Connecting to SQL Server

📝 This Wiki page has moved. For the latest content, see Connect to SQL Server on the IAP Desktop documentation page.

Prerequisites

To follow the steps in this guide, make sure that you meet the following prerequisites:

• You run SQL Server on a Compute Engine VM. IAP Desktop currently can't connect to Cloud SQL.
• You downloaded and installed SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) on your computer.
• You created a firewall rule that allows IAP to connect to port 1433 of your SQL Server VM.

To use SQL Server Management Studio and connect to SQL Server, do the following:

1. In the Project Explorer tool window, right-click your SQL Server VM and select Connect client application > SQL Server Management Studio:

   

2. IAP Desktop now creates an IAP TCP forwarding tunnel and opens SQL Server Management Studio.

   If your connection settings contain Windows credentials, SQL Server Management Studio automatically authenticates you to SQL Server using Windows authentication.

   If you haven't configured Windows credentials yet, you can enter credentials manually:

   

   ✏️ Note: You can use Windows authentication even if your local computer isn't domain-joined, or joined to a different Active Directory domain than the SQL Server VM.

Customize connection settings

To customize the connection settings, you can use the Connection Settings tool window:

1. In the Project Explorer tool window, right-click the SQL Server VM and select Connection Settings.

2. In the Connection Settings window, you can save your Windows credentials or switch to SQL Server authentication:

   

   If you specify a setting that deviates from the default, it is shown in bold typeface.

Instead of customizing settings for each VM instance individually, you can also specify settings that apply to an entire zone or projects:

1. In the Project Explorer tool window, right-click a zone or project and select Connection Settings.
2. In the Connection Settings window, customize settings as needed. The settings apply to all VM instances in the respective zone or project, unless explicitly overridden.

What's next

• See how you can connect to Windows VMs by using Remote Desktop
• Learn how to troubleshoot common connection issues
• See how you can integrate IAP Desktop with your web browser