MS SQL Server: How to determine the version, build, and edition of a SQL Server instance

Learn how to determine the version, build, and edition of a SQL Server instance.

This article discusses how to determine the following properties of an installed MS SQL Server instance:

• version
• build
• edition

Apply the following steps to achieve the above outcome: 

 

A. SQL Server Instance version and build 

1. Find and open MS SQL Management Studio as installed on the SQL server. 

2. Identify the specific MS SQL Server instance (if having more than one) on which the live Evolution company database/s are hosted on. 

3. Notice the numerical value below as part of the instance name.

4. Open the following website: 

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/sql/releases/download-and-install-latest-updates

5. In here, browse until you find the same numerical value above to identify its version 

For instance, in this case, the above value is 15.0.2125 

The above SQL instance starts with 15.

6. Therefore, on the opened website it correlates to SQL Server 2019 

 

7. The rest of the SQL instance, 0.2125, refers to the specific build value of the installed SQL Server. 

 

B. SQL Server Instance Edition

1. Right-click on the SQL Server instance and select Properties.

2. The SQL Server instance is identified below which is Express in this case.

Note the following list of available SQL Server editions:

• Express
• Standard
• Enterprise
• Developer
• Web