How can I quickly determine the version of Microsoft SQL server?
Execute the following query in the SQL Management Studio against the server the database resides on:
SQL Version numbers
SQL 2016 = 13.x
SQL 2014 = 12.x
SQL 2012 = 11.x
SQL 2008 = 10.x
SQL 2005 = 9.x
SQL 2000 = 8.x
SQL Version Query
SELECT SERVERPROPERTY('productversion'),
SERVERPROPERTY ('productlevel'),
SERVERPROPERTY ('edition')
Example output when connected to SQL 2016 Enterprise
13.0.1601.5 – RTM – Enterprise Edition: Core-based Licensing (64-bit)
RTM indicates, "release to manufacturing". This means that no service pack has been applied.
Example output when connected to SQL 2012 Enterprise
11.0.5343.0 – SP2 – Enterprise Edition (64-bit)
Example output when connected to SQL 2005 Enterprise
9.0.0.1399.06 -- RTM -- Enterprise Edition
RTM indicates, "release to manufacturing". This means that no service pack has been applied.
Example output when connected to SQL 2000 Enterprise with SQL Server Service Pack 3 applied
8.00.760 -- SP3 -- Enterprise Edition
Notice
While using the "select @@version" query may seem to be a quicker way to check the SQL version, this command actually shows the Operating System service pack level, not the SQL Server service pack level, which often leads to confusion of the version of the SQL server instance.