Introducing Pacemaker HA Agent v2 for SQL Server on Linux (In Preview)
We are excited to introduce the next generation of High Availability (HA) Agent for SQL Server on Linux: Pacemaker HA Agent v2. This release is a major step forward, designed to reduce planned and unplanned failover times, compared to the previous agent, based on internal engineering improvements. Why Pacemaker Is Required for SQL Server HA on Linux For users new to Linux, it’s important to understand how high availability works on this platform. On Windows, SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Groups rely on Windows Server Failover Clustering (WSFC) to: Monitor node health Detect failures Orchestrate automatic failovers SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Groups on Linux rely on an external cluster orchestrator for health monitoring and failover coordination, with Pacemaker HA Agent being one of the cluster orchestrators, responsible for: Monitoring node and application health Coordinating failover decisions Helping mitigate split‑brain scenarios through improved write‑lease evaluation Managing resources such as Availability Groups and listeners The Pacemaker HA Agent is the integration layer that allows Pacemaker to understand SQL Server health and manage Availability Groups safely. Evolution of the SQL Server Pacemaker HA Agent With SQL Server 2025 CU3 and later, Pacemaker HA Agent v2 is available in preview for Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Ubuntu through the mssql-server-ha package. Pacemaker HA agent v2 uses a service‑based architecture. The agent runs as a dedicated system service named mssql-pcsag, which is responsible for handling SQL Server–specific high availability operations and communication with Pacemaker. You can manage mssql-pcsag service by using standard system service controls to start, restart, status and stop this service by using the operating system's service manager (for example, systemctl). # Start the mssql-pcsag service sudo systemctl start mssql-pcsag # Restart the mssql-pcsag service sudo systemctl restart mssql-pcsag # Check the status of the mssql-pcsag service sudo systemctl status mssql-pcsag # Stop the mssql-pcsag service sudo systemctl stop mssql-pcsag Limitations of Pacemaker HA Agent v1 While the original agent enabled SQL Server HA on Linux, customers running production workloads encountered several challenges: Failover delays of 30 seconds to 2 minutes during planned or unplanned events Limited health detection, missing conditions such as I/O stalls and memory pressure Rigid failover behavior, unlike the flexible policies available on Windows (WSFC) Incomplete write‑lease handling, requiring custom logic No support for TLS1.3 for Pacemaker and SQL Server communications How Pacemaker HA Agent v2 Addresses These Gaps Pacemaker HA Agent v2 is a ground‑up improvement, designed to improve the reliability characteristics of SQL Server HA on Linux. 1. Faster & Smarter Failover Decisions The new agent introduces a service‑based health monitoring architecture, moving beyond basic polling. This allows SQL Server to report detailed diagnostic signals - improving detection speed and helping reduce failover delays in supported configurations. 2. Flexible Automatic Failover Policies inspired by the WSFC health model Pacemaker HA Agent v2 supports failure‑condition levels (1–5) and health‑check timeout model aligned with those available in AlwaysOn Availability Groups on Windows. This provides: Fine‑grained control over failover sensitivity, allowing administrators to tune when failover should occur. Improved detection of internal SQL Server conditions, such as memory pressure, internal deadlocks, orphaned spinlocks, and other engine‑level failures. Failover decisions are now driven by detailed diagnostics from sp_server_diagnostics, enabling faster and more accurate response to unhealthy states and providing enhanced resiliency capabilities for SQL Server AG on Linux. You can configure the failure condition level and health check timeout using the following commands: -- Setting failure condition level ALTER AVAILABILITY GROUP pacemakerag SET (FAILURE_CONDITION_LEVEL = 2); -- Setting health check timeout ALTER AVAILABILITY GROUP pacemakerag SET (HEALTH_CHECK_TIMEOUT = 60000); After applying the configuration, validate the setting using the sys.availability_groups DMV: 3. Robust Write Lease Validity Handling To prevent split‑brain scenarios, SQL Server on Linux uses an external write‑lease mechanism. In v1, lease information was not fully integrated into failover decisions. In v2, the agent actively evaluates the write-lease validity, before initiating transitions. This supports controlled role changes and improved data consistency behavior during failover events, depending on cluster configuration. 4. TLS 1.3 Support Pacemaker HA agent v2 includes design updates to support TLS 1.3–based communication for health checks and failover operations, when TLS 1.3 is enabled. Supported Versions & Distributions Pacemaker HA Agent v2 supports: SQL Server 2025 CU3 or later RHEL 9 or later Ubuntu 22.04 or higher. Preview upgrade & migration guidance for non-production environments New or existing non-prod deployments running SQL Server 2025 (17.x) can migrate from Pacemaker HA Agent v1 to v2 using following approach: Drop the existing AG resource sudo pcs resource delete <NameForAGResource> This temporarily pauses AG synchronization but does not delete the Availability Group (AG). After the resource is recreated, Pacemaker resumes management and AG synchronization automatically. Create a new AG resource using the v2 agent (ocf:mssql:agv2) sudo pcs resource create <NameForAGResource> ocf:mssql:agv2 ag_name=<AGName> meta failure-timeout=30s promotable notify=true Validate cluster health sudo pcs status Resume normal operations References Create and Configure an Availability Group for SQL Server on Linux - SQL Server | Microsoft Learn Thank You, Engineering: David Liao Attinder Pal Singh
Microsoft.Data.SqlClient 7.0 Is Here: A Leaner, More Modular Driver for SQL Server
Today we're shipping the general availability release of Microsoft.Data.SqlClient 7.0, a major milestone for the .NET data provider for SQL Server. This release tackles the single most requested change in the repository's history, introduces powerful new extensibility points for authentication, and adds protocol-level features for Azure SQL Hyperscale, all while laying the groundwork for a more modular driver architecture. If you take away one thing from this post: the core SqlClient package is dramatically lighter now. Azure dependencies have been extracted into a separate package, and you only pull them in if you need them. dotnet add package Microsoft.Data.SqlClient --version 7.0.0 The #1 Request: A Lighter Package For years, the most upvoted issue in the SqlClient repository asked the same question: "Why does my console app that just talks to SQL Server pull in Azure.Identity, MSAL, and WebView2?" With 7.0, it doesn't anymore. We've extracted all Azure / Microsoft Entra authentication functionality into a new Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.Extensions.Azure package. The core driver no longer carries Azure.Core, Azure.Identity, Microsoft.Identity.Client, or any of their transitive dependencies. If you connect with SQL authentication or Windows integrated auth, your bin folder just got dramatically smaller. For teams that do use Entra authentication, the migration is straightforward. Add one package reference and you're done: dotnet add package Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.Extensions.Azure No code changes. No configuration changes. You can also now update Azure dependency versions on your own schedule, independent of driver releases. This is something library authors and enterprise teams have been asking for. Pluggable Authentication with SspiContextProvider Integrated authentication in containers and cross-domain environments has always been a pain point. Kerberos ticket management, sidecar processes, domain trust configuration: the workarounds were never simple. Version 7.0 introduces a new public SspiContextProvider API on SqlConnection that lets you take control of the authentication handshake. You provide the token exchange logic; the driver handles everything else. var connection = new SqlConnection(connectionString); connection.SspiContextProvider = new MyKerberosProvider(); connection.Open(); This opens the door to scenarios the driver never natively supported: authenticating across untrusted domains, using NTLM with explicit credentials, or implementing custom Kerberos negotiation in Kubernetes pods. A sample implementation is available in the repository. Async Read Performance: Packet Multiplexing (Preview) One of the most community-driven features in 7.0 is packet multiplexing, a change to how the driver processes TDS packets during asynchronous reads. Originally contributed by community member Wraith2, this work delivers a significant leap in async read performance for large result sets. Packet multiplexing was first introduced in 6.1 and has been refined across the 7.0 preview cycle with additional bug fixes and stability improvements. In 7.0, it ships behind two opt-in feature switches so we can gather broader real-world feedback before making it the default: AppContext.SetSwitch("Switch.Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.UseCompatibilityAsyncBehaviour", false); AppContext.SetSwitch("Switch.Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.UseCompatibilityProcessSni", false); Setting both switches to false enables the new async processing path. By default, the driver uses the existing (compatible) behavior. We need your help. If your application performs large async reads (ExecuteReaderAsync with big result sets, streaming scenarios, or bulk data retrieval), please try enabling these switches and let us know how it performs in your environment. File your results on GitHub Issues to help us move this toward on-by-default in a future release. Enhanced Routing for Azure SQL Azure SQL environments with named read replicas and gateway-based load balancing can now take advantage of enhanced routing, a TDS protocol feature that lets the server redirect connections to a specific server and database during login. This is entirely transparent to your application. No connection string changes, no code changes. The driver negotiates the capability automatically when the server supports it. .NET 10 Ready SqlClient 7.0 compiles and tests against the .NET 10 SDK, so you're ready for the next major .NET release on day one. Combined with continued support for .NET 8, .NET 9, .NET Framework 4.6.2+, and .NET Standard 2.0 (restored in 6.1), the driver covers the full spectrum of active .NET runtimes. ActiveDirectoryPassword Is Deprecated: Plan Your Migration As Microsoft moves toward mandatory multifactor authentication across its services, we've deprecated SqlAuthenticationMethod.ActiveDirectoryPassword (the ROPC flow). The method still works in 7.0, but it's marked [Obsolete] and will generate compiler warnings. Now is the time to move to a stronger alternative: Scenario Recommended Authentication Interactive / desktop apps Active Directory Interactive Service-to-service Active Directory Service Principal Azure-hosted workloads Active Directory Managed Identity Developer / CI environments Active Directory Default Quality of Life Improvements Beyond the headline features, 7.0 includes a collection of improvements that make the driver more reliable and easier to work with in production. Better retry logic. The new SqlConfigurableRetryFactory.BaselineTransientErrors property exposes the built-in transient error codes, so you can extend the default list with your own application-specific codes instead of copy-pasting error numbers from source. More app context switches. You can now set MultiSubnetFailover=true globally, ignore server-provided failover partners in Basic Availability Groups, and control async multi-packet behavior, all without modifying connection strings. Better diagnostics on .NET Framework. SqlClientDiagnosticListener is now enabled for SqlCommand on .NET Framework, closing a long-standing observability gap. Connection performance fix. A regression where SPN generation was unnecessarily triggered for SQL authentication connections on the native SNI path has been resolved. Performance improvements. Allocation reductions across Always Encrypted scenarios, SqlStatistics timing, and key store providers. Upgrading from 6.x For most applications, upgrading is a package version bump: dotnet add package Microsoft.Data.SqlClient --version 7.0.0 If you use Microsoft Entra authentication, also add: dotnet add package Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.Extensions.Azure If you use ActiveDirectoryPassword, you'll see a compiler warning. Start planning your migration to a supported auth method. Review the full release notes in release-notes/7.0 for the complete list of changes across all preview releases. Thank You to Our Contributors Open-source contributions are central to SqlClient's development. We'd like to recognize the community members who contributed to the 7.0 release: edwardneal · ErikEJ · MatthiasHuygelen · ShreyaLaxminarayan · tetolv · twsouthwick · Wraith2 What's Next We're continuing to invest in performance, modularity, and modern .NET alignment. Stay tuned for updates on the roadmap, and keep the feedback coming. Your issues and discussions directly shape what we build. NuGet: Microsoft.Data.SqlClient 7.0.0 GitHub: dotnet/SqlClient Issues & Feedback: github.com/dotnet/SqlClient/issues Docs: Microsoft.Data.SqlClient on Microsoft Learn
Announcing Preview of bulkadmin role support for SQL Server on Linux
Bulk data import using operations like BULK INSERT and OPENROWSET(BULK…) BULK INSERT (Transact-SQL) - SQL Server | Microsoft Learn is fundamental to ETL and data ingestion workflows. On SQL Server running on Linux, these operations have traditionally required sysadmin privileges, making it difficult to follow least‑privilege security practices. With the preview of BULKADMIN role support for SQL Server on Linux, this gap is addressed. Starting with SQL Server 2025 (17.x) CU3 and SQL Server 2022 CU24, administrators can grant the bulkadmin role or the ADMINISTER BULK OPERATIONS permission to enable bulk imports without full administrative access. This capability has long been available on SQL Server on Windows and is now extended to Linux, bringing consistent and more secure bulk data operations across platforms. Bulk import operation Bulk import operations enable fast, large‑volume data loading into SQL Server tables by reading data directly from external files instead of row‑by‑row inserts. Learn more Use BULK INSERT or OPENROWSET (BULK...) to Import Data to SQL Server - SQL Server | Microsoft Learn Who this is for DBAs, Data engineers, ETL developers and application engineers who want to perform bulk data imports without over‑privileging users. Why this matters Improved security posture: Eliminates the need for sysadmin access for bulk operations, enforcing least‑privilege security principle and reducing security risk. Better operational flexibility: Allows DBAs to safely delegate bulk data ingestion to application, ETL, and operational teams without expanding the attack surface. Parity with SQL Server on Windows: Closes a long‑standing gap between SQL Server on Windows and Linux, simplifying cross‑platform administration. Designed with layered security controls on Linux Bulk operations on Linux continue to enforce additional security checks beyond SQL permissions. Administrators must explicitly configure: Linux file system permissions for the SQL Server service account Approved bulk load directories using mssql-conf (by configuring the path through bulkadmin.allowedpathslist setting in mssql-conf) This ensures, SQL Server can only read data from explicitly allowed locations, reducing the risk of unauthorized file access. Learn more: For a quick overview, the typical flow to enable bulk import operations on SQL Server on Linux looks like this: Install SQL Server 2025 (17.x) CU3 Grant BULKADMIN role or ADMINISTER BULK OPERATIONS permission Configure allowed directories and required filesystem permissions Run bulk import operations using BULK INSERT or OPENROWSET (BULK...) For detailed guidance and example, refer to the official documentation: 👉 Configure bulk import operations for SQL Server on Linux Summary With BULKADMIN role support on SQL Server for Linux, customers can now enable bulk data imports without compromising security. This enhancement delivers better role separation, security best practices, and a smoother operational experience for SQL Server on Linux. We encourage customers to explore this capability and adopt least privileged bulk data workflows in their Linux environments.
Deprecation Announcement: SSRS/PBIRS and SSAS Management Packs for SCOM
Microsoft is announcing the deprecation of the System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) Management Packs (MPs) for: SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) and Power BI Report Server (PBIRS) SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) These management packs will remain available through January 2027, after which they will no longer be supported.Announcing the General Availability of Microsoft JDBC Driver 13.4 for SQL Server
We are excited to announce the General Availability (GA) of Microsoft JDBC Driver 13.4 for SQL Server. This release incorporates all improvements delivered across the 13.3.x preview cycle (13.3.0, 13.3.1, and 13.3.2) and represents a significant step forward in performance observability, AI/vector workload readiness, SQL Server 2025 compatibility, and security posture. You can download the driver from Maven Central, Microsoft Learn, or from GitHub Releases. As with previous releases, two JAR variants are available: jre8 for Java 8 and jre11 for Java 11 and above. Highlights Vector (FLOAT16) Subtype Support Building on the native VECTOR data type support introduced earlier, version 13.4 adds FLOAT16 subtype support with full IEEE-754 compliant serialization and deserialization between Java Float[] and the half-precision wire format. This enables efficient float16 vector storage and transmission for AI, embeddings, and vector search workloads—reducing memory footprint and network payload without changing the Java programming model. Performance Logger: Connection and Statement-Level Metrics A new performance logging framework gives developers and operators visibility into driver-level latencies. In 13.4, the logger covers: Connection metrics: prelogin, login, and token acquisition timing via the com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.PerformanceMetrics.Connection logger. Statement metrics: granular execution phases including REQUEST_BUILD, FIRST_SERVER_RESPONSE, PREPARE, PREPEXEC, and EXECUTE for both Statement and PreparedStatement. An extensible callback infrastructure is included for custom telemetry integration. New prepareMethod Options Two new prepareMethod connection property values provide fine-grained control over how the driver executes prepared statements: prepareMethod=none — Forces literal parameter substitution with SQL batch execution, bypassing server-side prepared statement handles (sp_prepexec / sp_prepare). Only recommended for applications that require Sybase-style compatibility with DYNAMIC_PREPARE=false behavior. prepareMethod=scopeTempTablesToConnection — This option applies the prepareMethod=none behavior only to prepared statements with references to temporary table creation. This behavior ensures temporary tables created by a prepared statement persist on the connection after the prepared statement finishes. Other prepared statements will use prepareMethod=prepexec behavior. This option is only recommended for existing applications that require this temporary table behavior. Both options leave the default behavior unchanged. ADAL Removed - Entra (Azure Active Directory) Integrated Authentication Modernized The legacy ADAL dependency (`adalsql.dll`/`adal.dll`) has been fully removed. Entra ID Integrated Authentication (`Authentication=ActiveDirectoryIntegrated`) now uses mssql-auth.dll, a component installed by the latest Microsoft ODBC Driver 18 for SQL Server and Microsoft OLE DB Driver 19 for SQL Server. Java 25 (LTS) Support Official support for Java 25 (LTS) has been added, while non-LTS Java versions 22–24 have been removed from build configurations. This simplifies maintenance and ensures the driver is tested against the Java versions that matter most for production workloads. SQL Server 2025 Readiness DatabaseMetaData.getColumns() now prefers sp_columns_170 on SQL Server 2025 for accurate metadata on newer types such as VECTOR and enhanced JSON, with automatic fallback to sp_columns_100 for older versions. Combined with expanded test coverage, the driver is fully validated against SQL Server 2025. Security Updates Transitive dependencies have been upgraded to address multiple CVEs: azure-identity → 1.18.2 msal4j → 1.23.1 Netty → 4.1.130.Final Reactor Netty → 1.2.13 Nimbus JOSE JWT → 10.0.1 These updates resolve CVE-2025-59250, CVE-2025-67735, CVE-2025-53864, CVE-2025-58056, CVE-2025-58057, CVE-2025-55163, CVE-2025-24970, CVE-2025-22227, and CVE-2025-25193, with no breaking API changes. Additionally, RFC 5280–compliant IP address validation has been added to SSL certificate SAN checks, removing the need for hostname workarounds when connecting via IP over TLS. Bug Fixes Version 13.4 includes a substantial number of stability and correctness fixes accumulated across the preview cycle: Area Fix Cross-database stored procedures sp_sproc_columns is now fully qualified with database.sys, fixing metadata lookup failures with named parameters across databases and eliminating schema name-squatting risks. Nested stored procedure errors Multiple nested RAISERROR calls now surface correctly via SQLException.getNextException() through lazy exception chaining. Geography parsing Scientific notation in coordinates (e.g., negative exponents in WKT) no longer causes NumberFormatException. Bulk copy: SQL functions Automatic fallback to standard batch execution when SQL functions like len(?) are used with useBulkCopyForBatchInsert. Bulk copy: computed columns Destination column validation now correctly ignores computed persisted columns, preventing false "invalid column mapping" errors. Bulk copy: InputStream setBinaryStream() now works correctly with Bulk Copy for Batch Insert into VARBINARY(MAX) columns. Bulk copy: isolated quotes Tab-delimited data with isolated quotes no longer causes IndexOutOfBoundsException. getIndexInfo() collation Collation conflicts in mixed-collation environments are resolved by applying COLLATE DATABASE_DEFAULT consistently. getSchemas() catalog Built-in schemas (dbo, sys, etc.) now return correct TABLE_CATALOG values instead of NULL. Statement.execute() update counts Valid update counts are no longer silently lost after an error in mixed batch execution. PreparedStatement update counts Accurate counts are now returned for multi-value INSERT statements with triggers. Fatal error handling TDS DONE tokens with fatal severity (25+) are properly detected and propagated, preventing silent failures. TVP metadata getParameterMetaData() no longer crashes when called on statements using Table-Valued Parameters. supportsIntegrityEnhancementFacility Now correctly returns true, reflecting SQL Server's full constraint support. Azure Synapse serverless getIndexInfo() falls back to sys.indexes when sp_statistics is unavailable. Testing and Quality Improvements This release reflects a significant investment in test infrastructure and coverage: State-machine testing framework — A lightweight, seed-reproducible framework for randomized JDBC state exploration in JUnit 5, improving edge-case detection with reproducible failures. Migrated FX regression tests — 37 legacy regression scenarios covering statement execution, ResultSet behavior, batching, cursors, and transaction flows have been migrated to JUnit with full behavioral parity. Expanded unit test coverage — Key components including SQLServerCallableStatement, SQLServerDatabaseMetaData, SQLServerPreparedStatement, and SQLServerResultSet now have greater test coverage. Mockito integration — Added as a test dependency for better unit test isolation and control. AI-assisted development context — ARCHITECTURE.md, GLOSSARY.md, and PATTERNS.md have been added to guide contributors using AI coding assistants. Getting Started Maven: <dependency> <groupId>com.microsoft.sqlserver</groupId> <artifactId>mssql-jdbc</artifactId> <version>13.4.0.jre11</version> </dependency> Gradle: implementation 'com.microsoft.sqlserver:mssql-jdbc:13.4.0.jre11' Replace jre11 with jre8 if you are on Java 8. Breaking Changes There are no breaking API changes in this release. The removal of the ADAL dependency for Entra ID Integrated Authentication is transparent. The only difference from previous releases is `Authentication=ActiveDirectoryIntegrated` now has a requirement that the latest Microsoft ODBC Driver 18 for SQL Server or Microsoft OLE DB Driver 19 for SQL Server be installed. Feedback We value your input. Please report issues or feature requests on our GitHub Issues page and take our survey to let us know how we're doing. Thank you to all the contributors and community members who helped shape this release! — The Microsoft JDBC Driver for SQL Server TeamMicrosoft Drivers 5.13.0 for PHP for SQL Server — We're Back!
Today we're announcing the release of Microsoft Drivers 5.13.0 for PHP for SQL Server, the first GA release of the sqlsrv and pdo_sqlsrv extensions in over two years. We're not going to bury the lede: the last GA release (5.12.0) shipped on January 31, 2024. That means 25 months passed between stable releases. During that stretch the repo went effectively silent, a series of build-script updates in September 2024, and then nothing of substance until January 2026 when we began modernizing the CI pipeline and preparing this release. For a project whose history stretches back to 2008 and that PHP developers depend on in production every day, that's too long. We heard the issue reports and the frustration, and we understand. Now that we are caught up, we plan to stay here. What's New in 5.13.0 This release is a significant catch-up. Here's what it brings: Platform Support — Modernized Added: - PHP 8.4 and PHP 8.5 support - Windows Server 2025 - Ubuntu 24.04 - Debian 12 and 13 - Red Hat 9 and 10 - Alpine 3.20, 3.21, 3.22, and 3.23 - macOS 15 and 26 Removed (end-of-life platforms): - PHP 8.1 and 8.2 - Windows 10, Server 2012, Server 2012 R2 - Ubuntu 20.04, Debian 10, Red Hat 7, SUSE Linux 12 - Alpine 3.16–3.19 - macOS 11, 12, and 13 Bug Fixes Fixed a segfault when connecting to Microsoft Fabric — a critical connectivity issue resolved in the PDO driver's error reporting path (PR #1549) Fixed critical memory safety bugs in encoding conversion — resolved a NULL pointer dereference and an uninitialized pointer return in the localization layer (PR #1555) Enhanced error reporting in the PDO driver when ODBC diagnostic retrieval fails (PR #1549) Build & Security Improvements Refactored build scripts to prevent command injection and race conditions (PR #1551, PR #1552) Resolved SDL compiler warnings (C4146, C4389, L3/L4 warnings) for stricter compliance (PR #1575, PR #1576, PR #1577) Modernized CI pipeline to PHP 8.4, ODBC 18, and SQL Server 2022 (PR #1549) Added PHP 8.5 compilation support and test compatibility (PR #1543, PR #1569) Removed lingering error reference from CI failure block (PR #1568) Updated Docker base image to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (PR #1542) Our Commitment Going Forward We're making a deliberate commitment to keep this project healthy and current: Regular release cadence. We will not let two years pass between GA releases again. Expect releases that track PHP's own annual release cycle, so you're never stuck waiting for support of the PHP version you need. Active issue triage. We're working through the backlog of open issues and will be more responsive to community reports going forward. CI that stays green. The modernized pipeline now tests against PHP 8.4 and 8.5, ODBC Driver 18, and SQL Server 2022 on both Linux and Windows. We intend to keep it that way. Community contributions welcome. This release already includes contributions from community members alongside the core team. We want to make contributing easier and more rewarding. PRs, bug reports, and feedback are all valued. How to Get It The 5.13.0 drivers are available now: PECL: pecl install sqlsrv / pecl install pdo_sqlsrv Windows binaries: Download from the Releases page Source: Build from the v5.13.0 tag. See buildscripts/README.md Requirements PHP 8.3, 8.4, or 8.5 Microsoft ODBC Driver 17 or 18 for SQL Server SQL Server 2016+, Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, or SQL database in Microsoft Fabric. Thank You To the PHP developers who kept filing issues, asking questions, and patiently waiting — thank you. You kept this project accountable. The 25-month gap was a failure on our part, and the best apology is changed behavior. We're here, we're shipping, and we're planning to keep it that way. Please report any issues on GitHub and let us know how 5.13.0 works for you. The Microsoft Drivers for PHP for SQL Server teammssql-python 1.4: Bulk Copy Arrives - Load Millions of Rows at Native Speed
We're excited to announce the release of mssql-python 1.4.0, the latest version of Microsoft's official Python driver for SQL Server, Azure SQL Database, and SQL databases in Fabric. This release delivers one of our most-requested features, Bulk Copy (BCP), alongside spatial type support, important bug fixes, and developer experience improvements. pip install --upgrade mssql-python The headline: Bulk Copy is here If you're moving large volumes of data into SQL Server, whether you're building ETL pipelines, loading data warehouse staging tables, ingesting IoT telemetry, or seeding databases for testing, the new bulkcopy() API is purpose-built for you. It provides the same high-throughput data loading capability that tools like bcp.exe and SqlBulkCopy in .NET have offered for years, now available natively from Python. Why bulk copy matters Traditional row-by-row inserts, even batched with executemany(), carry per-statement overhead: parsing, plan compilation, and individual round-trips for each row or batch. Bulk copy uses SQL Server's native bulk insert protocol (TDS bulk load), which: Streams rows directly into the target table with minimal protocol overhead Bypasses query parsing - there's no SQL statement to compile Batches intelligently - you control the batch size, or let the server optimize it Supports server-side options like table locks, constraint checking, trigger firing, and identity preservation For large datasets, the performance difference can be dramatic. How it works The API lives on the cursor object, so it fits naturally into the DB API 2.0 workflow you already know: import mssql_python conn = mssql_python.connect( "SERVER=myserver.database.windows.net,1433;" "DATABASE=mydb;" "UID=myuser;PWD=mypassword;" "Encrypt=yes;" ) cursor = conn.cursor() # Your data - any iterable of tuples or lists rows = [ (1, "Alice", "alice@example.com"), (2, "Bob", "bob@example.com"), (3, "Carol", "carol@example.com"), # ... millions more ] result = cursor.bulkcopy("dbo.Users", rows) print(f"Loaded {result['rows_copied']} rows " f"in {result['batch_count']} batches " f"({result['elapsed_time']:.2f}s)") That's it. Three lines of code to bulk-load your data. Full control when you need it The bulkcopy() method exposes the full range of SQL Server bulk copy options: result = cursor.bulkcopy( table_name="dbo.Users", data=rows, batch_size=10000, # 10k rows per batch (0 = server optimal) timeout=120, # Configurable timeout for large loads allows you to avoid premature cancellations while still failing due to blocking and other issues column_mappings=["UserID", "FirstName", "Email"], # Explicit column targeting keep_identity=True, # Preserve identity values from source check_constraints=True, # Enforce constraints during load table_lock=True, # Table-level lock for maximum throughput keep_nulls=True, # Preserve NULLs instead of column defaults fire_triggers=True, # Execute INSERT triggers use_internal_transaction=True, # Transaction per batch for recoverability ) Column mappings support two formats. The simple format maps columns by position: # Position in list = source column index column_mappings=["UserID", "FirstName", "Email"] The advanced format uses explicit index-to-column tuples, which lets you skip or reorder source columns: # (source_index, target_column_name) - skip index 2, reorder freely column_mappings=[(0, "UserID"), (1, "FirstName"), (3, "Email")] Powered by Rust under the hood The bulk copy engine is implemented in mssql-py-core, a companion Rust library that handles the TDS bulk load protocol. When you call bulkcopy(), the driver: Parses your existing connection string and translates it for the Rust layer Opens a dedicated connection through mssql-py-core (separate from your DDBC query connection) Acquires an Entra ID token if needed Streams your data iterator directly to the Rust bulk copy engine Returns a result dictionary with rows_copied, batch_count, and elapsed_time The Python logging integration is performance-aware: the logger is only passed to the Rust layer when debug logging is active, so there's zero overhead in production. Security is built-in: credentials are scrubbed from memory in the finally block, and error messages are sanitized to prevent credential leakage in stack traces. Spatial type support: geography, geometry, and hierarchyid Version 1.4 adds support for SQL Server's spatial and hierarchical types: geography, geometry, and hierarchyid. These CLR user-defined types are now handled natively by the driver. Reading spatial data Spatial columns are returned as bytes (the raw CLR binary representation). To get human-readable output, use SQL Server's built-in conversion methods: # Insert a geography point (WGS 84) cursor.execute( "INSERT INTO Locations (point) VALUES (geography::STGeomFromText(?, 4326))", "POINT(-122.349 47.651)" ) # Read as WKT text cursor.execute("SELECT point.STAsText() FROM Locations") row = cursor.fetchone() # row[0] = "POINT (-122.349 47.651)" # Use spatial methods server-side cursor.execute(""" SELECT a.point.STDistance(b.point) AS distance_meters FROM Locations a CROSS JOIN Locations b WHERE a.id = 1 AND b.id = 2 """) Writing spatial data The driver auto-detects WKT (Well-Known Text) geometry strings. If a parameter value starts with POINT, LINESTRING, or POLYGON, it's automatically mapped to the correct SQL type: # All standard WKT types are supported cursor.execute( "INSERT INTO Routes (path) VALUES (geography::STGeomFromText(?, 4326))", "LINESTRING(-122.349 47.651, -122.340 47.660, -122.330 47.670)" ) cursor.execute( "INSERT INTO Zones (boundary) VALUES (geometry::STGeomFromText(?, 0))", "POLYGON((0 0, 100 0, 100 100, 0 100, 0 0))" ) HierarchyId for tree structures hierarchyid is SQL Server's built-in type for representing tree/graph hierarchies: org charts, file systems, bill-of-materials structures: # Insert a node cursor.execute( "INSERT INTO OrgChart (node, name) VALUES (hierarchyid::Parse(?), ?)", "/1/2/3/", "Engineering Lead" ) # Query the hierarchy cursor.execute("SELECT node.ToString(), node.GetLevel(), name FROM OrgChart") # ("/1/2/3/", 3, "Engineering Lead") # Find ancestors cursor.execute("SELECT node.GetAncestor(1).ToString() FROM OrgChart WHERE name = 'Engineering Lead'") # "/1/2/" Output converters For advanced use cases, you can register custom converters to automatically transform the raw binary representation: def parse_geography(value): """Convert CLR binary to a shapely geometry (example).""" if value is None: return None # Your deserialization logic here return shapely.wkb.loads(value) conn.add_output_converter(bytes, parse_geography) # Now all bytes columns are automatically converted cursor.execute("SELECT point FROM Locations") row = cursor.fetchone() # row[0] is now a shapely geometry object Bug fixes VARCHAR encoding fix VARCHAR columns would fail to fetch when the data length exactly equaled the column size and the data contained non-ASCII characters in the CP1252 code page. This was a subtle edge case that could surface with European-language text (accented characters, currency symbols, etc.) in fixed-length string columns. Segmentation fault fix Resolved a segfault that occurred when interleaving fetchmany() and fetchone() calls on the same cursor. This affected patterns like: batch = cursor.fetchmany(100) # ... process batch ... next_row = cursor.fetchone() # Previously could segfault This is now safe to use in all combinations. Date/time type code alignment Aligned date/time type code mappings with the ODBC 18 driver source, correctly mapping SQL_SS_TIME2 (-154) and SQL_SS_DATETIMEOFFSET (-155). This improves compatibility with tools and frameworks that inspect cursor.description type codes. Developer experience improvements PEP 561 type checking support The driver now ships with a py.typed marker file, enabling full static type checking in tools like mypy, Pyright, and IDE type inspectors. Combined with the existing .pyi stub file, you get accurate autocompletion and type validation for the entire mssql-python API. Devcontainer for contributors A new devcontainer configuration makes it easy to spin up a fully configured development environment for contributing to the driver. Just open the repo in VS Code or GitHub Codespaces and you're ready to go. Azure SQL Database in CI The PR validation pipeline now tests against Azure SQL Database in addition to on-premises SQL Server, ensuring that every change is validated against the Azure SQL service before merge. The road to 1.4 For context, here's how the driver has evolved over its GA releases: Release Date Highlights 1.0.0 November 2025 GA release - DDBC architecture, Entra ID auth, connection pooling, DB API 2.0 compliance 1.1.0 December 2025 Parameter dictionaries, Connection.closed property, Copilot prompts 1.2.0 January 2026 Param-as-dict, non-ASCII path handling, fetchmany fixes 1.3.0 January 2026 Initial BCP implementation (internal), SQLFreeHandle segfault fix 1.4.0 February 2026 BCP public API, spatial types, Rust core upgrade, encoding & stability fixes BCP was introduced as an internal implementation in 1.3 and has been hardened, expanded, and promoted to a fully public API in 1.4, with Entra ID support, explicit parameters, column mappings, logging integration, and comprehensive validation. What's next Looking ahead, the roadmap includes: Asynchronous query execution with asyncio support Vector datatype support for SQL Server's native vector type Table-Valued Parameters (TVPs) for passing tabular data to stored procedures Get started pip install --upgrade mssql-python Documentation: github.com/microsoft/mssql-python/wiki Release notes: github.com/microsoft/mssql-python/releases Roadmap: github.com/microsoft/mssql-python/blob/main/ROADMAP.md Report issues: github.com/microsoft/mssql-python/issues Contact: mssql-python@microsoft.com We'd love your feedback. Try the new bulk copy API, let us know how it performs on your workloads, and file issues for anything you run into. This driver is built for the Python data community, and your input directly shapes what comes next.mssql-django 1.7: Django 6.0, SQL Server 2025, and a Lot of Catching Up
For years, Django developers who needed SQL Server have had to navigate a patchwork of community forks and half-maintained backends. mssql-django changed that — an official, Microsoft-supported backend that lets you point your Django app at SQL Server and have things just work. But we'll be honest: for a stretch there, we fell behind. Between the 1.5 release in April 2024 and 1.6 last August, over fifteen months passed with no new version — and during that time Django shipped both 5.1 and 5.2. Developers who wanted to stay current with Django were stuck waiting for backend support that wasn't there yet. We've been working to close that gap. Version 1.6 landed Django 5.1 and 5.2 support last summer, and now 1.7 brings full Django 6.0 compatibility within weeks of its release. We're back on pace, and we intend to stay there. Django 6.0 Is Fully Supported This was the big one. Django 6.0 brought a wave of internal changes — revised query batching, new ORDER BY behavior, updated JSON lookup paths, db_default support in bulk inserts — and each of those touched code paths in the backend that needed careful attention. We've worked through all of it. If you're running Django 6.0, mssql-django 1.7 has you covered. Python 3.14 support comes along for the ride, and the backend remains compatible all the way back to Django 3.2 and Python 3.8 for teams that aren't ready to jump forward yet. Composite Primary Keys Land on SQL Server Django 5.2 introduced composite primary keys — a long-requested feature in the Django ecosystem. Getting them to work cleanly on SQL Server took real effort. SQL Server doesn't support tuple comparisons (WHERE (a, b) IN (...)), so we built fallback logic that translates these lookups into equivalent T-SQL. ORDER BY handling for composite PKs required its own set of fixes to avoid the dreaded "column specified more than once" error. The result: if you're on Django 5.2+ and want to use CompositePrimaryKey, it works. SQL Server 2025 SQL Server 2025 is now officially supported and tested in CI. The compatibility matrix spans nearly a decade of SQL Server releases — from 2016 through 2025 — plus Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, and SQL Database in Microsoft Fabric. ODBC Driver 18 by Default We've updated the default ODBC driver from v17 to ODBC Driver 18 for SQL Server. If you don't have Driver 18 installed, the backend falls back to Driver 17 automatically and logs a message, so you know what happened. If you've already set an explicit driver in your OPTIONS, nothing changes for you. The Smaller Stuff That Matters A few fixes that are easy to overlook but made real differences: quote_name() now handles aliases with periods — if you've ever hit a confusing quoting error with dotted identifiers, this one's for you. Meta.indexes no longer get dropped during field alterations — a regression from earlier versions that could silently lose your indexes on schema changes. The testapp package stopped leaking into distributions — a packaging hygiene fix. Better for Contributors, Too We've invested in making the project easier to contribute to. There's now a devcontainer so you can spin up a full development environment in VS Code or GitHub Codespaces with a single click. We've added GitHub Copilot instructions and reusable prompt files - for dev environment setup, running unit tests, running the full Django test suite, and PR self-checks - so AI-assisted contributors can follow project conventions out of the box. And our CI pipelines are now public, so you can see exactly what's passing before you submit a PR. Try It pip install mssql-django==1.7 DATABASES = { 'default': { 'ENGINE': 'mssql', 'NAME': 'mydb', 'USER': 'user@myserver', 'PASSWORD': 'password', 'HOST': 'myserver.database.windows.net', 'OPTIONS': { 'driver': 'ODBC Driver 18 for SQL Server', }, }, } Full documentation, guides, and FAQs are on the mssql-django Wiki. If you hit a problem, open an issue — we're paying attention. What's Supported Component Versions Django 3.2, 4.0, 4.1, 4.2, 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, 6.0 Python 3.8 – 3.14 SQL Server 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2025 Azure SQL Database, Managed Instance, SQL Database in Microsoft Fabric ODBC Driver 17 or 18 mssql-django is open source under the BSD license. Contributions are welcome — see the Contributing Guide to get started.Creating a Contained Availability Group and Enabling Database Creation via CAG Listener
A Contained Availability Group (CAG) is designed to simplify high availability and disaster recovery by encapsulating system databases (master, msdb) within the availability group itself. This means that logins, jobs, credentials, and other metadata are automatically replicated across replicas, eliminating the need for manual synchronization and reducing operational complexity. Starting with SQL Server 2025 CU1, you can create or restore databases directly through the CAG listener - without connecting to the physical instance - by enabling a session context key. Why Contained AGs Matter Self-contained HA unit: Each CAG has its own copy of master and msdb, making it independent of the physical SQL instance. Simplified failover: When the AG fails over, all associated metadata moves with it, ensuring applications continue to function without manual intervention. Improved automation: Supports scenarios where direct access to the SQL instance is restricted, enabling operations through the AG listener. Enhanced security: Reduces exposure by limiting instance-level access; operations can be scoped to the AG context. Streamlined management: Eliminates the need for login and job replication scripts across replicas. Step 1: Prepare the Database for Availability Group This example uses SQL Server on Linux; however, the steps are identical for SQL Server on Windows. In this walkthrough, an existing database named CAGDB is added to a Contained Availability Group (CAG). Before adding the database to the CAG, verify that it is configured for FULL recovery mode and perform a full database backup. ALTER DATABASE CAGDB SET RECOVERY FULL; GO BACKUP DATABASE CAGDB TO DISK = N'/var/opt/mssql/backups/CAGDB.bak' WITH INIT, COMPRESSION; GO Note: On Linux, ensure that the backup target directory exists and is owned by the mssql user. sudo mkdir -p /var/opt/mssql/backups sudo chown mssql:mssql /var/opt/mssql/backups Step 2: Create the Contained Availability Group On your Linux SQL Server nodes, run: CREATE AVAILABILITY GROUP [CAGDemo] WITH ( CLUSTER_TYPE = EXTERNAL, CONTAINED ) FOR DATABASE [CAGDB] REPLICA ON N'node1' WITH ( ENDPOINT_URL = N'tcp://node1:5022', AVAILABILITY_MODE = SYNCHRONOUS_COMMIT, FAILOVER_MODE = EXTERNAL, SEEDING_MODE = AUTOMATIC ), N'node2' WITH ( ENDPOINT_URL = N'tcp://node2:5022', AVAILABILITY_MODE = SYNCHRONOUS_COMMIT, FAILOVER_MODE = EXTERNAL, SEEDING_MODE = AUTOMATIC ); GO #Connect to secondary replicas and join the AG: ALTER AVAILABILITY GROUP [CAGDemo] JOIN WITH (CLUSTER_TYPE = EXTERNAL); ALTER AVAILABILITY GROUP [CAGDemo] GRANT CREATE ANY DATABASE; Step 3: Configure Listener and Connect Create a listener and connect using SSMS or sqlcmd: ALTER AVAILABILITY GROUP [CAGDemo] ADD LISTENER N'CAGDemoListener' ( WITH IP ( (N'*.*.*.*', N'255.255.255.0') ), PORT = 1453 ); GO Step 4: Connect to CAGDemoListener and attempt Database Creation (Failure) When connected through the listener: CREATE DATABASE TestCAGDB; Result:\ Msg 262, Level 14, State 1: CREATE DATABASE is not allowed in this context.\ This happens because database creation is blocked by default in a contained AG session. Step 5: Enable Database Creation in CAG Session or Instance master EXEC sp_set_session_context = N'allow_cag_create_db', @value = 1; This enables database creation for your current session. Step 6: Retry Database Creation (Success) CREATE DATABASE TestCAGDB; Result: Database created successfully within the contained AG context. Users with dbcreator role in the CAG context can perform this action. Step 7: Backup the database. ALTER DATABASE TestCAGDB SET RECOVERY FULL; BACKUP DATABASE TestCAGDB TO DISK = N'/var/opt/mssql/data/backups/TestCAGDB.bak'; Step 8: Add database to the CAG ALTER AVAILABILITY GROUP [CAGDemo] ADD DATABASE [TestCAGDB]; Optional: To automate Steps 4 - 8, you can create a stored procedure (for example: [dbo].[sp_cag_create_db]) and execute it while connected through the Contained Availability Group (CAG) listener context. CREATE OR ALTER PROCEDURE [dbo].[sp_cag_create_db] @database_name sysname, @createdb_sql NVARCHAR(MAX) = NULL AS BEGIN SET NOCOUNT ON DECLARE @fIsContainedAGSession int EXECUTE @fIsContainedAGSession = sys.sp_MSIsContainedAGSession if (@fIsContainedAGSession = 1) BEGIN DECLARE @SQL NVARCHAR(MAX); EXEC sp_set_session_context key = N'allow_cag_create_db', @value = 1; IF @createdb_sql IS NULL SET @SQL = 'CREATE DATABASE ' + QUOTENAME(@database_name); ELSE SET @SQL = @createdb_sql; PRINT @SQL EXEC sp_executesql @SQL; SET @SQL = 'ALTER DATABASE ' + QUOTENAME(@database_name) + ' SET RECOVERY FULL'; PRINT @SQL EXEC sp_executesql @SQL; SET @SQL = 'BACKUP DATABASE ' + QUOTENAME(@database_name) + ' TO DISK = N''NUL'''; PRINT @SQL EXEC sp_executesql @SQL; DECLARE AG_Name sysname; set AG_Name = (SELECT name FROM sys.availability_groups ags INNER JOIN sys.dm_exec_sessions des ON ags.group_id = des.contained_availability_group_id WHERE @@SPID = des.session_id); SET @SQL = 'use master; ALTER AVAILABILITY GROUP ' + QUOTENAME(@AG_Name) + ' add DATABASE ' + QUOTENAME (@database_name) PRINT @SQL EXEC sp_executesql @SQL; EXEC sp_set_session_context key = N'allow_cag_create_db', @value = 0; END ELSE BEGIN RAISERROR('This can only be used with a contained availability group connection.', 16, 1); END END GO At a high level, this procedure simplifies database onboarding into a CAG by orchestrating the following actions as a single workflow: Creating (or restoring) the database Setting the recovery model to FULL Taking the initial backup required for availability group seeding Adding the database to the target Contained Availability Group Example: Create a database Execute the following command to create NewTestDB and add it to the target CAG. EXEC [dbo].sp_cag_create_db @database_name = [NewTestDB]; Example: Restore a database The stored procedure also supports an optional parameter, @createdb_sql, which allows you to provide a custom SQL statement to create or restore a database (for example, restoring from a backup). Once the database backup file exists and is accessible to SQL Server, you can use this parameter to perform the operation. Important: When @createdb_sql is used, the procedure executes that SQL statement directly. Ensure the SQL statement is from a secured and trusted source. DECLARE @restoreSql NVARCHAR(MAX); SET @restoreSql = N' RESTORE DATABASE AdventureWorks2022 FROM DISK = ''/var/opt/mssql/backups/AdventureWorks2022.bak'' WITH MOVE ''AdventureWorks2022'' TO ''/var/opt/mssql/data/AdventureWorks2022.mdf'', MOVE ''AdventureWorks2022_log'' TO ''/var/opt/mssql/data/AdventureWorks2022_log.ldf'', RECOVERY; '; EXEC dbo.sp_cag_create_db @database_name = N'AdventureWorks2022', @createdb_sql = @restoreSql; Conclusion Contained Availability Groups represent a major step forward in simplifying high availability for SQL Server. By encapsulating system databases within the AG context, they eliminate the complexity of synchronizing logins, jobs, and credentials across replicas. With the new capability in SQL Server 2025 CU1 to create or restore databases directly through the AG listener using sp_set_session_context, organizations can streamline automation and reduce operational overhead. References What Is a Contained Availability Group Deploy a Pacemaker Cluster for SQL Server on LinuxWriting a great session abstract for FabCon & SQLCon
Important Dates FabCon/SQLCon Europe in Barcelona, runs 2026 September 28 - Oct 1, 2026 Workshop Call for Content open Feb 17, 2026 to March 23, 2026 Breakout Session Call for Content open Feb 17, 2026 to April 17, 2026 When submitting a session to a conference, consider the following: Title: The title should answer the attendee's question what's in it for me? Why should I attend this session? Is it going to make me better at my job? Will it save my company money? Will it make my reports more organized or my database faster, more secure or modern? The title needs to make sense; it needs to inform. It doesn't need to be funny or contain a dad joke. It CAN, but that's secondary. It shouldn't just be the name of a product or even "Learn [product name]" because you can't teach me everything about it in 60 minutes or less. Abstract: The abstract should contain 3 things: It should define the problem you're trying to solve. It should introduce the solution. It should briefly describe what they'll learn about the solution. In the time allotted. The problem can be that the attendee doesn’t know how to create great visuals, performance tune, connect to Lakehouse, etc. If so, consider titles like “Creating Great Visuals Using...”, “Cutting Costs by Optimizing Your...”, or “Understanding Governance in…” The abstract can introduce a new feature or concept. If so, then the problem is "there's a new thing that you don't know about yet." The solution is "this feature does X, Y & Z." Then tell them that they'll learn everything about X or a little bit about X, Y & Z. If you include an acronym, make sure you spell it out first. Not everyone is going to know what it means, and you don't want only a room full of attendees that already know everything. Avoid using many buzz words in you title or abstract. Drop it into Copilot for a final check and use prompts to help improve your work. Use "make it more precise" if it's over the character count. Tey "make it more professional" if you think it's more casual than you intended. Final check: Before you hit submit, run your abstract by a friend. Does it make sense to the technical and/or non-technical? Do the grammar & spelling check out? With allowances for English not being your 1st language, the abstract should show that you can effectively communicate the topic to an audience. Does the level assigned match the abstract? Is it in the right track? Most calls for content provide definitions on what's a good fit for content in each topic. You can find the topic definitions for FabCon/SQLCon Europe here. Can you do ALL THIS in 60 minutes? Does it fit within the character count? Lastly, a few "don'ts" Don't include your name in the abstract if you know the review is done blind. Don't add it to every category or track. Be mindful. Don't email organizers to say you've submitted a session. They know. Don't demand feedback the very day you're declined. Well, never demand it, but waiting a week to politely ask never hurts. Respect the decision if they aren’t able to offer you feedback. Remember that 800 people might be asking the same question. Don't be entitled. No one *stole* your spot. It was never yours to begin with. Don't use AI to write your entire abstract. Reviewers typically know when it's not written by a human or there are tools that help them check. If you can't convey a concept on your own in 400 characters, how can we trust that you can speak on the concept for a full hour?
