Microsoft SQL Server

Official documentation and software

• For full information about Microsoft SQL Server, refer to the official documentation.

• To download Microsoft SQL Server database software, refer to the official software downloads.

Connect to a Microsoft SQL Server database

1. In the Database tool window ( View | Tool Windows | Database) , click New and select Connect to Database.

2. If you have a connection string for the database defined in your solution or elsewhere, leave the Use connection string option selected and choose Microsoft SQL Server in the Database type selector.

   Use the String selector to choose the desired connection string from your solution or type it in manually, then click Connect.

3. You can also choose Add data source manually, click Next and select Microsoft SQL Server in the Database source selector. Follow the wizard steps to form the connection string by configuring individual options.

4. To access all available options for the new database connection, click in the Database window, then click New and select Microsoft SQL Server.

5. Check if there is a Download missing driver files link at the bottom of the connection settings area. Click this link to download drivers that are required to interact with a database. For a direct download link, refer to the JetBrains JDBC drivers page.

   Location for the downloaded JDBC drivers is the JetBrains Rider configuration directory.

   

   You can also use your drivers for the database instead of the provided ones. For more information about connecting to a database with your driver, refer to Add a user driver to an existing connection.

   If there is no Download missing driver files link, then you already have the required drivers.

6. In the General tab of Data Sources and Drivers dialog right pane, specify the driver and connection type.

   1. From the Driver list, select the JDBC driver for your connection.

      For Microsoft SQL Server, the supported drivers are Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft SQL Server (jTds).

   2. From the Connection type list, select the connection type depending on the connection details that you have:

      • default: connect by using Host, Port, Database, and URL.

      • URL only: connect by using only the URL.

      For the URL only connection type, the JDBC URL that you enter is used as is.

      For the other connection types, the JDBC URL is broken down into connection details. You can either specify them separately and use the automatically generated URL, or you can enter the URL directly in the corresponding field.

   

7. Specify the database connection details. Alternatively, paste the JDBC URL in the URL field.

   1. In the Host field, type your server address.

   2. In the Port field, type the port of Microsoft SQL Server. The default port is 1433.

   3. Select the instance that you want to connect to from fhe Instance list.

   4. From the Authentication list, select the authentication method that you want to use to authenticate the connection. The following options are available:

      • User & Password: by using your login and password.

      • Kerberos: use Kerberos for authentication. Requires a Kerberos server and authentication with kinit.

      • No auth: authentication is not required.

      • Domain credentials: use Windows domain authentication for the connection (Domain, User, and Password). For more information about Windows domain authentication, refer to the Microsoft SQL Server data source tutorial.

   5. In the User and Password fields, type your user credentials.

      To use no password, leave the Password field empty.

      To delete a once entered password, right-click the Password field and select Set Empty.

      

   6. In the Database field, type the database name to which you want to connect.

   7. In the URL field, JetBrains Rider generates the JDBC URL automatically using the values of other connection settings.

      If you need to use a JDBC URL with certain additional settings, paste it in the URL field. The general URL to use is as follows:

      • Format: jdbc:sqlserver://<host_address>\<instance_name>:<port_number>;database=<database_name>

      • Example: jdbc:sqlserver://127.0.0.1\MYINSTANCE:1433;database=myDatabase

      For more information about the URL format, refer to the Microsoft SQL Server official documentation.

   

   1. From the Authentication list, select the authentication method that you want to use to authenticate the connection. The following options are available:

      • User & Password: by using your login and password.

      • Kerberos: use Kerberos for authentication. Requires a Kerberos server and authentication with kinit.

      • No auth: authentication is not required.

      • Domain credentials: use Windows domain authentication for the connection (Domain, User, and Password). For more information about Windows domain authentication, refer to the Microsoft SQL Server data source tutorial.

   2. In the User and Password fields, type your user credentials.

      To use no password, leave the Password field empty.

      To delete a once entered password, right-click the Password field and select Set Empty.

      

   3. In the URL field, JetBrains Rider generates the JDBC URL automatically using the values of other connection settings.

      If you need to use a JDBC URL with certain additional settings, paste it in the URL field.

      For more information about the URL format, refer to the Microsoft SQL Server official documentation.

   

   For the reference information about connection settings and properties on the General and other tabs of Data Sources and Drivers dialog (Shift+Enter) , see Connection settings and DBMS-specific properties.

8. Ensure that the connection to the database can be established using the provided details. To do that, click the Test Connection link at the bottom of the connection details area.

   

   In case of any connection issues, refer to the Cannot connect to a database page.

9. (Optional) By default, only the default database and schema are introspected and available to work with. If you also want to work with other databases and schemas, in the Schemas tab, select them for the introspection.

   

10. Click OK to create the data source.

11. Find your new data source in the Database tool window (⌘ 1) .

    • For more information about the Database tool window, see the corresponding reference topic.

    • For more information about working with database objects in JetBrains Rider, refer to Database objects.

    • To write and run queries, open the default query console by clicking the data source and pressing F4.

    • To view and edit data of a database object, open Data editor and viewer by double-clicking the object.