Overview of SQL Server on Linux Azure Virtual Machines

Article
07/12/2024

SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines enables you to use full versions of SQL Server in the cloud without having to manage any on-premises hardware.

Azure virtual machines run in many different geographic regions around the world. They also offer a variety of machine sizes. The virtual machine image gallery allows you to create a SQL Server VM with the right version, edition, and operating system. This makes virtual machines a good option for a many different SQL Server workloads.

Get started with SQL Server VMs

To get started, choose a SQL Server virtual machine image with your required version, edition, and operating system. The following sections provide direct links to the Azure portal for the SQL Server virtual machine gallery images.

Tip

For more information about how to understand pricing for SQL Server images, see the pricing page for Linux VMs running SQL Server.

Version	Operating system	Edition
SQL Server 2019	Ubuntu 18.04	Enterprise, Standard, Web, Developer
SQL Server 2019	Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 8	Enterprise, Standard, Web, Developer
SQL Server 2019	SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) v12 SP5	Web
SQL Server 2017	Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 7.4	Enterprise, Standard, Web, Express, Developer
SQL Server 2017	Ubuntu 16.04 LTS	Enterprise, Standard, Web, Express, Developer

Note

To see the available SQL Server virtual machine images for Windows, see Overview of SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines (Windows).

Installed packages

When you configure SQL Server on Linux, you install the Database Engine package and then several optional packages depending on your requirements. The Linux virtual machine images for SQL Server automatically install most packages for you. The following table shows which packages are installed for each distribution.