SQL Server 2025 on Windows — Complete Setup Guide

Terraform EC2 User Data

When provisioning a Windows EC2 instance with Terraform, the user_data block must be wrapped in <powershell> tags. The example below installs Chocolatey and uses it to install common packages automatically on first boot.

# User data for Windows EC2 must be wrapped in <powershell> tags
user_data = <<-EOF
  <powershell>
  # 1. Set execution policy to allow script execution
  Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force;

  # 2. Download and install Chocolatey
  [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = `
      [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor 3072;
  iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://community.chocolatey.org/install.ps1'));

  # 3. Use Chocolatey to install packages (-y flag auto-accepts licenses)
  # Installing Visual C++ Redistributable and Google Chrome
  choco install vcredist140 googlechrome -y

  # 4. Create a log file to verify successful completion
  "Chocolatey installation completed" | Out-File -FilePath C:\install_log.txt
  </powershell>
EOF

Learn SQL Queries: https://www.w3schools.com/sql/

PowerShell Installation Script

The following script installs and fully configures SQL Server 2025 Express on a Windows machine. Run it as Administrator.

# ============================================================
# SQL Server 2025 Express — Full Setup Script
# ============================================================

# Set execution policy
Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force

# ── 1. Install Chocolatey ────────────────────────────────────
[System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = `
    [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor 3072
Invoke-Expression ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString(
    'https://chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))

# Reload PATH so choco is available immediately
$env:PATH = [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("PATH","Machine") + ";" +
            [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("PATH","User")

# ── 2. Skip pending-reboot checks ───────────────────────────
Remove-Item "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Component Based Servicing\RebootPending" `
    -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update\RebootRequired" `
    -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager" `
    -Name "PendingFileRenameOperations" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

# ── 3. Install SQL Server 2025 ───────────────────────────────
# Use Chocolatey if the package is available
choco install sql-server-2025 `
    --params '"/INSTANCENAME=SQLEXPRESS /INSTANCEID=SQLEXPRESS /SECURITYMODE=SQL /SAPWD=Welcome@12345 /TCPENABLED=1 /IACCEPTSQLSERVERLICENSETERMS"' `
    -y --no-progress

# Alternative: winget install (uncomment if Chocolatey package is unavailable)
# winget install Microsoft.SQLServer.2025.Developer

# ── 4. Install sqlcmd and ODBC Driver ────────────────────────
choco install sqlcmd               -y --no-progress   # Microsoft standalone sqlcmd
choco install sqlserver-odbcdriver -y --no-progress   # ODBC Driver 18 (required dependency)

# Reload PATH so sqlcmd is found in this session
$env:PATH = [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("PATH","Machine") + ";" +
            [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("PATH","User")

# ── 5. Enable TCP/IP via registry ───────────────────────────
# SQL Server 2025 uses version folder MSSQL17.SQLEXPRESS
$tcpPath   = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL17.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQLServer\SuperSocketNetLib\Tcp"
$ipAllPath = "$tcpPath\IPAll"

Set-ItemProperty -Path $tcpPath   -Name "Enabled"          -Value 1
Set-ItemProperty -Path $ipAllPath -Name "TcpPort"           -Value "1433"
Set-ItemProperty -Path $ipAllPath -Name "TcpDynamicPorts"   -Value ""    # clear dynamic port

# ── 6. Restart SQL Server service ───────────────────────────
# Named instance service name: MSSQL$SQLEXPRESS (NOT "MSSQLSERVER")
Restart-Service -Name "MSSQL`$SQLEXPRESS" -Force -ErrorAction Stop
Start-Sleep -Seconds 10

# ── 7. Configure SQL Server Browser ─────────────────────────
Set-Service  -Name "SQLBrowser" -StartupType Automatic
Start-Service -Name "SQLBrowser" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

# ── 8. Open Windows Firewall ports ──────────────────────────
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "SQL Server TCP 1433" `
    -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 1433 -Action Allow -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "SQL Server Browser UDP 1434" `
    -Direction Inbound -Protocol UDP -LocalPort 1434 -Action Allow -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

# ── 9. Enable SA login ───────────────────────────────────────
$saSetupSql = @"
ALTER LOGIN [sa] ENABLE;
ALTER LOGIN [sa] WITH PASSWORD = 'Welcome@12345';
EXEC sp_configure 'show advanced options', 1; RECONFIGURE;
EXEC sp_configure 'remote access', 1;        RECONFIGURE;
"@

# Use Windows Auth (-E) first — most reliable right after installation
sqlcmd -S "localhost\SQLEXPRESS" -E -Q $saSetupSql

# Verify SA login works
sqlcmd -S "localhost\SQLEXPRESS" -U sa -P "Welcome@12345" `
       -Q "SELECT @@VERSION, GETDATE();" -l 10

# ── 10. SQL Server Agent (not available in Express) ──────────
$agentSvc = Get-Service -Name "SQLAgent`$SQLEXPRESS" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
if ($agentSvc) {
    Set-Service  -Name "SQLAgent`$SQLEXPRESS" -StartupType Automatic
    Start-Service -Name "SQLAgent`$SQLEXPRESS"
} else {
    Write-Warning "SQL Server Agent is not available in Express edition."
}

Write-Host "`n✅ SQL Server 2025 setup complete." -ForegroundColor Green
Write-Host "   Connect: sqlcmd -S localhost\SQLEXPRESS -U sa -P 'Welcome@12345'" -ForegroundColor Cyan

Script Step Summary

Sample SQL Queries

Once connected, run the following queries to create a test table, insert sample data, and verify the setup.

-- Create a sample DevOps projects table
CREATE TABLE DevOpsProjects (
    ProjectID       INT           PRIMARY KEY IDENTITY(1,1),
    ProjectName     NVARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
    Environment     NVARCHAR(50),
    BuildStatus     NVARCHAR(20),
    DeploymentDate  DATETIME      DEFAULT GETDATE(),
    LeadEngineer    NVARCHAR(100)
);

-- Insert sample project records
INSERT INTO DevOpsProjects (ProjectName, Environment, BuildStatus, LeadEngineer)
VALUES
    ('Alpha-Portal',  'Production',  'Success',     'Jane Doe'),
    ('Beta-API',      'Staging',     'Success',     'John Smith'),
    ('Gamma-Auth',    'Development', 'Failed',      'Alice Wong'),
    ('Delta-Mobile',  'QA',          'In Progress', 'Bob Miller'),
    ('Epsilon-Data',  'Production',  'Success',     'Charlie Brown');

-- Retrieve all records
SELECT * FROM DevOpsProjects;

Expected output: