Documentationbreadcrumb arrow breadcrumb arrow GlaberGraph documentationbreadcrumb arrow Data sourcesbreadcrumb arrow Microsoft SQL Server
Last reviewed: August 10, 2026

Microsoft SQL Server data source

Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) is one of the most widely used relational databases for business applications, analytics, and operational workloads. The MSSQL data source lets you query your existing SQL Server instance directly from Grafana, with no data migration required.

The data source ships with Grafana out of the box. It’s preinstalled in both Grafana OSS and Grafana Enterprise, so there’s nothing for you to install. Starting with Grafana 13.2, it’s packaged as a standalone plugin that updates independently of Grafana releases. Refer to Plugin updates for details.

You can connect to Microsoft SQL Server 2012 or newer, Azure SQL Database, and Azure SQL Managed Instance.

Supported features

Feature Supported
Metrics Yes
Alerting Yes
Annotations Yes

Supported versions

Version Supported
Microsoft SQL Server 2012+ Yes
Azure SQL Database Yes
Azure SQL Managed Instance Yes

Grafana recommends using the latest available service pack for optimal compatibility.

Authentication methods

The Microsoft SQL Server data source supports the following authentication methods:

Method Best for Grafana Cloud Self-managed Supports alerting
SQL Server Authentication Any deployment Yes Yes Yes
Windows Authentication (Integrated Security) On-premises with Windows SSO No Yes Yes
Windows AD (Kerberos) Enterprise Active Directory environments No Yes Yes
Azure Entra ID (App Registration) Azure SQL with service principal Yes Yes Yes
Azure Entra ID (Managed Identity) Grafana hosted in Azure No Yes Yes
Azure Entra ID (Current User) User-level access control with Azure SQL Yes Yes No

Note

Azure Entra ID (Current User) authentication doesn’t support alerting, reporting, or recorded queries because these features run on the backend without a user session.

For configuration details, refer to Configure the Microsoft SQL Server data source.

Get started

The following documentation helps you set up and use the Microsoft SQL Server data source:

Plugin updates

Starting with Grafana 13.2, the Microsoft SQL Server data source is a standalone plugin, preinstalled in both Grafana OSS and Grafana Enterprise. This enables more frequent updates independent of Grafana releases. Grafana automatically checks the plugin catalog and installs the latest version on each server restart.

To adjust this behavior:

  • Opt out of auto-updates: Set preinstall_auto_update to false in your configuration file.
  • Update manually: Update at any time from the Administration > Plugins page without restarting Grafana.

The standalone plugin requires Grafana 12.3.0 or later. The Microsoft SQL Server data source bundled with Grafana 13.1 and earlier continues to work as before. These versions are unaffected by the change.

Users running Grafana 12.3.x through 13.1.x can install the standalone plugin from the plugin catalog if they want the latest features before upgrading to Grafana 13.2. To use the standalone plugin with Grafana 12.3.x through 13.1.x, add the following to your configuration file:

ini 
[plugin.mssql]
as_external = true

[plugins]
; Install the latest version on startup:
preinstall_sync = mssql
; Or install a specific version:
; preinstall_sync = mssql@<version>

Additional features

After you configure the data source, you can: