008 R2 to 2025 with your product key