The Debugging Gist

SQL Server Installation - Rocky Linux

Sep 4, 2025

Add Microsoft Repository

sudo curl -o /etc/yum.repos.d/mssql-server.repo https://packages.microsoft.com/config/rhel/9/mssql-server-2022.repo

Install SQL Server

sudo dnf install -y mssql-server

Run Initial Setup

sudo /opt/mssql/bin/mssql-conf setup

During setup, you'll be prompted to:

  1. Choose edition (Developer/Express for free options)
  2. Accept license terms
  3. Set SA password
  4. Confirm settings

Start and Enable Service

# the service is automatically started and enabled. For manual cases, use the following command
sudo systemctl enable mssql-server
sudo systemctl start mssql-server
sudo systemctl status mssql-server

Install SQL Server Tools (Optional)

# Add tools repository
sudo curl -o /etc/yum.repos.d/msprod.repo https://packages.microsoft.com/config/rhel/9/prod.repo

# Install tools
sudo dnf install -y mssql-tools unixODBC-devel

# Add tools to PATH
echo 'export PATH="$PATH:/opt/mssql-tools/bin"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Test Connection

sqlcmd -S localhost -U sa

Configure Firewall (If Needed)

sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=1433/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Verification Commands

# Check what ports SQL Server is listening on
sudo netstat -tulpn | grep sqlservr

# Check SQL Server configuration
sudo /opt/mssql/bin/mssql-conf list

Samyeak Maharjan