How do I launch SQL Server on an Amazon EC2 Windows instance?

Short description

It's a best practice to use an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) that has SQL Server preinstalled.

Or, use AWS Launch Wizard to manually launch SQL Server on your EC2 instance with one of the following deployment options:

• SQL Server standalone
• SQL Server failover cluster instances (FCI)
  Note: FCIs require shared storage that you can provide through networking.
• SQL Server Always On availability groups (AG)

Launch Wizard supports all SQL Server deployment options.

Resolution

Use an AMI with SQL Server installed

Launch your instance from an AMI that has SQL Server already installed.

Use Launch Wizard to launch SQL Server

Prerequisites:

• Complete the required prerequisites to use SQL Server on Amazon EC2.
• (Optional) Create replicas with separate storage. It's a best practice to create local replicas in one data center for high availability and remote replicas in other data centers for disaster recovery.
• Make sure that your Windows version supports the SQL Server version. For a list of supported versions and requirements, see Version requirements for SQL Server in Windows operating system on the Microsoft website.

Complete the following steps to launch SQL Server with Launch Wizard:

1. Open the Launch Wizard console.
2. In the navigation pane, choose MS SQL Server.
3. Choose Create deployment.
4. On the Review permissions page, under IAM role, choose Next. Launch Wizard creates the AmazonED2RoleForLaunchWizard AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) role to access other AWS services on your behalf.
5. On the Configure application settings page, for Operating System type, choose Windows. Then, configure the following settings based on your SQL Server deployment type.
   SQL Server standalone:
   Under Deployment model, for Model options, choose Single instance.
   SQL Server FCI:
   Under Deployment model, for Model options, choose High availability.
   Choose Always on Failover Cluster Instances availability group. For information about storage options, see Amazon FSx for Failover Clustering (FCI).
   SQL Server Always On AG:
   Under Deployment model, for Model options, choose High availability.
   Choose Always on availability group.
6. Complete the Configure application settings page, and then choose Next.
7. On the Define infrastructure requirements page, choose Infrastructure suggestion or Instance type. Then, choose Next.
8. On the Review and deploy page, choose Deploy.

Connect to SQL Server

After you deploy SQL Server on your instance, use SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) or SQL Server Configuration Manager to connect to SQL Server. For instructions about how to use SQL Server Configuration Manager to connect, see SQL Server Configuration Manager on the Microsoft website.

Related information

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How do I upgrade Microsoft SQL Server on my Amazon EC2 Windows instances?

Deploy SQL Server on Amazon EC2