SQL Server 2025

This is a repackaged open source software product wherein additional charges apply for cloudimg support services.

Microsoft SQL Server 2025 is the full-featured relational database platform for mission-critical workloads, advanced analytics, AI and high availability at scale. This listing delivers SQL Server fully installed and configured, so a production-grade database server is running within minutes of launch.

Available editions on this listing: Enterprise, Standard, Express and Developer. Choose the delivery option that matches your workload when you subscribe. Enterprise delivers the full feature set for mission-critical scale. Standard suits mid-tier production workloads. Express is the free entry-level edition for small databases and learning. Developer provides the complete Enterprise feature set licensed for development and test use only.

Application Stack

mssql-server from the official Microsoft APT repository. mssql-tools18 and sqlcmd for command-line administration. The service runs on port 1433 and starts on boot via systemd.

New Engine Features

Vector data type and HNSW indexes for AI and RAG workloads. Native JSON_OBJECT and JSON_ARRAY functions. REGEXP_LIKE, REGEXP_INSTR and REGEXP_REPLACE in T-SQL. Optimized locking for improved concurrency. Native Azure Active Directory authentication for Linux.

Secure First Boot

On the first boot of every instance a one-shot service generates a unique SA password, sets it via mssql-conf, re-applies the selected edition, creates a cloudimg SQL login, removes the build-time memory cap and writes all credentials to a root-only file. No shared or default credentials ship in the image.

Ready To Use

The SQL Server service starts on boot. Retrieve the generated credentials from /root/mssql-credentials.txt (root access required) and connect with sqlcmd or any SQL Server client on port 1433.

cloudimg Support

24/7 technical support by email and chat. Help with SQL Server deployment, performance tuning, high availability, query optimisation and database administration.

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