# Setup: Install SQL Server 2025 and SSMS

Install SQL Server 2025 Developer and SQL Server Management Studio 22, and connect to your server with Windows authentication.

Novice · Operating System · Database · Updated October 29, 2026

## After this lesson you can

- Install SQL Server and SSMS and connect with Windows authentication

## Key takeaways

- SQL Server stores your apps' data. Its free Developer edition has every feature, and it's licensed for learning, development and testing.
- SSMS is a separate app, where you look at your databases and run SQL.
- A Basic installation makes your Windows account the server's administrator, so you sign in with Windows Authentication and no extra password.
- Connect to `localhost` with Trust server certificate checked: on your own computer, trusting your server's self-made certificate is safe.

**Windows only.** A **database server** stores data and answers questions about it. In this course you use **SQL Server**, Microsoft's database server, in its free **Developer** edition. It has every feature of the paid editions, and it's licensed for learning, development and testing, not for running a real business.

**SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)** is the app you use to look at your databases and run SQL. It's a separate install.

## Install SQL Server

In Git Bash, run:

```bash
winget install -e --id Microsoft.SQLServer.2025.Developer --interactive
```

Click **Yes** if Windows asks whether the app may make changes. The SQL Server installer opens.

1. If it asks which edition to install, choose a **Developer** edition.
2. Choose the **Basic** installation type.
3. Accept the license terms.
4. Leave the install location as it is, and click **Install**. The installer downloads SQL Server, then installs it. This takes 10 to 20 minutes.
5. When it finishes, it shows a page of connection details, with **Instance name: MSSQLSERVER**. Click **Close**. Don't click **Install SSMS**: you install SSMS with winget next.

A **Basic** installation makes your Windows account the server's administrator. You sign in to SQL Server as yourself, with no extra password to remember. That's called **Windows authentication**.

SQL Server runs in the background as a Windows service, and starts every time your computer starts.

## Install SSMS

```bash
winget install -e --id Microsoft.SQLServerManagementStudio.22
```

Click **Yes** if Windows asks whether the app may make changes. This takes a few minutes.

## Connect to your server

Open **SQL Server Management Studio 22** from the Start menu. The first time, it may ask you to sign in; you can skip that.

The **Connect to Server** window opens. Fill it in like this:

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Server type | Database Engine |
| Server name | `localhost` |
| Authentication | Windows Authentication |
| Encryption | Mandatory |
| Trust server certificate | Checked |

Click **Connect**. **Object Explorer**, on the left, shows your server with a **Databases** folder under it.

**Why "Trust server certificate"?** SSMS encrypts the connection, and checks the server's certificate to be sure it's talking to the right server. A Basic installation gives your server a certificate it made itself, which nobody else vouches for. On your own computer, trusting it is safe.

## Check your work

Click **New Query** on the toolbar. In the query window, type:

```sql
SELECT @@VERSION;
```

Press **F5** (or click **Execute**). The **Results** pane shows one row that starts with `Microsoft SQL Server 2025`.

The databases this course uses, Northwind, AdventureWorksLT and BooksPlus, are added in the Databases chapter, when you need them.

## Common problems

| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| `The certificate chain was issued by an authority that is not trusted` | Check **Trust server certificate** in the Connect to Server window. |
| `A network-related or instance-specific error occurred` | SQL Server isn't running. Click **Start**, type **Services**, open it, find **SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER)**, and click **Start**. |
| `Login failed for user` | Choose **Windows Authentication**, not SQL Server Authentication. |
| The installer says your computer needs a restart | Restart Windows, then run the install command again. |
| `localhost` doesn't connect, but the server is running | Try the server name `.` (a single period). It also means "this computer". |

## Check yourself

2 questions to try on the lesson page.

## So what

Every app you build from Module 1 on keeps its data in SQL Server, and SSMS is where you'll look at that data and try out your SQL before you put it in your code.

## Key terms

- SQL Server
- SQL Server Management Studio
- SQL Server Express and Developer Editions
- Windows Authentication

Source: https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/csharp-setup-sql-server