Microsoft SQL Server (mssql, microsoft-sql-server) End of Life
Microsoft
| Version | Released | Mainstream Support | Extended Support | Extended Security Updates (ESU) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 18 Nov 2025 | 6 Jan 2031 | 6 Jan 2036 | Not announced | Supported 3,443 days left |
| 2022 | 16 Nov 2022 | 11 Jan 2028 | 11 Jan 2033 | Not announced | Supported 2,353 days left |
| 2019 | 4 Nov 2019 | 28 Feb 2025 | 8 Jan 2030 | Not announced | Supported 1,254 days left |
| 2017 | 29 Sep 2017 | 11 Oct 2022 | 12 Oct 2027 | Not announced | Supported 435 days left |
| 2016 | 1 Jun 2016 | 13 Jul 2021 | 14 Jul 2026 | 17 Jul 2029 | Extended Support 1,079 days left |
| 2014 | 5 Jun 2014 | 9 Jul 2019 | 9 Jul 2024 | 12 Jul 2027 | Extended Support 343 days left |
| 2012 | 20 May 2012 | 11 Jul 2017 | 12 Jul 2022 | 8 Jul 2025 | End of Life 1,483 days ago |
Support policy
SQL Server follows the Fixed Lifecycle Policy: five years of Mainstream Support followed by five years of Extended Support. Paid Extended Security Updates (ESU) are then offered for up to three further years, and unlike Windows Server these ESU dates are published in advance.
Notes
SQL Server follows the Fixed Lifecycle Policy: five years of Mainstream Support plus five years of Extended Support — ten years in total, followed by up to three years of paid Extended Security Updates, for a maximum of thirteen.
During Extended Support only security updates are shipped; no new features and no non-security fixes.
Unlike Windows Server, SQL Server publishes its ESU dates in advance. Windows Server has not announced ESU availability for 2016 and later, but SQL Server 2014 and 2016 both carry a full three-year ESU schedule on Microsoft's lifecycle pages, so this site can show them as confirmed dates.
SQL Server 2016 needs attention now. Extended Support ended on 14 July 2026; without an ESU subscription it no longer receives security updates. ESU is sold per year and the price typically increases each year, so deferring migration compounds the cost.
Microsoft positions migration to Azure SQL Managed Instance or Azure Virtual Machines as the alternative to ESU, with ESU provided at no additional charge for workloads running on Azure. Whether you stay on-premises materially changes the real cost.
Dates do not differ between editions (Enterprise, Standard, Express, Developer). Microsoft publishes these dates in Pacific Time.
Sources
- https://learn.microsoft.com/lifecycle/products/sql-server-2025
- https://learn.microsoft.com/lifecycle/faq/general-lifecycle
Last verified: 2026-08-04