How to Make a Connection to SQL Server Through SSMS

This practical guide walks through how to make a connection to SQL server through SSMS, explains the main requirements, and highlights common issues that may appear along the way.

And to continue the content of the previous post, in this next article, I will join you in connecting to SQL Server via SSMS. Ok, let's get started now!

#first. Launch SQL Server Management Studio

+ Step 1: First you open SSMS, there are many ways to open. You can search on the Taskbar or create a shortcut on the desktop.

Here I use the simplest way and press the Windows + S combination to open Windows Search => and search with the keyword Microsoft SQL Server as shown below.

+ Step 2: You wait a moment for SQL Server Management Studio to start.

+ Step 3: This is the initial interface when you initialize SSMS. You can click Connect as shown below to connect to SQL Server through the operating system's authentication (set up during the installation process).

#2. Create a new connection

+ Step 1: Yes, after you have the connection, you can click the Connect tab as shown below => then select Database Engine.

+ Step 2: Here you click on the Server name selection box, there will be a drop-down => You choose SQL Server Authentication.

=> Then click Connect to establish a connection through Server's authentication.

Step 3: You will have to enter your password and username.

The username you can enter, and the password, you set according to the basic security rules - about 8 characters, including uppercase, lowercase, digits and special characters.

=> If the password is difficult to remember, you can check the Remember password box so that you do not need to re-enter the password in the next time.

+ Step 4: So we have a new connection to SQL Server through Server authentication.

A connection (connection) after creation will have a few components such as: Database, Security, Server Objects. We will mainly work with Databases.

You can also check the connection and see the version of SQL Server by creating a new query (right-click Connection => New Query or click New Query on the SSMS taskbar).

+ Step 5: You enter the query SELECT @@VERSION => and then click Execute to run the query.

The results will be displayed in the Result tab as shown below with information about the version of SQL Server you are installing.

#3. Conclude

That said, creating a connection to SQL Server via SSMS is relatively simple. You just need to note that you have to install both on your computer before you can work.

Many cases you don't know, just install SSMS without installing SQL Server, you can't connect.

In the next article, I will learn with you about the steps to create a new database. How to add and delete data through tables.