Skip to content

sqlcmd-download-install.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
223 lines (146 loc) · 8.29 KB

sqlcmd-download-install.md

File metadata and controls

223 lines (146 loc) · 8.29 KB
title Download and Install the sqlcmd Utility
description Learn how to download, install, or find the sqlcmd utility preinstalled on your system.
author dlevy-msft
ms.author dlevy
ms.reviewer randolphwest
ms.date 08/27/2025
ms.service sql
ms.subservice tools-other
ms.topic conceptual
ms.collection
data-tools
ms.custom
linux-related-content
ignite-2025
helpviewer_keywords
statements [SQL Server], command prompt
go-sqlcmd
QUIT command
Transact-SQL statements, command prompt
EXIT command
sqlcmd commands
ED command
sqlcmd utility
command prompt utilities [SQL Server], sqlcmd
!! command
stored procedures [SQL Server], command prompt
system stored procedures [SQL Server], command prompt
sqlcmd utility, about sqlcmd utility
scripts [SQL Server], command prompt
RESET command
GO command
monikerRange >=aps-pdw-2016 || =azuresqldb-current || =azure-sqldw-latest || >=sql-server-2016 || >=sql-server-linux-2017 || =fabric-sqldb

Download and install the sqlcmd utility

[!INCLUDE SQL Server Azure SQL Database Azure SQL Managed Instance Azure Synapse Analytics PDW FabricSQLDB]

The sqlcmd utility lets you enter Transact-SQL statements, system procedures, and script files.

sqlcmd variants

There are two variants of sqlcmd:

  • sqlcmd (Go): The go-mssqldb-based sqlcmd, sometimes styled as go-sqlcmd. This version is a standalone tool you can download independently of [!INCLUDE ssnoversion-md]. It runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, and in containers.

  • sqlcmd (ODBC): The platform-aligned, ODBC-based sqlcmd, available with [!INCLUDE ssnoversion-md] or the Microsoft Command Line Utilities, and part of the mssql-tools package on Linux. It also runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, and in containers.

Download and install sqlcmd (Go)

sqlcmd (Go) can be installed cross-platform, on Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux. Versions newer than 1.6 might not be available in all package managers. There's no estimated date yet for their availability.

Windows

Choose one of the following options to install sqlcmd (Go) on Windows.

winget (Windows Package Manager CLI)

  1. Install the Windows Package Manager Client if you don't already have it.

  2. Run the following command to install sqlcmd (Go).

    winget install sqlcmd

Chocolatey

  1. Install Chocolatey if you don't already have it.

  2. Run the following command to install sqlcmd (Go).

    choco install sqlcmd

Direct download

  1. Download the corresponding -windows-amd64.zip or -windows-arm.zip asset from the latest release of sqlcmd (Go) from the GitHub code repository.

  2. Extract the sqlcmd.exe file from the downloaded zip folder.

macOS

Choose one of the following options to install sqlcmd (Go) on macOS.

Homebrew

  1. Install Homebrew if you need to.

    /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

  2. Install sqlcmd with Homebrew.

    brew install sqlcmd

Direct download

  1. Download the -darwin-amd64.zip asset from the latest release of sqlcmd (Go) from the GitHub code repository.

  2. Extract the sqlcmd file from the downloaded zip folder.

Linux

Choose one of the following options to install sqlcmd (Go) on Linux.

apt (Debian/Ubuntu)

  1. Import the public repository GPG keys.

    curl https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc | sudo tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/microsoft.asc

  2. Add the Microsoft repository, where the ubuntu/20.04 segment might be debian/11, ubuntu/20.04, or ubuntu/22.04.

    add-apt-repository "$(wget -qO- https://packages.microsoft.com/config/ubuntu/20.04/prod.list)"

  3. Install sqlcmd (Go) with apt.

    apt-get update
apt-get install sqlcmd

yum (Fedora)

  1. Import the Microsoft repository key.

    rpm --import https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc

  2. Download the repository configuration file, where the fedora/32 segment might be opensuse/42.3, rhel/8, or sles/15. If the version of your OS doesn't directly correspond to one of those options, you might be able to use a repository configuration file from a version.

    curl -o /etc/yum.repos.d/packages-microsoft-com-prod.repo https://packages.microsoft.com/config/fedora/40/prod.repo

  3. Install sqlcmd (Go) with yum.

    yum install sqlcmd

Direct download

  1. Download the corresponding -linux-x64.tar.bz2 or -linux-arm.tar.bz2 asset from the latest release of sqlcmd (Go) from the GitHub code repository.

  2. Extract the sqlcmd file from the downloaded zip folder.

Download and install sqlcmd (ODBC)

sqlcmd (ODBC) can be installed cross-platform, on Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Windows

Download the command line utilities for Windows, using the following table.

Driver Platform
Microsoft Command Line Utilities 15 for SQL Server x64 x86

The command line tools are General Availability (GA), however they are also released with the installer package for [!INCLUDE sql-server-2019] and later versions.

Version information

  • Release number: 15.0.4298.1
  • Build number: 15.0.4298.1
  • Release date: April 7, 2023

Note

The sqlcmd download provided here might not have the same release and build number as sqlcmd installed with the latest SQL Server cumulative update (CU). This behavior is expected. This version contains all the fixes included in the latest CU.

sqlcmd (ODBC) supports authentication with Microsoft Entra ID, including multifactor authentication (MFA) support for Azure SQL Database, Azure Synapse Analytics, and Always Encrypted features.

System requirements

  • Windows 10 and later versions
  • Windows Server 2016 and later versions

This component requires the latest Microsoft ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server.

macOS

See Install the sqlcmd and bcp SQL Server command-line tools on Linux for instructions to install sqlcmd on macOS.

Linux

See Install the sqlcmd and bcp SQL Server command-line tools on Linux for instructions to install sqlcmd on macOS.

Preinstalled

You can also find sqlcmd preinstalled in certain environments.

Azure Cloud Shell

You can try the sqlcmd utility from Azure Cloud Shell, as it's preinstalled by default.

Launch Cloud Shell

SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)

To run SQLCMD statements in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), navigate to Query > SQLCMD Mode.

SSMS uses the Microsoft [!INCLUDE dnprdnshort-md] SqlClient for execution in regular and SQLCMD mode in Query Editor. When sqlcmd is run from the command-line, sqlcmd uses the ODBC driver. Because different default options could apply, you might see different behavior when you execute the same query in SSMS in SQLCMD mode and in the sqlcmd utility.

Related content