How to encrypt Microsoft SQL Server Traffic

In this article, we will discuss how to encrypt Microsoft SQL Server Traffic. You can encrypt all incoming connections to SQL Server or enable encryption for just a specific set of clients. For either of these scenarios, you first have to configure SQL Server to use a certificate that meets Certificate requirements for SQL Server before taking additional steps on the server computer or client computers to encrypt data. Please see how to uninstall Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio, and how to fix unable to connect to MSSQL Server after changing the Server name.

To enhance database communication security, apply SSL encryption for all connections to a SQL Server database by following these steps:

• Obtain a digital certificate.
• Configure the database server to operate with the certificate.
• Configure the client-side software to utilize SSL when communicating with SQL Server.

Enabling TLS encryption enhances the security of data transmitted across networks between instances of SQL Server and applications. However, encrypting all traffic between SQL Server and a client application using TLS introduces the following additional processing requirements:

• The client TLS stack must perform encryption, and the server TLS stack must perform decryption for packets sent from the application to the instance of SQL Server.
• The server TLS stack must perform encryption, and the client TLS stack must perform decryption for packets sent from the instance of SQL Server to the application.
• A connect time requires an extra network roundtrip.

Note: The SQL Server service account must have read permissions on the certificate used to force encryption on the SQL Server. For a non-privileged service account, read permissions will need to be added to the certificate. Failure to do so can cause the SQL Server service restart to fail.

Configure the server to force encrypted connections

SQL Server Configuration Manager integrates certificate management starting with SQL Server 2019 (15.x), and it can be used with earlier versions of SQL Server.

Launch SQL Server Configuration Manager as shown below.

Accept the User Access Control

In SQL Server Configuration Manager, expand SQL Server Network Configuration, right-click Protocols for <server instance>, and then select Properties.

In the Protocols for <instance name> Properties dialog box, on the Certificate tab, select the desired certificate from the drop-down for the Certificate box, and then click OK.

See How to Disable TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1 and TLS 1.2 in Windows Using GPO, and How to Improve Website Response Using Traffic Manager. How to use Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio to Export and Import your MsSQL database from Azure to local computer.

Force Encryption Settings for all Clients Connections

To configure the client to request encrypted connections for all clients. You would either copy the original certificate or the exported certificate file to the client computer.

On the client computer, use the Certificates snap-in to install either the root certificate or the exported certificate file.

Using SQL Server Configuration Manager, right-click SQL Server Native Client Configuration, and then click Properties.

On the Flags tab, in the ForceEncryption box, select Yes, and then click OK to close the dialog box.

As you can see, we have selected to Force Encryption. Click on Apply

Now that we have configured the certificate. Let’s go back to SQL Server Services and restart the service by right clicking the SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER) service and choose Restart

Now we have configured port 1433 to encrypt communication!

Please see how to setup is unable to access the SQL UDP Port 1434 on the specified SQL Server. Here is how to fix “Something did not go well as planned: Windows Security update fails to install“.

Use SQL Server Management Studio to encrypt all the connections to SQL Server

To configure the client applications to Trust Server Certificate by using SQL Server Management Studio. This setting will cause the client to skip the step that validates the server certificate and continue with the encryption process.

To encrypt a connection, launch SQL Server Management Studio

From the Object Explorer toolbar, click Connect, and then click Database Engine. In the Connect to Server dialog box, complete the connection information, and then click Options.

On the Connection Properties tab, click Encrypt connection.

Note: You can configure only some clients to needs certificates as well. We shall be discussing this in subsequent articles. Please search through our blog posts.

After connecting, you can verify that the connection is encrypted by checking the properties of the connection in SSMS. Remember that enabling encryption can have performance implications as mentioned above.

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