System Requirements

Before you start using Veeam Plug-in for Microsoft SQL Server, make sure the requirements listed in this section are met.

Specification	Requirement
OS	64-bit versions of the following operating systems are supported: Microsoft Windows Server 2025 Microsoft Windows Server 2022 Microsoft Windows Server 2019 Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Note: Server Core installations of Microsoft Windows Server OSes are not supported.
Microsoft SQL Server Database	The following Microsoft SQL Server versions are supported: Microsoft SQL Server 2022 Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Microsoft SQL Server 2017 Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Microsoft SQL Server 2014 SP3 Notes: To connect to the Microsoft SQL Server, Veeam Plug-in requires Microsoft ODBC Driver for SQL Server versions 17 or 18. Other driver versions are not supported but can be present in the same system. By default, Veeam Plug-in uses driver version 17. If driver version 17 is unavailable in the system, Veeam Plug-in automatically uses driver version 18. Optionally, you can manually set a preferred driver version in the veeam_config.xml file for cases when the default driver version is not suitable for your system. For details, see Specifying the Version of Microsoft ODBC Driver for SQL Server. Standard, Enterprise, Web, Developer editions of Microsoft SQL Server are supported. Express edition of Microsoft SQL Server is not supported. Windows Server Failover Clusters are supported, both with shared disks and Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV). Always On Availability Groups, Always On Clusterless Availability Groups and Always On Failover Cluster Instances are supported. Distributed Availability Groups are not supported.
Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio	Veeam Plug-in Toolbar requires Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio 20.x. Note: Remote connections from Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio are not supported.
Veeam Backup & Replication	Veeam Backup & Replication supports two latest versions of Veeam Plug-ins. For example, Veeam Backup & Replication 12.3 supports Veeam Plug-in 12.3 and 12.2. Keep in mind that if you use an earlier Veeam Plug-in build than the one that is included in the installation ISO file of your Veeam Backup & Replication version, it may not have all the features and bug fixes introduced in your Veeam Backup & Replication version. To learn more about the Veeam Plug-in builds included in Veeam Backup & Replication installation ISO files, see this Veeam KB article.
Network	Veeam Plug-in should be able to establish a direct IP connection to the Veeam Backup & Replication server. Thus, Veeam Plug-in cannot work with the Veeam Backup & Replication server that is located behind the NAT gateway.