Install SQL Server 2008 R2 to 2025 on Windows

This guide covers SQL Server 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2025 in the Standard and Enterprise editions, SQL Server 2014, 2012 and 2008 R2 Standard, and SQL Server Standard CAL packs. For 2016 to 2025, you install SQL Server from Microsoft's free Evaluation media and then change it to your licensed edition with your product key. For 2014, 2012 and 2008 R2, see the section on older versions. The second part has its own guide: Activate SQL Server with your product key.

Allow time for the installation and for any restarts Setup asks for. Have a Windows account with administrator rights ready.

What you received

For a server licence, your order confirmation email contains your 25-character product key. It looks like XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX. The same key is in your Lizensa account under My Library.

Your licence is a perpetual licence. Server licences come as a key only; CAL packs have no key at all. It does not include Software Assurance or a SQL Server subscription. For SQL Server 2016 to 2025 you do not download installation files from us. Microsoft provides the installation media through its Evaluation Center, and the steps below use that media. For SQL Server 2014, 2012 and 2008 R2 Standard, your installer link follows in your account; see the section on older versions.

Two things to know before you start:

• Your key decides the edition. A Standard key turns an installation into Standard. An Enterprise key turns it into Enterprise. Use the media of the version you ordered: a key for SQL Server 2019 belongs with SQL Server 2019 media.
• SQL Server has no separate activation. You give your key to SQL Server Setup, and Setup sets the edition. SQL Server does not store or check licence counts. Microsoft documents that "license information isn't preserved or maintained by the SQL Server product". Keeping the right number of licences is your job, so keep your order confirmation and invoice.

Product pages: SQL Server 2025 Enterprise, SQL Server 2019 Standard (16 core), SQL Server 2019 Enterprise (16 core), SQL Server 2017 Standard, SQL Server 2016 Standard, SQL Server 2022 Standard 50 User CAL Pack, SQL Server 2014 Standard, SQL Server 2014 Standard 50 Device CAL Pack.

Per core or Server + CAL

Microsoft licenses SQL Server in two ways. Your order shows which one you have.

Per core. You license every physical core of the server. Microsoft requires at least four core licences for each physical processor. Core licences come in packs of two. With per-core licensing, any number of users and devices may connect, and you need no CALs. Enterprise is licensed per core. Standard can be licensed per core too; our product names then state the number of cores, for example "16 core" or "24 Core".

Server + CAL (Standard only). You need a server licence for each server, or each operating system environment (OSE), that runs SQL Server. Then every user or every device that accesses SQL Server needs a Client Access Licence (CAL), as a User CAL or a Device CAL. A CAL must be for the version of SQL Server being accessed or a later one. A SQL Server 2022 CAL covers access to SQL Server 2019, for example, but a 2019 CAL does not cover SQL Server 2022.

A CAL is a licence, not software. SQL Server Setup has no place to enter it, and you install nothing for it. If you have only CAL packs from us, you are done after reading this section. Keep your CAL records with the server licence they belong to.

Running SQL Server in a virtual machine or a container follows extra rules. For example, licensing single virtual machines by their virtual cores is a Software Assurance benefit in SQL Server 2022. Check Microsoft's SQL Server 2022 licensing guide before you plan a virtual deployment, or ask our support.

Check the server first

The processor, memory and disk figures are Microsoft's requirements for SQL Server 2022 and 2025. For other versions, check the requirements page of your version.

• Processor: x64 only, at least 1.4 GHz. Microsoft recommends 2.0 GHz or faster.
• Memory: at least 1 GB. Microsoft recommends at least 4 GB, and more as your databases grow.
• Disk: at least 6 GB free, plus room for your data.
• Windows for SQL Server 2022: Windows Server 2016 or later, or Windows 10 version 1607 or later. .NET Framework 4.7.2 is required.
• Windows for SQL Server 2025: Windows Server 2019 or later, or Windows 10 or later. .NET Framework 4.7.2 is required.
• Enterprise needs Windows Server. Microsoft does not support SQL Server 2022 or 2025 Enterprise on Windows 10 or Windows 11. Standard runs on both.
• SQL Server 2016 to 2019 have their own requirements pages on Microsoft Learn. Check the page for your version before you install.
• SQL Server 2014, 2012 and 2008 R2 are not supported on Windows Server 2022, Windows Server 2025 or Windows 11. See the section on older versions.

Get the software

Download the Evaluation edition of your SQL Server version from Microsoft's Evaluation Center. The Evaluation edition is the full product, free for 180 days. On a stand-alone installation, you change it to your licensed edition later with your key, without reinstalling. Microsoft does not support this change on a failover cluster instance; ask our support before you plan a cluster.

1. Open the page for your version and register with your details.
2. Download the small installer file (EXE) that Microsoft offers.
3. Run it. It offers a Basic installation, a Custom installation, or a download of the media only.
4. Choose the media download and pick the ISO format. An ISO file is easier to keep for later tasks, including the edition change.

Microsoft offers the media in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional) and Portuguese (Brazil).

Install the Evaluation edition for a new server. Developer is free but licensed for development and testing only, so it is not meant for a production server. If a server already runs Developer or Express, Microsoft supports changing that stand-alone instance to Standard or Enterprise with the same Edition Upgrade.

SQL Server 2014, 2012 and 2008 R2

Microsoft no longer offers evaluation media for these versions, so the steps in this guide do not apply to them. Lizensa will provide the installer for SQL Server 2014 Standard, 2012 Standard and 2008 R2 Standard itself. Your installer link follows in your account under My Library. We cannot give a date for it yet. Until the link is there, contact our support with your order number.

With these versions you enter your product key during installation: on the Product Key page of Setup, select Enter the product key and type your key. There is no Edition Upgrade afterwards. When the installation is done, run the query under Check it worked. The edition must show Standard. The full steps are in the activation guide.

Before you plan a server for one of these versions, note:

• Support has ended. Microsoft's extended support ended in July 2019 for SQL Server 2008 R2, in July 2022 for 2012 and in July 2024 for 2014. Microsoft no longer provides regular security updates for them.
• Windows. SQL Server 2014 (with Service Pack 3) and 2012 (with Service Pack 4) are supported up to Windows Server 2019 and Windows 10. Microsoft does not support them on Windows Server 2022, Windows Server 2025 or Windows 11. SQL Server 2008 R2 (with Service Pack 3) is supported up to Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1.
• Management tools. SSMS 22 works with SQL Server 2014 and later. For 2012 and 2008 R2, Microsoft lists older SSMS versions in its release history.
• CAL packs for SQL Server 2014 are licence only, like all CAL packs. A 2014 CAL covers access to SQL Server 2014 and earlier versions, not to 2016 or later.

Install

These steps are for SQL Server 2016 to 2025 and follow the SQL Server 2022 and 2025 setup. SQL Server 2016, 2017 and 2019 show the same pages with small differences. For example, the edition page is called Product Key there.

1. Right-click the ISO file and select Mount. Open the new drive and run setup.exe. Windows asks whether the app may make changes. Select Yes.
2. The SQL Server Installation Center opens. Select Installation on the left, then New SQL Server standalone installation or add features to an existing installation.
3. On the Edition page, select Specify a free edition and choose Evaluation. Do not enter your key here. The next guide uses it to change the edition. Select Next.
4. On the License Terms page, read the terms. Select I accept the license terms and Privacy Statement, then Next.
5. Setup checks the computer on the Global Rules page and may look for updates. On Install Rules, fix any item marked as failed and select Next. Select a failed item in the Status column to read the details.
6. SQL Server 2022 and 2025 show Azure Extension for SQL Server. It is selected by default and needs an Azure subscription. If you do not want to connect this server to Azure, clear the check box and select Next.
7. On Feature Selection, select Database Engine Services. Add other features only if you need them. Select Next.
8. On Instance Configuration, keep Default instance unless you need a named instance. The default instance is called MSSQLSERVER. If a default instance already exists on this server, you must install a named instance.
9. On Server Configuration, keep the suggested service accounts unless your company has its own rules.
10. On Database Engine Configuration, choose Windows authentication mode, or Mixed Mode (SQL Server authentication and Windows authentication) if your applications log in with SQL Server accounts. Mixed mode asks for a strong password for the sa account. Under SQL Server Administrators, select Add Current User. You need at least one administrator.
11. Check the summary on Ready to Install and select Install.
12. When the Complete page shows that the installation succeeded, select Close. Restart the server if Setup asks you to.

Install from the command line

On Windows Server Core, or for a repeatable setup, run Setup without its interface. Open Command Prompt as administrator, change to the mounted drive and run:

setup.exe /Q /IACCEPTSQLSERVERLICENSETERMS /ACTION=Install /FEATURES=SQLENGINE /INSTANCENAME=MSSQLSERVER /SQLSYSADMINACCOUNTS="DOMAIN\Administrator"

Replace DOMAIN\Administrator with the Windows account or group that should administer SQL Server. The command has no /PID parameter. In that case Microsoft's Setup installs the Evaluation edition, which is what you want for now.

Management tools

SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is not part of SQL Server Setup. Download it free from Microsoft's SSMS installation page. SSMS 22 installs through the Visual Studio Installer and works with SQL Server 2014 and later. You can install it on the server or on your own PC.

Activate

Your server now runs the Evaluation edition. It stops working after 180 days. Change it to your licensed edition soon, ideally right after installation.

You do this with an Edition Upgrade in SQL Server Setup:

1. Mount the same ISO file and run setup.exe as administrator.
2. In the SQL Server Installation Center, select Maintenance, then Edition Upgrade.
3. Enter your product key. In SQL Server 2022 and 2025, also select I have a SQL Server license only.
4. Accept the licence terms, select your instance and select Upgrade.

Setup restarts the SQL Server services, so applications cannot reach the instance during that time. Your databases stay in place. Before you change Evaluation to Standard, check for database features that Standard does not support; the activation guide shows the query. The detailed steps, the command-line variant and the errors you may see are in Activate SQL Server with your product key.

If you have only CAL packs, there is nothing to activate.

Check it worked

The service runs. Open Services in Windows. The service SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER), or SQL Server (name) for a named instance, shows Running.

SQL Server reports its edition. Connect with SSMS, open a new query and run:

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

For SQL Server 2016 to 2025 installed with the steps above, the edition contains "Evaluation" until you complete the Edition Upgrade. For SQL Server 2014, 2012 and 2008 R2 installed with your key, it shows Standard. The version starts with 13 for SQL Server 2016, 14 for 2017, 15 for 2019, 16 for 2022 and 17 for 2025. For the older versions it starts with 10.50 for SQL Server 2008 R2, 11 for 2012 and 12 for 2014. If the version does not match your licence, first check that you are connected to the right instance. For the Edition Upgrade, the installed version and your key must match.

Setup lists what is installed. Open the SQL Server Installation Center from the Start menu. Select Tools, then Installed SQL Server features discovery report. The report lists each instance with its version and edition.

After the edition change, the same checks show Standard or Enterprise instead of Evaluation.

If something goes wrong

Setup stops at Install Rules. Select the failed rule in the Status column to see the reason. A pending restart is common. Restart the server and run setup.exe again.

Setup asks for .NET Framework 4.7.2 or reports it as missing. SQL Server 2022 and 2025 need it. Install it through Windows Update or from Microsoft, then start Setup again.

Enterprise will not install on Windows 10 or 11. Microsoft supports SQL Server 2022 and 2025 Enterprise only on Windows Server. Install on a supported Windows Server version.

SQL Server 2014 or 2012 will not install on Windows Server 2022 or Windows 11. Microsoft supports these versions only up to Windows Server 2019 and Windows 10. Use a supported Windows version, or ask our support about a newer SQL Server version.

Setup says a default instance already exists. Another SQL Server installation, perhaps from an application, already uses MSSQLSERVER. Choose Named instance and give it a name, or remove the old instance first if nobody needs it.

You installed Developer or Express instead of Evaluation. On a stand-alone instance of SQL Server 2016 to 2025 you do not need to reinstall: Microsoft supports changing both Developer and Express to Standard or Enterprise with the Edition Upgrade from the activation guide. For SQL Server 2014, 2012 or 2008 R2, contact our support instead. Open Microsoft's table of supported edition upgrades and select your SQL Server version there before you change anything.

Setup fails and the message is unclear. Setup writes its logs to %programfiles%\Microsoft SQL Server\<nnn>\Setup Bootstrap\Log. Open Summary.txt first. It names the failed component and the error. Each run also gets its own folder, named by date and time.

SSMS or the service reports "Evaluation period has expired". The 180 days have passed without an edition change. First check whether the instance itself still runs as Evaluation or only the management tools are affected. If an instance of SQL Server 2016 to 2025 is still Evaluation, run the Edition Upgrade with your key as described in the activation guide. If SQL Server 2014, 2012 or 2008 R2 runs as Evaluation, contact our support instead. If only the tools are affected, follow Microsoft's guidance for expired evaluation tools. Microsoft describes both cases on its page about the expired evaluation period.

Still stuck? Contact our support with your order number, your SQL Server version and the error text from Summary.txt.