Setup SQL Server Action

This action installs a version of SQL Server on Windows based GitHub Action Runners.

Usage

See action.yml:

- uses: tediousjs/setup-sqlserver@v4
  with:
    # Skip OS checks that will stop installation attempts preemptively.
    # Default: false
    skip-os-check: false

    # SQL Server version: 2008, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022, or 2025. "latest"
    # selects 2025. 2008, 2012 and 2014 only pass the OS check on Windows Server 2019
    # or older, which GitHub-hosted runners no longer offer; set skip-os-check to
    # attempt them on newer runners.
    # Default: latest
    sqlserver-version: 'latest'

    # Version of native client to install. Only 11 is supported.
    native-client-version: ''

    # Version of ODBC to install. Supported versions: 17, 18.
    odbc-version: ''

    # The SA user password to use.
    # Default: yourStrong(!)Password
    sa-password: 'yourStrong(!)Password'

    # The database collation to use.
    # Default: SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS
    db-collation: 'SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS'

    # Any custom install arguments you wish to use. These must be in the format of
    # "/ARG=VAL".
    install-arguments: ''

    # Wait for the database to respond successfully to queries before completing the
    # action. A maximum of 10 attempts is made.
    # Default: true
    wait-for-ready: true

    # Attempt to install latest cumulative updates during the installation process
    # (not available for all versions).
    # Default: false
    install-updates: false

SQL Server 2025

Set sqlserver-version to '2025' (or 'sql-2025') to install SQL Server 2025 Standard Developer edition. The default, 'latest', also selects 2025. The action downloads the installation media using Microsoft's SSEI bootstrapper and caches the extracted installer for subsequent runs (see Caching).

- name: Install SQL Server 2025
  uses: tediousjs/setup-sqlserver@v4
  with:
    sqlserver-version: '2025'

Cumulative updates

When install-updates: true is set for a version with a configured update URL, the action downloads the update before starting SQL Server setup. Download-page requests are tried up to three times on network errors, timeouts, or non-2xx responses (including 403 and 404), with 5- and 10-second delays before retries. If the update still can't be downloaded, the action logs a warning with the reason and installs SQL Server without updates. Update URLs are configured for SQL Server 2016 and later, including 2025 (and so the default, 'latest'); older versions skip updates.

Caching

Downloaded SQL Server installers, cumulative updates, and ODBC and Native Client installers are stored in the runner's tool cache and reused by later runs on the same runner for the same version. GitHub-hosted runners start every job with a fresh tool cache, so this mainly benefits self-hosted runners whose tool cache persists between jobs. A cached cumulative update is reused until it is removed, so delete the sqlupdate directory from the runner's tool cache to pick up a newer update.

Reboot requests

If SQL Server setup succeeds but asks for a reboot (exit code 3010), the action logs a warning and carries on without rebooting. With wait-for-ready enabled, the action then fails if the instance doesn't respond to queries, rather than only warning as it does after a normal install.

Basic usage

- name: Install SQL Server
  uses: ./
  with:
    sqlserver-version: sql-latest