Plan a SQL Server installation

Regardless of the installation method, you must confirm acceptance of the software license terms as an individual, or on behalf of an entity, unless your use of the software is governed by a separate agreement such as a Microsoft volume licensing agreement or a third-party agreement with an independent software vendor (ISV) or original equipment manufacturer (OEM).

The license terms are displayed for review and acceptance in the Setup user interface. Unattended installations (using the /Q or /QS parameters) must include the /IAcceptSQLServerLicenseTerms parameter. Download and review the license terms separately at Microsoft SQL Server License Terms and Information. For volume licensing terms, see Licensing Terms and Documentation. For older versions of SQL Server, see Microsoft Software License Terms.

Depending on how you received the software (for example, through Microsoft volume licensing), your use of the software might be subject to additional terms and conditions.

Considerations

Area of consideration Description
What's new in SQL Server installation This article describes the details about the new or improved features of installation in this version of SQL Server.
Hardware and software requirements to run an instance of SQL Server The following articles list the minimum hardware and software requirements to install and run an instance of SQL Server:

Related sections

Article Description
SQL Server installation guide This section provides an overview of different installation options we have for installing SQL Server.
Install SQL Server Business Intelligence Features This section of the SQL Server Setup documentation explains how to install SQL Server features that are part of the Microsoft BI platform.
Upgrade SQL Server The section provides an overview of upgrading from a previous version of SQL Server.
Uninstall SQL Server Refer this section to uninstall an existing instance of SQL Server completely, and prepare the system so that you can reinstall SQL Server.
SQL Server Failover Cluster Installation This section of the SQL Server Setup documentation explains how to install, and configure SQL Server failover cluster.

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