Windows Internal Database (codenamed WYukon, sometimes referred to as SQL Server Embedded Edition) is a variant of

SQL Server Express Microsoft SQL Server Express is a version of Microsoft's SQL Server relational database management system that is free to download, distribute and use. It comprises a database specifically targeted for embedded and smaller-scale applications. Th ...

2005–2014 that is included with

Windows Server 2008 Windows Server 2008 is the fourth release of the Windows Server operating system produced by Microsoft as part of the Windows NT family of the operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on February 4, 2008, and generally to retail on F ...

(SQL 2005),

Windows Server 2008 R2 Windows Server 2008 R2 is the fifth version of the Windows Server operating system produced by Microsoft and released as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generall ...

(SQL 2005),

Windows Server 2012 Windows Server 2012, codenamed "Windows Server 8", is the sixth version of the Windows Server operating system by Microsoft, as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. It is the server version of Windows based on Windows 8 and succe ...

(SQL 2012),

Windows Server 2012 R2 Windows Server 2012 R2, codenamed "Windows Server 8.1" or "Windows Server Blue", is the seventh version of the Windows Server operating system by Microsoft, as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. It was unveiled on June 3, 2013 a ...

(SQL 2012),

Windows Server 2016 Windows Server 2016 is the eighth release of the Windows Server Server (computing), server operating system developed by Microsoft as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. It was developed concurrently with Windows 10 and is the su ...

Windows Server 2019 Windows Server 2019 is the ninth version of the Windows Server operating system by Microsoft, as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. It is the second version of the server operating system based on the Windows 10 platform, after ...

and

Windows Server 2022 Windows Server 2022 or Windows Server 2022 Edition is the tenth and latest major long term servicing channel (LTSC) release of the Windows Server operating system by Microsoft, as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. It was a ...

(SQL 2014) and is included with other free

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...

products released after 2007 that require an SQL Server database backend. Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and

Windows Server Update Services Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), previously known as Software Update Services (SUS), is a computer program and network service developed by Microsoft Corporation that enables administrators to manage the distribution of updates and h ...

3.0 both include Windows Internal Database, which can be used as an alternative to using a retail edition of SQL Server. WID was a 32-bit application, even as a component of Windows Server 2008 64-bit, which installs in the path In Windows Server 2012 and later, it is a 64-bit application, installed in . Windows Internal Database is not available as a standalone product for use by end-user applications; Microsoft provides SQL Server Express and

Microsoft SQL Server Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database management system developed by Microsoft. As a database server, it is a software product with the primary function of storing and retrieving data as requested by other software applications—which ...

for this purpose. Additionally, it is designed to only be accessible to

Windows Service In Windows NT operating systems, a Windows service is a computer program that operates in the background. It is similar in concept to a Unix daemon. A Windows service must conform to the interface rules and protocols of the Service Control Manage ...

s running on the same machine. Several components of Windows Server 2008 and 2012 use Windows Internal Database for their data storage: Active Directory Rights Management Services, Windows System Resource Manager, UDDI Services, Active Directory Federation Services 2.0, Remote Desktop (standalone) Connection Broker, IPAM and Windows SharePoint Services. On Windows Server 2003, SharePoint and

will install Windows Internal Database and use it as a default data store if a retail SQL Server database instance is not provided. A Knowledge Base article published by Microsoft states that Windows Internal Database does not identify itself as a removable component, and provides instructions how it may be uninstalled by calling

Windows Installer Windows Installer (msiexec.exe, previously known as Microsoft Installer, codename Darwin) is a software component and application programming interface (API) of Microsoft Windows used for the installation, maintenance, and removal of software. ...

directly. SQL Server Management Studio Express can be used to connect to an instance of Windows Internal Database using \\.\pipe\MSSQL$MICROSOFT##SSEE\sql\query (2003–2008) or \\.\pipe\MICROSOFT##WID\tsql\query (2012) as instance name. But this will only work locally, as Remote Connections cannot be enabled for this edition of SQL Server. ''Also note that "Windows Authentication" should be used (as opposed to SQL Server Authentication), and administrators seem to have the best results of authenticating successfully when logged on using the same administrative account that was created when Windows was installed.''

References

External links

Planning and Architecture for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Technology

Release Notes for Microsoft Windows Server Update Services 3.0

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{{MS DevTools SQL Windows Server 2008 Windows components