Microsoft Previews SQL Server 2025 with Ubuntu 24.04 and TLS 1.3
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Microsoft has announced the SQL Server 2025 preview, and this update is a big one for developers and IT teams. The Release Candidate 0 (RC0) introduces two major upgrades, including support for Ubuntu 24.04 and the adoption of TLS 1.3 by default. Here’s everything you need to know.
Ubuntu 24.04 support in SQL Server 2025 Preview
For the first time, SQL Server 2025 can run on Ubuntu 24.04 in dev and test setups. Microsoft is offering the Enterprise Evaluation Edition, which is valid for 180 days, making it easy to try out the database engine on the latest LTS release.
That said, production environments aren’t ready yet. If you’re running mission-critical workloads, Microsoft still recommends SQL Server 2022 on Ubuntu 22.04 or RHEL 9.
TLS 1.3 is enabled out of the box
The second big change is security. TLS 1.3 is now turned on by default in SQL Server 2025 Preview. This means faster handshakes, stronger encryption, and better compliance, which is a huge win for organizations focused on safeguarding data.
Microsoft has already published updated guides on how to validate secure connections with the new standard.
Simple deployment with containers
Deploying the preview isn’t complicated either. Using just a couple of Docker commands, testers can spin up SQL Server 2025 RC0 on Ubuntu 24.04 inside WSL2.
From there, you can connect through SQL Server Management Studio and confirm the version running inside the container’s ERRORLOG. Microsoft clearly wants to lower the barrier for developers exploring Linux-first environments.
Availability of SQL Server 2025 Preview
The preview release is live now, with Microsoft calling on the community to share feedback ahead of the final launch in 2025. For those eager to try it, quickstart guides are already available on Microsoft Learn.
Until then, production workloads remain safer on SQL Server 2022—at least until Ubuntu 24.04 gains full certification.
