Microsoft SQL Server 2025 Enterprise Core Edition on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS by cloudimg. Full feature set: native vector + HNSW for AI/RAG, in-memory OLTP, multi-replica Always On AGs, TDE. Per-VM credentials at first boot. BYOL Enterprise Core. 24/7 expert support.
## SQL Server 2025 Enterprise on Ubuntu 24.04 by cloudimg
Microsoft SQL Server 2025 Enterprise Core Edition on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, purpose built for Microsoft Azure and maintained by cloudimg. SQL Server 2025 Enterprise is the top-tier release with the complete feature set, designed for mission-critical workloads, AI-augmented applications, and large-scale data warehousing.
What's New in SQL Server 2025 (Enterprise)
* Native vector type and HNSW indexes — `VECTOR(N)` columns and approximate-nearest-neighbour search built into the engine for RAG, semantic search, recommendations
* Native JSON_OBJECT / JSON_ARRAY / JSON_VALUE / JSON_PATH — first-class T-SQL JSON construction and querying
* Native regex — REGEXP_LIKE, REGEXP_INSTR, REGEXP_SUBSTR, REGEXP_REPLACE
* Optimized locking — reduced lock memory, fewer escalations on high-concurrency OLTP
* Native AAD on Linux — Microsoft Entra ID authentication for Linux SQL Server clients
* Improved query plan caching — faster cold-cache performance under workload spikes
Why Choose cloudimg?
* 24/7 Expert Support — guaranteed 24-hour response, 1-hour average for critical issues. support@cloudimg.co.uk
* Production Ready from Launch — pre-configured, security-patched, validated before publication
* Azure Native Integration — Azure Linux Agent, cloud-init, Gen2 Hyper-V support, TrustedLaunch ready
* Per VM SA + cloudimg Credentials — fresh strong passwords generated at first boot, written to /stage/scripts/mssql-credentials.log (mode 0600 root only)
What is Included
* SQL Server 2025 Enterprise Core Edition (latest CU at build time, 17.0.4035.5 / KB5081495) from packages.microsoft.com
* mssql-tools18 (sqlcmd, bcp) at /opt/mssql-tools18/bin
* mssql-firstboot.service generating per-VM SA + cloudimg credentials, creating cloudimg DB and login
* mssql-server.service auto-starting on boot, listening on TCP 1433
* 2048 MB build-time memory cap (lifted by firstboot on customer's production-sized VM)
* Ubuntu 24.04 LTS noble base with latest security patches
* 24/7 cloudimg support with guaranteed 24 hour response SLA
Enterprise Edition Capabilities (full feature set)
* Unlimited cores and unlimited memory (no Standard's 24-core or 128 GB cap)
* In-memory OLTP (Hekaton) — natively-compiled stored procedures, memory-optimized tables
* Always On Availability Groups with up to 8 readable secondaries
* Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) for at-rest encryption
* Columnstore indexes, partitioning without size limits, backup compression
* Resource Governor with full workload isolation
* All SQL Server 2025 engine improvements (vector, JSON, regex, optimized locking, AAD on Linux)
Licensing — BYOL
Enterprise Core binaries activate under evaluation licensing for 180 days. Apply your Enterprise Core 2025 product key with `sudo /opt/mssql/bin/mssql-conf setpid`. The cloudimg charge ($0.04 per vCPU/hour) covers packaging, security patching, image maintenance, and 24/7 expert support; the SQL Server 2025 Enterprise Core license is your Volume Licensing entitlement.
Recommended Virtual Machine Sizes
* Standard_E8s_v5 (8 vCPU, 64 GB RAM) — small Enterprise OLTP
* Standard_E16s_v5 (16 vCPU, 128 GB RAM) — mid-size mission-critical workloads
* Standard_E64s_v5 (64 vCPU, 504 GB RAM) — large data warehousing or vector-search workloads