Connect to Microsoft SQL Server from ArcGIS | ArcGIS Pro Documentation
Connect to Microsoft SQL Server from ArcGIS | ArcGIS Server Documentation
Connect to Microsoft SQL Server from ArcGIS | ArcMap Documentation
ArcGIS requirements for SQL Server
Tip: For ArcGIS releases prior to 10.9 and ArcGIS Pro 2.8, see the system requirements on the ArcGIS Desktop website.
Any client machines that connect directly to SQL Server must have a SQL Server client installed. SQL Server clients for Microsoft Windows and Linux are distributed by Microsoft. SQL Server clients for Windows are also available on My Esri. You must install a client that is the same version or a newer version than the SQL Server database to which you want to connect. If you upgrade SQL Server, upgrade the SQL Server clients at the same time. When a version of SQL Server is no longer supported by ArcGIS, the corresponding SQL Server client library will no longer be supported either.
Supported SQL Server clients are as follows:
** Microsoft changed the default encryption setting for the ODBC driver to yes with the release of ODBC Driver 18. To ensure existing database connections continue to work even if you update to ODBC Driver 18, encryption is set to no by default. To use an encrypted connection instead, you can configure the database connection as described in Encrypted connections to SQL Server databases.
Microsoft ODBC Driver for SQL Server on Windows - ODBC Driver for SQL Server | Microsoft Learn
Connect to Microsoft SQL Server from ArcGIS
Obtain the 64-bit Microsoft ODBC driver for SQL Server from the Microsoft Download Center or from My Esri. Be sure to get the Microsoft ODBC driver that is supported for the version of SQL Server to which you want to connect. Install the driver on all computers where ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Server are installed.
If you do not have the privileges to install software on the machines where ArcGIS clients are running, you'll need to have your IT department install and configure the Microsoft ODBC driver for you.
If you are installing the driver on a 64-bit operating system, run the 64-bit executable; it installs both 32- and 64-bit files. If you run the 32-bit installation on a 64-bit operating system, it will fail.
If ArcGIS Server and SQL Server are installed on the same server, a separate ODBC driver is not required on that machine.
When connecting from ArcGIS Server on Ubuntu to a supported version of SQL Server, you must install the Microsoft unixodbc-dev package on all ArcGIS Server machines in addition to the ODBC driver.
Early versions of ArcGIS Pro fail to connect with the Microsoft ODBC Driver 18.
Bug: Database connections to SQL Server fail when Microsoft ODBC Driver 18 is installed (esri.com)
ArcGIS requirements for SQL Server
Tip: For ArcGIS releases prior to 10.9 and ArcGIS Pro 2.8, see the system requirements on the ArcGIS Desktop website.