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ArrowTDS — Compatibility

Which SQL Server versions, editions, and cloud services ArrowTDS is known to work with. Three support states are used across the Arpeio driver family:

StateMeaning
✅ ValidatedExercised directly — live testing and/or the CI test matrix.
🟢 SupportedExpected to work and covered by the same protocol surface, but not run continuously. Report issues and they will be treated as bugs.
🟡 Not yet validatedShould be compatible on protocol grounds, but unverified. No promise yet.

ArrowTDS speaks MS-TDS 7.4 natively over TCP (+ optional TLS). Any SQL Server that negotiates TDS 7.4 is a candidate; the mapping details are in DATA_TYPES.md.

SQL Server (on-premises / IaaS)​

VersionStateNotes
SQL Server 2025✅ ValidatedValidated live against 2025-latest (17.0.4065.4, RTM-CU7; compat level 170). ADBC conformance and the ArrowTDS type matrix run at parity with 2022. Adds native VECTOR(n) → Arrow fixed_size_list<float32>[n] (see DATA_TYPES.md).
SQL Server 2022✅ ValidatedPrimary development & CI target (Linux container).
SQL Server 2019🟢 SupportedSame TDS 7.4 surface.
SQL Server 2017🟢 SupportedSame TDS 7.4 surface; Linux and Windows.
SQL Server 2016🟢 SupportedFirst version with the full 7.4 feature set used here.
SQL Server 2014 / 2012🟡 Not yet validatedTDS 7.3/7.4 — expected to work for core types; untested.
SQL Server ≤ 2008 R2🟡 Not yet validatedOlder TDS; no testing, not a target.

Editions — Enterprise, Standard, Developer, Web, and Express all speak the same protocol; the driver does not depend on an edition-specific feature. Express named instances are reached via the SQL Server Browser (see CONNECTION.md). LocalDB is not supported — it is reached over a named pipe, not TCP.

Azure & Microsoft Fabric​

ServiceStateAuthNotes
Azure SQL Database✅ ValidatedSQL, Entra IDBoth Proxy and Redirect gateway policies verified live (Redirect needs outbound TCP 11000–11999).
Microsoft Fabric Warehouse✅ ValidatedSQL*.datawarehouse.fabric.microsoft.com; Entra token passthrough also applies.
Azure SQL Managed Instance🟡 Not yet validatedSQL, Entra IDStandard SQL Server surface; expected to work, untested.
Azure Synapse (dedicated SQL pool)🟡 Not yet validatedSQL, Entra IDTDS-compatible; some T-SQL/type restrictions apply server-side.

All Azure endpoints require encrypt=true (TLS 1.2+); this is the default-safe path (SNI + certificate + hostname verification).

Authentication methods​

MethodPlatformState
SQL login (username/password)all✅ Validated
Integrated / trusted — Windows SSPI (Negotiate → Kerberos/NTLM)Windows client✅ Validated
Integrated / trusted — POSIX Kerberos (GSSAPI/SPNEGO, ccache/keytab/password)Linux/macOS client✅ Validated
Entra ID — access-token passthroughAzure SQL / Fabric✅ Validated
Entra ID — service principal (client credentials)Azure SQL / Fabric✅ Validated
Entra ID — managed identityAzure host🟢 Supported (mock + unit tested; runs only on an Azure host)
Entra ID — ActiveDirectoryDefault chainAzure SQL / Fabric✅ Validated

See AUTHENTICATION.md and CONNECTION.md for setup.

Client platforms​

PlatformStateNotes
Linux x64✅ ValidatedPrimary build & test target.
Windows x64✅ ValidatedSSPI integrated auth; VC++ runtime + OpenSSL DLLs required alongside the driver.
macOS (arm64)🟡 Not yet validatedBuild support is staged; no released binary yet.

ADBC conformance​

Run against the upstream adbc-drivers/validation conformance suite: 241 passed / 12 xfailed / 0 xpassed / 0 skipped (upstream pinned). The xfails are SQL-Server-structural, not driver defects:

  • Arrow nanosecond temporal precision (time_ns, timestamp_ns, timestamptz_ns) — SQL Server's scale-7 ceiling is 100 ns.
  • float16 bind — no SQL Server type maps to Arrow float16.
  • A few unsupported bind inputs (null-typed and dictionary-encoded parameters, create_append schema mismatch).

The conformance suite and the ArrowTDS type matrix were also re-run live against SQL Server 2025 (17.0.4065.4) with results identical to 2022 — same pass set, same xfails.

See also​